DATES: September 6 – October 10

The Copernicus Endowment for Polish Studies at the University of Michigan and the Michigan Theater proudly present a free series of films by acclaimed director and screenwriter Agnieszka Holland. Beginning Thursday, September 6, the following films will be shown: Fever, A Woman Alone, Europa Europa, The Secret Garden, Total Eclipse, Copying Beethoven and Washington Square. The series will conclude when Holland delivers the Annual Copernicus Lecture on October 10, followed by a screening of her latest film, In Darkness, which was nominated for a 2012 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Agnieszka Holland graduated in 1971 from the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. There she studied with Miloš Forman and Ivan Passer and participated in the Prague Spring. She launched her film career in Poland through her collaboration with Andrzej Wajda and Krzysztof Zanussi, winning prizes and accolades for her first feature-length film, Provincial Actors, at the Cannes Film Festival in 1980. Holland received Academy Award nominations for Best Foreign Language Film for Angry Harvest (1985) and Europa Europa (1990), which was also nominated for a Golden Globe. She has directed several episodes of the television series The Wire, Cold Case, The Killing and Treme. Her screenwriting career includes classics such as Kieslowski’s Blue, Wajda’s Rough Treatment and Korczak, as well as Bogayewicz’s Anna. Holland is currently working on a mini-series for HBO titled Burning Bush, about a hero of the Prague Spring.

All events are free and open to the public. For detailed information about the Holland Film Retrospective, please visit www.ii.umich.edu/crees.

SPONSORS: Copernicus Endowment; Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies; Department of Screen Arts & Cultures; Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures; Michigan Theater; Polish Cultural Fund - Ann Arbor.

WEB LINKS: www.ii.umich.edu/crees/events and www.ii.umich.edu/crees/copernicus

The Nicolaus Copernicus Endowment was established in 1973 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the great Polish astronomer’s multifaceted genius. Initially created with the cooperation of students, faculty, and Polish-Americans of Michigan, the Copernicus Endowment is sustained today by the energy and financial assistance of hundreds of individual supporters. The principal goal of the Endowment is to enable faculty appointments, programming, and student fellowships in Polish studies. Income from the Endowment makes the Annual Copernicus Lecture possible, and ensures the continued scheduling of public events dedicated to advancing a deeper understanding of the people, culture, and politics of Poland.

###