The Polish section of the festival website is currently running ahead of the English one, and has just revealed the various strands, which I'll reproduce here via Google-translated cut'n'paste (with the occasional tweaked title, although the Lina Wertmüller one made me laugh so I left it as is):
In April, Warsaw will once again become a destination for timeless cinema – from American classics and European masterpieces to Italian and Latin American cinema and iconic Polish productions that, despite their age, continue to delight and inspire generations. All this thanks to the third edition of the Timeless Film Festival Warsaw, which will take place from April 17–27, 2026, at the Muranów, Luna, and Iluzjon cinemas.
The program will feature over 170 films – both full-length and short – from over 25 countries. They will be presented through directorial and acting retrospectives, thematic series, special screenings, documentary sections, and live music performances.
Music + film
On April 24, 2026 (Friday), at 8:30 PM, the Gruppo di Improvvisazione Giallo will host a concert at the Mazovian Institute of Culture. Inspired by the music of Ennio Morricone, the project was initiated by Hanno Leichtmann, one of the key figures of the Berlin electronic and experimental scene. The event accompanies the Giallo!!! section and serves as its musical complement.
On April 26, 2026 (Sunday) at 8:00 PM, the Luna Cinema will host a screening of the contemporary Finnish silent film Silent Trilogy, with music and sound effects performed live by Ykspihlajan Kino-orkesteri and foley artists. The film's director, Juho Kuosmanen, is one of the most important filmmakers in Finnish cinema (including The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki, which was screened and awarded at Cannes).
On April 27, 2026 (Monday) at 7:00 p.m. at the Grand Theatre – National Opera, at the end of the festival, there will be a screening of the film The Saragossa Manuscript directed by Wojciech Jerzy Has with music composed by Krzysztof Penderecki and performed live by the Małe Instrumenty ensemble, the orchestra of the Grand Theatre – National Opera (chamber ensemble) conducted by Katarzyna Tomala-Jedynak and guitarists Michał Honisz and Szymon Witczyński.
The festival's film program will also feature musical accents: to mark Miles Davis's centenary, the artist will be remembered, showing him in various contexts: historical – the documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool (dir. Stanley Nelson); in the context of his compositional skills – Elevator to the Gallows (dir. Louis Malle); in concert, which is what came naturally to him – Miles Davis: Live in Germany (dir. János Darvas); and as an actor – his only speaking role in the feature-length film Dingo (dir. Rolf de Heer).
The Timeless Sounds section includes Monterey Pop (dir. DA Pennebaker ) and Woodstock (dir. Michael Wadleigh), films about the first mass-scale rock festivals. The Last Waltz (dir. Martin Scorsese), considered by many to be one of the greatest concert films in cinematic history, and a recording of The Cure's most iconic concert: The Cure: Anniversary 1978-2018 Live in Hyde Park (dir. Tim Pope).
Directors' and actors' retrospectives
The retrospectives of the 3rd edition of Timeless Film Festival Warsaw form a multifaceted narrative about filmmakers who have pushed the boundaries of cinema in diverse ways. This comprehensive survey of the work of Peter Weir – an author who straddles the line between realism and metaphysics – explores his most iconic motif: the encounter between the ordinary and the inexplicable, from Picnic at Hanging Rock to Fearless.
The retrospective will be accompanied by the release of the book "Peter Weir: Mystic and Traveler," devoted to the work of the Australian director. The publication includes an essay by Mark Haltof on Peter Weir's entire creative journey and interviews with the director conducted by Jakub Duszyński, Michael Dempsey, and Bryan McFarlane, among others. The retrospective will also feature the premiere of the visual installation "Peter Weir's Dream Within a Dream," created especially for the Timeless Film Festival Warsaw and composed by Jakub Duszyński from unused footage from Picnic at Hanging Rock. In accordance with Peter Weir's intention, the installation will be presented exclusively on the big screen during the festival, making this your only opportunity to see it.
The section Václav Vorlíček: A Director Who Worked Miracles features the return of imaginative cinema, where fairy tales, science fiction, and comedy intertwine in wild, often grotesque forms. During the gray period of normalization in Czechoslovakia, Vorlíček created a vibrant mix of characters, personalities, and adventures that entertained then—and still do today. The program includes the 13-episode cult series "Arabela," also popular in Poland.
The Svěráks: An Oscar-Winning Family is a portrait of the exceptional father-and-son duo – Zdeňek and Jan – whose films have won numerous awards and been beloved by audiences. It all began with a nomination for the comedy-drama My Sweet Little Village (dir. Jiří Menzel), which Zdeněk wrote and starred in. Shortly thereafter, Jan received a student Oscar for his graduation film, and then father and son joined forces, earning a nomination for The Elementary School (dir. Jan Svěrák) and a statuette for Kolya (dir. Jan Svěrák) in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
The Buñuel in Mexico Retrospective: Part 1 revisits a significant period in the work of Luis Buñuel, who spent 36 years of his life in Mexico, filming 20 of his 32 films there. The retrospective will continue in the coming years.
The Tribute to Brigitte Bardot section examines the phenomenon of one of cinema's greatest icons, whose roles in the 1950s and '60s forever changed the image of women on screen. Her most notable films include Henri-Georges Clouzot's La Verité ("Brigitte Bardot as you've never seen her!"), Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt (this role is often cited as her most mature), and Louis Malle's Viva Maria! (in her famous duet with Jeanne Moreau).
