CHOPIN. EINE SONATE IN PARIS - Opening filmPOLSKA 2026

The 21st edition of filmPOLSKA (Sept. 9–16) kicks off with an international and musical highlight—an opulent biopic screened in the presence of director Michał Kwieciński. In addition, the filmPOLSKA Awardwill once again be presented to Volker Schlöndorff as part of the opening ceremony.

CHOPIN: A SONATA IN PARIS 
Dir.: Michał Kwieciński, PL 2025, 114 min, Original version with subtitles

Paris in the 1830s. Fryderyk—or Frédéric—Chopin performs at the Salon Pleyel before high society and gives piano lessons nonstop to earn a living. The noblewomen adore him; even the king is among his admirers. But the Pole only feels truly at ease among his closest circle of friends, where he truly blossoms.

As the original Polish title “Chopin, Chopin!” suggests, this lavishly produced period film explores two sides of a historical figure—the celebrated public persona and, in contrast, the private one, whose romantic relationships fail, who is tormented by the loss of his homeland, and whose terminal illness casts a shadow over the heady life in the salons of Europe.

Michał Kwieciński aims neither to gild a monument nor to knock an icon off its pedestal. He couldn’t care less about historically accurate reconstructions down to the millimeter or long-term biographical studies; instead, he focuses on a specific phase of Chopin’s life, which he unfolds before us in a dizzying display in one of the most expensive Polish film productions of all time. In doing so, he doesn’t shy away from electronic sounds any more than he does from rapid scene changes and sweeping camera movements. His most valuable ace up his sleeve, however, is lead actor Eryk Kulm, who not only throws himself with gusto into the mood swings of his real-life counterpart but also played the piano himself during filming. [Rainer Mende]