Krakow, 14th April 2014 - "A Dream of Warsaw," a biographical story about Czesław Niemen, one of the most popular Polish singers, will open the 54th Krakow Film Festival, which starts on 25th May. The documentary by Krzysztof Makowski will also take part in Polish competition.

"A Dream of Warsaw" is the first extensive biographical film about Czesław Niemen, the icon of Polish popular music. The opportunity to make this film is the 10th anniversary of the musician's death, which fell in January. The film, the shooting of which started in 2005, uses many archival materials, unknown up till now. They shed new light on the life of the artist, because Niemen, popular and loved by the audience - his albums were sold in hundreds of thousands of copies - was not liked by the contemporary authorities and critics. In the documentary by Krzysztof Magowski, Niemen's friends, music journalists - a total of over 50 people - vividly talk about the artist. From these individual stories, there emerges also the picture of Polish music scene, cultural patronage from the epoch of Polish People's Republic and complicated times of the end of the communist era.

The film is richly illustrated with the music by Niemen, who in 1999 was chosen the artist of all times in the poll organised by the opinion-forming weekly "Polityka". His works are not only the canon of Polish song and constant inspiration for younger generation of artists, but also an integral part of popular culture. The film by Magowski starts with a scene, in which one can hear the football fans at the stadium of Legia Warszawa singing the first lines of the Niemen’s song “A Dream of Warsaw”.

"A Dream of Warsaw" is a must for the fans of Niemen, but not only for them, because  Magowski managed to avoid sentimental tone and the film forms a riveting story about a genius musician, who made a breath-taking career and secured for himself a permanent place in history, though he was not pampered by life," said Krzysztof Gierat, the director of Krakow Film Festival.

The world premiere of the film will take place at the Krakow Film Festival; the documentary will also participate in Polish competition, the main prize of which is the Golden Hobby-Horse. The screening of the film attended by the filmmakers will be held on 25th May, during the opening ceremony of 54th Krakow Film Festival. Tickets for the opening ceremony, 20 zloty each, will be available at the website www.krakowfilmfestival.pl and at the box office of the cinema Kijów.Centrum from 16th May.