Between the 28th and the 30th November 2014, the 2nd edition of the Festival MIASTOmovie is beign held both at the New Horizons Cinema and in the Wroclaw City. This edition focuses  on the cultural-political idea of the European Capital of Culture. We will explore how its programme resonates in Central Europe.

 The  first  edition  of  MIASTOmovie  held  in  March  2014  was  mostly  concentrated  on  the  topic  of  the  Polish  cities’  condition.  Wroclaw  was  treated  as  a  starting  point  for  discussions. The  panellists and the audience were looking for favourable development strategies. Each day was  devoted  to  different  urban  issue. Documentary  films  ranged  from  contemporary metropolies’  problems,  urban  aesthetics,  trade,  the  role  of  the  rivers  and  the  revitalization  issues.  The  topics  provoked  discussions  and  questions  referring  to  our  surroundings.  The debates were  attended  by  activists,  city  officials,  architects  and  sociologists,  including  i.e. Przemyslaw  Filar  (the president of the Society for the Beautification of Wroclaw), Zbigniew Maćków (an architect  and the curator of the European Capital of Culture 2016), Katarzyna Kajdanek (a sociologist, the  author  of  “Suburbanizacja  po  polsku”  /”Suburbanisation  in  Polish”/)  and  Wojciech  Kębłowski  (a graduate from the international urban studies “4cities”). An integral part of the project were  also artistic interventions in public space. One of them – EKOrebelia, the performance bringing  together art and ecology, was widely commented by the audience.

The  2nd edition’s  formula drawns upon  the  1st one. The only difference is  that all  the events  will  be  bound  by  a  common  theme. This Autumn we will explore the European Capital of  Culture. In 2016 Wroclaw will hold the title which belonged or will belong to i.e. Hungarian  Pécs, Slovakian Košice or Czech Pilsen. The  first  day  we  will  be  focused  on  Pécs’ experience, discussing the participatory practices, cultural and civic involvement in the ECC. The second day  will be devoted to Košice. A vital part of that day will be a debate about socialist architecture and its impact on life in the cities.The closing day will belong to the guests from Pilsen. They will  be involved in the discussion about cultural infrastructure, namely about the buildings designed  for cultural practices and  their  role both  – during  the European Capital of Culture celebrations and in the long-term cultural development strategy.

What is the (Central) European Capital of Culture like?