Bank Millennium is the patron of Kinooceany. Portuguese Film Week

Bank Millennium has taken patronage of Kinooceany. Portuguese Film Week - a new event on the cultural map of Poland. Its organisers want to bring the audience closer to the culture of contemporary and historical Portugal through film. We will see auteur cinema, films by directors from the classic pantheon and the most important contemporary filmmakers.

The history of Portugal is multidimensional. Portuguese cinema looks into the near and distant past, often using metaphor and often also irony to tell the dramatic fate of the country. The richness of historical threads will allow the Polish audience to discover surprising parallels between our nations. The audience will find out that Portuguese cinema never speaks directly, seduces with form and provokes a change of perspective.

- We are very happy to support Kinooceany - Portuguese Film Week. Our commitment to culture reflects our passion for promoting the art of filmmaking and enriching the cultural landscape of Poland. We believe that such initiatives allow viewers to discover new perspectives and stories that inspire and educate. By sponsoring Kinooceany, we continue our mission to support valuable cultural projects. We invite all cinema lovers to participate in this unique event and we are glad that we can be a part of it - says Iwona Jarzębska, Director of the Public Relations Department at Bank Millennium

The creators of Kinooceany are Agnieszka Szeffel and João Ricardo Oliveira.

- When we talk about Portugal, we usually use clichés. We recognise Camões and Pessoa; we know a thing or two about fado and Amália; we celebrate the style of the master Manoel de Oliveira, but what about his contemporaries? We know the names in circulation, the stories and anecdotes that are repeated. Meanwhile... There's so much more out there! We have set ourselves the goal of discovering what remains just below the surface of the stereotype, giving meaning to the hidden. Because the whole world opens up to us there, an ocean of cinema. Kinooceany is not "the best of" of Portuguese cinematography. It is a programme focused on contemporary Portuguese cinema and its recent history, posing questions and hoping to provoke a debate on the film practices present in its area. Building on its rich heritage, Kinooceany seeks to show Portugal and its reality through cinema and, conversely, Portuguese cinema through a portrait of the country captured through the lens of the most compelling film directors. We are happy that Bank Millennium supports our "cinemaoceanic" project - say Agnieszka Szeffel and João Ricardo Oliveira.

The event will take place in 4 Polish cities: Katowice (4-13.04, Światowid cinema), Łódź (6-15.06, National Centre for Film Culture), Warsaw (20-29.06, Muranów cinema) and Gdańsk (5-14.09, cinema of the City Culture Institute). During the 10 festival days, 23 short and full-length films will be presented in each of the cities. After the screenings, the audience will have the opportunity to meet filmmakers, critics and researchers from both Portugal and Poland. The full programme of the review can be found on the https://kinooceany.pl/link otwiera się w nowym oknie website.

The history of Bank Millennium is inextricably linked to culture. Since the beginning of its business activity, i.e. for nearly 40 years, the Bank has been involved in making culture available and popular in Poland. It supports cultural projects of national and local range. It is a 360° patron of culture, promoting art in almost all its forms, including: film, music, theatre, photography and painting, sculpture, literature and performance. It reaches for niche and popular culture, and is by definition a long-term partner. Support in this area remains very important for the Bank.

For more about the bank’s sponsorship see https://www.bankmillennium.pl/en/about-the-bank/press-centre/patronage-of-the-culturethe link opens in the new tab