"Double Indemnity", dir. Billy Wilder, 1944.

A true pearl of film noir. The script, nominated to the Academy Awards, was written by Wilder in collaboration with crime novelist Raymond Chandler based on a popular novel by James M. Cain. Cain himself had used a famous murder case, which he reported on as a journalist in 1927, spicing up the text with what at the time were daring erotic scenes. This is why the first attempt at producing the film was unsuccessful. It was Wilder, who succeeded, though not without difficulty, in 1944, his film turning out to be both an artistic and a box office hit. Alfred Hitchcock himself is alleged to have said that after Double Indemnity the two most important words in cinema were “Billy Wilder”.

Billy (Samuel) Wilder was born in Sucha Beskidzka in 1906. He emigrated to the United States via Paris after Hitler’s rise to power. He was one of the best known filmmakers in the world. His movies include Some Like It Hot, Sunset Boulevard, and The Seven Year Itch. He was nominated to the Academy Awards 21 times and received 7 statuettes.

Free entrance

"The Dark Side of Pollywood" film cycle

There would not have been a Hollywood without Polish Jews – directors, producers, actors, and composers. Siegmund Lubin, a native of Poznań, created the first mobile film projector, the Warner brothers from Krasnosielc founded one of the world’s largest film studios, which has since turned out hundreds of popular films. We will present the dark side of Pollywood – gangster films and films noirs which have become classics of world cinema. The cycle is accompanied by a lecture by Andrzej Krakowski, author of the book Pollywood.