Jan Komasa will direct a multimedia spectacle to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Poznań June 1956. On the 28 June at 22.00 on Plac Mickiewicza Malta Festival Poznań, upon the invitation of the City of Poznań, shall present the story of the first rebellion against communist power, brutally suppressed by the military and the militia.
Jan Komasa is the author of the artistic concept of the event and its script. He is one of the most talented and renowned artists of Polish cinematography, born in Poznań and still very much associated with this city. The director is best known for films such as “Sala samobójców” [“Suicide room”], in which “real-life” acting was combined with computer graphics, as well as the acclaimed “Miasto 44” [“Warsaw 44”] in which the director took on the legend of the Warsaw Uprising in a truly Hollywood style. In 2014 Komasa received the prestigious Paszport “Polityki” award.
The Malta spectacle will be a fusion of visual arts, dance and music. The director will be cooperating with Mikołaj Mikołajczyk – a choreographer, who has been associated with Poznań’s Polski Teatr Tańca and Teatr Wielki (as a soloist). The music will be created by Bartek Wąsik and Miłosz Pękala from Kwadrofonik (also awarded with Paszport “Polityki”) in cooperation with Royal String Quartet. Electronica meets live percussion, pianos and string quartets.
The director will also be cooperating with the camera operator and light director Bartosz Nalazka - a collaborator of the Oscar winner Janusz Kamiński, with whom he recently worked on the set of the Steven Spielberg film “Bridge of Spies”. Poznan audiences know him from his work on Paweł Mykietyn’s “The Magic Mountain”. The visual, dance and music side of the spectacle will be reinforced with technology, which will create the atmosphere of terror of invigilation.
Ten years ago, on the 50th anniversary of Poznań June 1956, Malta Festival organised an open air spectacle. The spectacle was directed by Izabela Cywińska and referred to her acclaimed play “Oskarżony: Czerwiec pięćdziesiąt sześć” [“Accussed: June fifty six”] which she made in 1981. This year’s event will discuss the strike which took place 60 years ago using a language accessible to the modern viewer. The open-air free-of-charge spectacle will be simultaneously the finale of Malta Festival Poznań, which begins on 17 June.
Honorary Patronage of the President of Poland Andrzej Duda