The 2026 Annual Polish Film Festival by the KF New England Chapter

America at 250 & Andrzej Wajda at 100 at the Center of the 2026 Annual Polish Film Festival by the KF New England Chapter • Three Films • Two Historic Anniversaries. One Festival.

This October, the Annual Polish Film Festival brings three powerful films to Western Massachusetts for a celebration of Polish history, cinema, and the enduring connections between Poland and the United States.

In 2026, America celebrates its 250th anniversary, while Poland marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary filmmaker Andrzej Wajda. These two milestones provide a fitting backdrop for this year’s festival, which explores revolution, history, memory, and the human experience through the lens of Polish cinema.

Presented by the Kosciuszko Foundation New England Chapter, the festival offers three free screenings, all presented in Polish with English subtitles, followed by conversations with distinguished scholars and authors.

A Special Focus on Andrzej Wajda

Few filmmakers have shaped the identity of Polish cinema as profoundly as Andrzej Wajda. Over a career spanning more than six decades, Wajda transformed the language of Polish film, chronicling the country’s political and social upheavals while bringing Polish stories to audiences around the world.

His films grapple with history and memory, identity and politics, and the individual caught in forces larger than themselves. Yet his work is not simply a record of Poland’s past. Its questions continue to resonate today.

To mark the centennial of Wajda’s birth, this year’s festival features two of his landmark films: Zemsta (Revenge) and Katyn. Together, they reveal two very different sides to one of cinema’s most important directors.

The festival’s Wajda programming is part of a broader international recognition of his legacy. This fall, the Polish Cultural Institute New York, in partnership with Film Forum, is presenting a three-week retrospective of Wajda’s work in New York, offering audiences an opportunity to rediscover both celebrated and lesser-known films from his remarkable career.

The 2026 Festival Films:

Kosciuszko: A Man Before His Time
Sunday, October 4 at 2 p.m. | Alumnae Library Theater, Elms College

The festival opens with Kosciuszko: A Man Before His Time, a film celebrating the remarkable life and legacy of Thaddeus Kosciuszko, the Polish military engineer and revolutionary who fought for American independence and later championed freedom and equality in Poland.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Alex Storozynski, author of The Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution.

Kosciuszko’s life provides a particularly meaningful connection to this year’s celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. A Polish patriot who came to America to fight for the ideals of the American Revolution, Kosciuszko believed deeply in liberty and human dignity.

Zemsta (Revenge)
Sunday, October 25 at 2 p.m. | Alumnae Library Theater, Elms College

The festival continues with Andrzej Wajda’s Zemsta (Revenge), his lively and visually rich adaptation of Aleksander Fredro’s beloved Polish comedy.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with University of Massachusetts Professor Jeremi Szaniawski, whose scholarship focuses on Polish cinema and the work of Wajda.

Katyn
Saturday, October 31 at 2 p.m. | Northampton Center for the Arts

The festival concludes with Wajda’s powerful and deeply personal Katyn, his acclaimed 2007 film about the Katyn massacre and the devastating impact of that tragedy on Polish families.

The film explores the relationship between personal loss, historical memory, and political truth—and reflects Wajda’s lifelong engagement with some of the most painful chapters of Poland’s history.

A Q&A with University of Massachusetts Professor Jeremi Szaniawski will follow the screening.

Whether you are familiar with Polish cinema or discovering it for the first time, the Annual Polish Film Festival offers an opportunity to experience extraordinary films while exploring the people, history, and ideas that connect Poland and the United States.

All films are FREE and are shown in Polish with English subtitles.

Sponsored in part by the Polish National Credit Union, Chicopee, MA.