In Polish cinema, two reviews occupy a central place: 8 × Kawalerowicz, showing an artist constantly searching for new forms – from psychological dramas to monumental historical spectacles – and Barbara Sass's Triptych, focusing on three films with Dorota Stalińska (Without Love, Scream, The Debutant), creating a moving portrait of strong, yet internally torn heroines.
The retrospective, Vytautas Žalakevičius: Time Suspended, rounds out the film, a filmmaker who continues to inspire both admiration and controversy. The section's program includes, among others, "Nobody Wanted to Die," one of Vytautas Žalakevičius's most important and moving films – a stark, mesmerizing tale of post-war Lithuania, occupied by the USSR after World War II. It is one of the most frequently viewed Lithuanian films, and in 1995, on the occasion of the centenary of cinema, it was included by UNESCO on its list of the hundred most important works of world cinema.
Thematic sections
A cinephile feast is the heart of the festival – a space where canon meets discovery, and subjective choices form a fascinating journey through the history of cinema. As Roman Gutek writes: "Working on such a set is a bit like organizing a lavish party. The host prepares a lavishly laid table and invites guests, who choose their favorite dishes." The section's program includes 32 titles, from the Portuguese Aniki-Bóbó (dir. Manoel de Oliveira) from 1942 to the cult director's version of Donnie Darko (dir. Richard Kelly) from the early 21st century.
It's worth seeking out gems like Eight Deadly Shots (dir. Mikko Niskanen) : the Finnish miniseries, restored by the Martin Scorsese Foundation and a hit with audiences in Bologna, will now be screened in Warsaw. There will also be works by great masters: the list includes Andrei Tarkovsky (The Mirror, Nostalgia), Martin Scorsese (Mean Streets), Lars von Trier (Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark), and Yasujirō Ozu (Late Spring).
A unique offering for film lovers is the Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival presents section, prepared in collaboration with one of the world's most important classic film festivals. The selection is a very "Italian" yet unconventional selection, in which disparate poetics—the films were made in different decades—engage in a surprisingly intimate dialogue. From Antonio Pietrangeli's I Knew Her Well to Marco Ferreri's The Ape Woman, from Bernardo Bertolucci's The Spider's Stratagem and The Dreamers to Lina Wertmüller's Taken by Fate through the Azure Waters of August and Nanni Moretti's Dear Diary.
A completely different tone is brought by Giallo!!! – an intense journey through Italian genre cinema of the 1960s and 1970s, combining thriller, horror, and noir with intense aesthetics, eroticism, sadism, irrationality, and conspiratorialism. The program includes films such as Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace, Dario Argento's Deep Red and Suspiria, and Lucio Fulci's The Psychic. This is a film in which style, sound, and violence create a hypnotic, unsettling whole.
The history of cinema as a tool of ideology and social change resonates in the section Black and White States: Race in American Cinema 1915-1991. From D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation to Spike Lee's films and John Singleton's Boyz N The Hood, the series explores how the representation of African Americans has changed and how cinema has co-created (or challenged) social narratives.
Younger viewers – and those who want to return to the world of imagination – are invited to the Young Horizons section: Once Upon a Time… This selection includes true pop culture classics – the first Disney Princess film and Rob Reiner's iconic The Princess Bride – as well as hidden cinematic treasures – the unusual Finnish adaptation of The Snow Queen and Lotte Reiniger's pioneering cutout animations.
The strong presence of Polish cinema is highlighted by two sections prepared in collaboration with the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute. FINA presents: Faces of the Polish Interwar Period, reminiscent of titles such as Halka (dir. Konstanty Meglicki), Is Lucyna a Girl? (dir. Juliusz Gardan), and Strachy (dir. Eugeniusz Cękalski, Karol Szołowski), revealing the diverse facets of contemporary cinema. FINA presents: Genre Fantasies is a selection of five titles from the Polish Film Heritage List, demonstrating that Polish genre cinema rarely conformed to dominant trends, instead seeking its own narrative and stylistic strategies.
Second Run presents the personal selection of Mehelli Modi, a man who has restored hundreds of forgotten masterpieces to the world. The five selected titles include Jan Němec's Diamonds of the Night, Mohsen Makhmalbaf's A Moment of Innocence, and Tsai Ming-liang's Goodbye, Dragon Inn – talismanic films that stay with viewers for a lifetime.
The 100 Years Ago: 1926 section is a new series in the festival program, destined to become a permanent fixture in future editions. Its goal is to celebrate the most important works from a century ago, while also exploring lesser-known, recently restored, or rediscovered films. This year's selection includes four titles – from Vsevolod Pudovkin's masterfully edited Mother, through Buster Keaton and Clyde Bruckman's brilliant comedy The General, to Victor Sjöström's The Scarlet Letter, featuring an unforgettable performance by Lillian Gish, and Lev Kuleshov's By Law – an uncompromising tale of human nature.
The Classic Latin Cinema section continues its journey through one of the world's most diverse and fascinating film traditions. Latin American cinema – rooted in a shared language but also the clash of multiple cultures – has for decades drawn from local literature, music, and history, creating works of exceptional expressive power. This year's edition features Argentina alongside Brazil and Mexico, from "Tango Bar" with Carlos Gardel to the contemporary, formally subdued "Shadow".
The Krakow Animated Film Studio commemorates the achievements of one of the most important animation centers in Poland, which has created nearly 300 award-winning films around the world.
The program is complemented by special screenings. The festival will open with the documentary Kino Muranów by Olga Prud'homme Farges, and as part of the evening with Krzysztof Rogulski, The Great May Day and the rarely shown In Search of Taboo will be presented.