In January 2007, the film discussion club known as DKF BOK was re-established. The group of founders included: Jerzy Pietrzak (founder of the DKF at Klub Relax), Katarzyna Żak (deputy director of I LO), Iwo Rachwał and Luis Probala (students of I LO), and Wojciech Becla (a student of II LO).
For its fifth anniversary, an online poll was organized in which internet users selected the five best films in their opinion. A total of 343 votes were cast. The winners were: the musical “Hair,” directed by Milosz Forman in 1979; the adaptation of feminist bestseller author Stieg Larsson’s “Millenium: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”; French director Xavier Beauvois’s drama “Of Gods and Men”; Tom Tykwer’s “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer”; and the Estonian drama “The Class,” directed by Ilmar Raag. The winning films will be shown at the club’s weekly meetings, on Mondays at 7:00 p.m. at Forum cinema.
Discussions after the screenings are led by Ireneusz Wojtków. Over five years, 218 titles were screened. They were films that moved audiences and encouraged reflection, and were sometimes graphic and shocking. Experts from the Polish Film Institute rated the format and educational program of the Film Discussion Club’s weekly meetings highly.
Iwona Bojko, to whom the Bolesławiec club owes its development, recalled the history of the DKF in Bolesławiec in a short speech and mentioned the people who had always been drawn to good cinema.
“The first DKF was already operating in Bolesławiec in the 1980s,” said the deputy director of BOK-MCC. “It was based at Klub Relax, and its educational supervisor was Jerzy Pietrzak. The next series of meetings devoted to good cinema took place from March 1999 to October 2000. The club operated at the Bolesławiec Cultural Centre under the name DKF OFF. It was supervised by Kamil Kurnicki, the author of a diploma thesis entitled ‘How to Establish a DKF in Bolesławiec—Step by Step.’”
The club was established during a difficult period for the film industry. Numerous video rental shops were opening, households had video players, cinema attendance was poor and, unfortunately, the club’s activities were suspended for financial reasons.
“DKF activities resumed in November 2004. Grażyna Hanaf became its educational supervisor,” Iwona Bojko recalled. “During the club’s two years under the name ‘11’09’01’ (the title of the first film screened by the DKF), monthly film meetings for young people and separate screenings for adults were held. Particularly noteworthy were the educational projects carried out at that time: ‘Everyone knows best what turns them on and what does not,’ which culminated in the OFF Cinema Festival, and the ‘Oscar Matura’ Film Academy, combined with filmmaking workshops. Activities were suspended in December 2006, but lovers of good, ambitious cinema remained,” Iwona Bojko said.
Those who supported the DKF over five years—not only by watching films but also by actively participating in discussions—included Jarek Sawicki, Teresa and Waldemar Kicińscy, Aleksandra Korczowska, Adam Iwanowski and Irek Wojtków. On the DKF’s anniversary, 30 gifts donated by the Polish Federation of Film Discussion Clubs and film distributors VIVARTO and MONOLITH FILMS were also raffled off.
(information: Grażyna Hanaf)