Will the two-river festival be the last? Grażyna Torbicka said about serious problems

Is this the last edition of the already cult film festival at Kazimierz Dolny? After facing serious financial problems, there are many signs that the festival is in question: “Hard times are coming and if nothing changes, it could really be the last festival.”

This year, there will be a lot of changes in the venue of the festival of Two Rivers due to financial problems affecting all areas of life including culture and arts. Grażyna Torbicka in an interview with “Dziennik Wschodni” Kazimierz Dolny expressed many concerns about the next editions of the film event and about the organization of this year’s edition.

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The Two Riversides Festival has been attracting cinema lovers to Kazimierz Dolny for years, and the organizers ensure that participants have the opportunity to see films presented at the most important world festivals: Cameraimage, Berlin, International Festival in Toronto, Cannes, Karlovy Vary and Venice. This year, Iru Riverside Festival will be held for the 16th time and this may be the last edition to go down in history.

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The artistic director of the event – Grażyna Torbicka – in an interview to “Dziennik Wschodni”, told journalists about this year’s edition, the changes awaiting visitors to Kazimierz Dolny and the future of the festival does not look colorful due to finances. Issues affecting all areas of life today. Organizers of cultural events have smaller and smaller budgets to co-finance cultural areas.

We have been making this festival as good as we can for 15 years. This year we will do everything for the festival. We have received one-third of previous years’ budget for its operation. But we accepted this challenge, we succeeded, and everyone can be sure that Two Rivers will be even more wonderful – said Krasina Torbicka in an interview with Dzienik Vsotny.

The festival’s budget is being cut due to rising service prices and limitations in festival funding. For comparison: in 2018, festival organizers received funding from the provincial government in the amount of PLN 4,000,000. This year, they applied for PLN 200,000.

Hard times are coming, and if nothing changes, it might actually be the last festival – added Grażyna Torbicka.

Until now, the most important film screenings took place in a tent with a capacity of 850 spectators, located in the premises of the school on Nadwislanska Street. This year, the number of seats will be limited as the performances will be held in the municipal school premises, where only 150 seats will be available for spectators. Such drastic change is due to the renovation of the facility on Nadwiślańska Street.

Despite many changes, the Dwa Brzegi festival looks promising, and participants can count on meetings with great filmmakers such as Jan Peszek, Maria Debska, Maciej Stur, Adam Woronovich and Agata Pusek.

The Dwa Brzegi 2022 festival in Kazimierz Dolny takes place from July 30 to August 7.