Słowem wstępu. Kilka słów od Marcina Pieńkowskiego

Hi,

My name is Marcin Pieńkowski, and for the past few months, together with a wonderful Polish team and my Greek friends, we’ve been building Cinobo for you. And finally, enough waiting – we’re putting it in your hands!

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the time when it all began, and about why I do what I do – sharing cinema with others. My brother left Poland when I was 12. He left me a room with VHS tapes, a VCR, and a small TV – a dream come true. On the walls, the immortal wood paneling (made by my dad) and stills from the monthly magazine “Kino.” Every day, Chaplin, Bardot, Cybulski, and Kinski looked down at me. I devoured films by the hundreds – recorded off TV, borrowed from the local video rental shop, where nobody checked how old I was (sic!). I already knew I wanted to be close to film. I didn’t dream of becoming a director or a famous actor. I felt within me a mission to recommend what I’d discovered. As a seven-year-old, I knew the TV guide by heart, and my siblings delighted in quizzing me on it. By 13, I was recommending specific films to the whole family. Then I went to high school, and friends joined in. I had a knack for matching the right film to the right person. That was, and still is, my superpower. Everyone had a different taste, a different sensibility, different needs, a different mood – I knew that well. Most people walked out of the cinema satisfied afterward (though there were also those who were annoyed with me – to this day I remember a furious friend I sent to see Godard, on a date, no less).

Then came adulthood. And work at the New Horizons festival. I traveled the festival world – from Buenos Aires, through Cannes, to Busan. I often got to watch films first, sometimes even before their world premiere. I’d bring them back to Poland and show them to a very demanding, wonderful festival audience. It was a huge responsibility and an extraordinary pleasure. When, after many years, I finished my work at the festival, thanks to my Greek friends I discovered something called Cinobo. A streaming platform that builds community and, what completely surprised me, invites its viewers to the cinema. I thought something like that simply had to come to Poland.

A platform that carefully curates its films. That seeks out the ones that got lost along the way somewhere. That constantly expands its catalogue. And above all, that listens to its subscribers. A romantic and beautiful vision, and I fell in love with it. And here it is – Cinobo arrives in Poland. There’s a handful of us, working day and night to give our viewers the best content. Films and series. Curated collections. Not only art-house and festival cinema, but also brilliant, intelligent entertainment – fantastic comedies, romances, and thrillers. We believe the best films are for everyone. And yes, we’re also inviting you to the cinema with Cinobo Pass (huge thanks to the wonderful art-house cinemas and distributors who trusted us). Cinema still is, and always will be, what matters most.

We put together the Cinobo catalogue with a lot of heart, trying to include films we love and that we want you to love too. There are many of MY films in there that you may not have seen – The Ice Storm by Ang Lee, Mr. Hulot’s Holiday by Jacques Tati, “An Angel at My Table” by Jane Campion, or The Red Hangar by Juan Pablo Sallato, discovered at this year’s Berlinale. More collections and premieres are waiting in our pipeline. There will be a great many of them coming up soon. Browse the catalogue by creators, collections, genre, region, decade, but also by mood. And thanks to that, I get to feel like that teenager recommending films to his family all over again.

I’m glad you’re here and joining the Cinobo community. We want you to help shape it. Write reviews, build lists, recommend films nobody else can find. Cinobo is for you.

See you at the cinema, and on the couch.

This English version was translated with AI.