Two new titles for Kosmorama’s Retrospective series in 2026!
For the 2026 festival, the Retrospective program will focus on censorship in film and artistic freedom of expression, with particular emphasis on Polish cinema and Polish filmmakers who were subjected to censorship, bans, and other forms of pressure or attacks on their freedom of speech, expression, and artistic practice during the 1970s and 1980s. One of the key filmmakers within this theme is Andrzej Zulawski, and Kosmorama is delighted to present two of his most well-known titles.
On the Silver Globe
At Kosmorama 2026, you can experience a newly restored 4K version of Andrzej Zulawski's epic science fiction film On the Silver Globe. The film is famously known as the film that was never completed, as production was halted by the Polish authorities when it was approximately 80% finished, and an order was issued to destroy all materials, including costumes and props. The film reels were nevertheless preserved, and the film was finally completed in 1988, with Zulawski's own narration describing the scenes that were never filmed.
The film follows a group of astronauts who crash-land on an alien planet and establish a new civilization. Several generations later, a new traveler from Earth arrives on the planet and is hailed as a messiah—but the promised salvation proves to be brutal.
Possession
After production on On the Silver Globe was halted in 1977, Zulawski moved to France and made the horror masterpiece Possession with Western European funding. We are also delighted to present this spectacular and intense feature film, starring Isabelle Adjani, as part of the 2026 program.
The film follows the spy Mark, who returns home to West Berlin and learns that his wife, Anna, wants a divorce. At first, Mark suspects that Anna has a lover, but after a series of bizarre events, he uncovers a terrifying truth he could never have imagined. What begins as a painful marital breakup turns into a nightmare.
The political vulnerability the director carried with him from Poland can be felt between the lines of the film: a marriage falling apart mirrors Eastern European countries doing the same, reinforced by the gray, impenetrable Berlin Wall. The film gains an added layer of desperation from being made in exile—as if everything he had held back is forced onto the screen. In addition, Zulawski was in the midst of a painful divorce when he made the film.
