Blind Chance, A Short Film About Killing

Completed in 1981 but heavily censored and not released until 1987, Blind Chance sees the first mature explorations of the key themes and stylistic motifs that made Krzysztof Kieślowski one of the world’s foremost filmmakers. The film follows a young medical student who has to return home after his father’s death. Arriving late at the station, he runs to catch his train, at which point, the film offers three different outcomes that depend on whether or not he makes the train. In one of the great parallel storyline films, Kieślowski brilliantly fuses social realities and metaphysical questions. (122 mins., DCP) An expanded, feature-length version of an episode from Kieślowski’s landmark TV series The Decalogue, A Short Film about Killing is set on a day when the paths of three men cross. A gripping psychological and ethical study of murder, the masterfully crafted film was a sensation at the Cannes Film Festival, won countless awards, and opened the door to the international career that Kieślowski subsequently enjoyed. (85 mins., DCP)

Organized by Propaganda Foundation, DI Factory, and Cyfrowe Repozytorium Filmowe, Warsaw, and The Film Foundation, New York and Los Angeles; in cooperation with Milestone Film and Video, New Jersey, and Studio Filmowe Tor, Zebra Studio Filmowe, and Studio Filmowe KADR, Warsaw; and with the support of The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland, Polish Film Institute, and National Audiovisual Institute, Warsaw.

Cosponsored by Ohio State’s Department of Slavic and Eastern European Languages and Cultures and its Polish Studies Initiative, the Polish American Club, and the Ohio State Polish Club.