CLOSE-UP: SOUND | Invisible Dimensions of Cinema

About the event

Zbliżenie: Sound is a new FINA series dedicated to the invisible dimension of cinema. By penetrating the image, sound gives it tone and expression, while at the same time going beyond the frame, calling out and drawing us into the story in ways we often do not notice. Yet despite its fundamental role, film sound has long been pushed to the sidelines. Cinema is primarily understood as the art of image, as "the visibility of human interaction with matter." Prepared by the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute, the series is dedicated to cinema as a multisensory experience. It is an invitation to listen to cinema just as attentively. Zbliżenie: Sound focuses on the practices, techniques, and technologies of film sound – from recording, through editing, to playback. The screenings will be enriched by conversations with the creators behind the soundtracks of the presented titles. An integral part of the series are lectures introducing the history and development of phonography and its impact on the evolution of film language. The program is complemented by films that themselves tell stories about sound – directing our gaze beyond the screen and revealing the mechanisms that shape our cinematic experience. Zbliżenia: Sound continues the programming line of the "Promised Land" hall, taking advantage of the hall's exceptional acoustics, while also opening up a broader Zbliżenia program – dedicated to the technical dimensions of film art. 📅 The series runs from October to June and includes nine screenings — one each month. 📍 FINA, ul. Wałbrzyska 3/5, Warsaw (Służew metro). SCREENING PROGRAM: - October 15, 6:30 PM - Blow Out, dir. Brian De Palma, USA, 1981, 104' - Lecture: Stefan Głowacki - Blow Out (1981) by Brian De Palma is one of the most incisive political thrillers in American cinema, and at the same time a film about the very medium of sound. The protagonist, a sound effects specialist, accidentally records an audio that reveals the background of a criminal conspiracy. - De Palma combines the conventions of crime and paranoid thriller with a self-reflexive exploration of recording, editing, and manipulating sound – the magic of the audiovisual blend and the ambivalent relationship between technology, truth, and falsehood. - November 20, 6:30 PM - Katarzyna Szczerba & Katarzyna Gondek - short film screening - Guests: Katarzyna Szczerba & Katarzyna Gondek - Director Katarzyna Gondek and sound designer/director Katarzyna Szczerba have been collaborating for over a decade on films in which sound plays a special role. The screening consists of a selection of short projects they have created together. - During the meeting, the artists will present a wide spectrum of their work – from "Miasteczko" (2011), their first joint project, through the Sundance-screened "Deer Boy" (2017), to this year's "Mleko," based on a jointly written script. They will also talk about their long-term collaboration, creative approach to film sound, and how the sound of a film co-creates its meanings. - December 18, 6:30 PM - Chopin, Chopin, dir. Michał Kwieciński, Poland, 2025, 126' - The blockbuster Chopin. Chopin, described as one of the most expensive Polish films, transports viewers to a key period in the composer's life and work. The film impresses visually, but in this screening, special emphasis will be placed on the sound layer, created by specialists from DreamSound – a leading recording studio. - The film will be presented in the Dolby Atmos system, allowing a full experience of the spatiality and detail of its soundtrack. 2026 More information coming soon.