Film in Kujawy and Pomerania: Kino Sokratesa Launches in Bydgoszcz
The Sokrates Cinema project – the Educational Film and Discussion Festival – is launching at the Management Technical Secondary School in Bydgoszcz. Throughout the 2026/2027 school year, students will meet once a month to watch thought-provoking films together, discuss emotions and relationships, and explore different points of view. The project’s name refers to Socrates, the school’s patron, for whom asking questions, engaging in dialogue and seeking answers were ways of understanding oneself and the world.
Kino Sokratesa is an initiative launched by teacher Joanna Świeciak-Zaparucha, combining film education with educational guidance and prevention activities. Its main aim is to show young people that film can be more than entertainment. It can spark an important conversation, offer an opportunity to reflect on personal experiences and help people better understand one another.
The programme will feature documentaries, educational films and feature films exploring issues relevant to young people. These will include stories about growing up, friendship, family, loneliness, peer pressure, mental health, addiction and the challenges of social media. Other topics will include tolerance, responsibility, values, ecology and the contemporary world. The programme will be adapted to students’ needs and current events.
The most important part of each meeting will begin after the screening. Students will have a moment to reflect on the story they have watched and the emotions it has stirred. They will be able to write anonymously on slips of paper what moved them, what they disagree with or what they would like to discuss. Selected reflections will provide a starting point for a discussion involving the school’s psychological and educational support team.
“It matters a great deal to me that we create a place together that feels a little different from everyday school life,” says the project’s initiator, Joanna Świeciak-Zaparucha. “There will be no grand production, balloons, ribbon-cutting or spectacular fanfare. I am not planning speeches or a formal opening ceremony. I would like it to be modest, intimate and informal. I want our cinema to have a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere and to give young people space to experience a film and reflect on it in peace. Around 70 students will attend the screening. At the entrance, everyone will receive a portion of popcorn and choose a seat that suits them. We, too, will simply sit among the young people as fellow members of the audience. It is very important to me that this educational cinema becomes a space where people can pause for a moment, look at their emotions and listen to one another. I hope the students will take away something more from these meetings than just a film they have watched.”
Discussions will take place in an atmosphere of openness and mutual respect, with no pressure on anyone to speak. Everyone will be free to share their views, but listening carefully to others will be just as important. The aim is not to reach unanimous agreement, but to discover different perspectives and develop empathy.
Kino Sokratesa will also have a distinctive approach to participation. For each screening, class tutors will receive two tickets to distribute among their students. The invitations will recognise engagement, active participation, a supportive attitude towards classmates and efforts to help others. The group of participants will change each month, giving more students the opportunity to take part.
The film opening Kino Sokratesa on 21 October will be The Swimmers.
Paweł Jankowski
Promotion Department
16 October 2026