Twenty years! All our congratulations on this anniversary and for an extensive programme that offers a wide-ranging insight into Jewish life from all kinds of perspectives in terms of countries, periods and cinematic forms.

We are focusing on grand gestures for this month's Magical History Tour - on films located in the space between excess and opulence, whose exuberance is manifested either by the director's unlimited personal involvement or by an unfettered artistic vision. However, opulence and excess are by no means an end in themselves, but instead represent the expression of a desire for change asserting itself against manifold constraints and obstacles. Our program features films that are committed to absolute realism alongside ones that find their appropriate form in extreme stylization.

This year again, FilmPolska, the biggest Polish film festival in Germany, is focusing on the art of camera work. We are delighted to welcome the two camera auteurs Jacek Petrycki and Jakub Kijowski to Arsenal. Jacek Petrycki has been active since the 1970s and has become one of Poland’s most famous cameramen. He has shot many feature films with directors such as Krzysztof Kieślowski and Agnieszka Holland; but his main focus is on documentary cinema, in which he has set new standards with over 100 films. By comparison, Jakub Kijowski is still at the beginning of his career; however he has already demonstrated great sensitivity and clarity in the imagery of his first works.