This year marks the 14th installment of the Rochester Polish Film Festival, which this weekend brings to town eight features and six shorts from a country often (and frustratingly so) absent from the American arthouse. Sponsored by the Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies at the University of Rochester, the Polish Film Fest has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception in the mid-90's, with current Polish cinema supplanting the largely archival selections available to the festival in its early years.

Filmmaker Feliks Falk will be on hand when his WWII drama "Joanna" kicks things off opening night at the Dryden, then the festival moves to the Little, where highlights include Lech Majewski's acclaimed period piece "The Mill and The Cross," starring Rutger Hauer as Flemish artist Pieter Bruegel, as well as the three films I got to preview. So read on, then visit the festival's website at rochester.edu/college/psc/CPCES for more information.

With her Marilyn hair and hypnotic curves, Kitka's mom seemed, to her young daughter, larger than life. And even though she's been dead for a decade, her blowzy spirit continues to hang heavy over those she left behind. Growing up amid tombstones with her stonemason father, Kitka (Helena Sujecka) has long been open to communicating with her late mother, but Ryszard Brylski's darkly comedic coming-of-age tale "A Wonderful Summer" recounts the time her mom decided to lovingly meddle from beyond the grave. Kitka's dad dulls his widower's pain with alcohol, while her secretive grandfather's grief takes the form of stubborn grudge. And Kitka's been so busy caring for the wounded men around her that she hasn't given much thought to her own future.

It's not long before both romantic and professional possibilities ensue in the form of a smooth-talking young man in competition with her father's funerary business. But what about the goodhearted Rudy (Cezary Lukaszewicz), her dad's quiet apprentice? And why does that fortune teller look exactly like Kitka's dead mother? A couple of genuine surprises make up for the occasional interludes of clichéd predictability, as does Sujecka's adorably feisty performance as the evolving Kitka. (Saturday, November 12, 6:30 p.m., Little Theatre)

The proverbial prodigal returns in "Erratum," a dreamily shot drama about the complicated bonds between sons and fathers. The accomplished debut feature by writer-director Marek Lechki tells the story of Michal (Gerard Butler lookalike Tomasz Kot), whose simple errand - to retrieve his boss's car from his hometown - leads to a series of bittersweet encounters with the people he tried to put in his rearview mirror. An unexpected tragedy keeps Michal from immediately returning home to his wife and son, leaving him ample time to sit in uncomfortable silence with his uncommunicative dad (Ryszard Kotys), reconnect with his former bandmate (Tomasz Radawiec), and make peace with his mistakes.

The details are parceled out slowly, perhaps because the dialogue is so spare; "Erratum" is more about atmosphere and things unsaid. It's gorgeous, confident filmmaking that renders the surroundings a character unto itself, with claustrophobic rooms crowded with resentment and wide-open spaces where a soul can breathe. The supporting cast is populated by people that look like everyday beings, each with a tale of their own, while the generous principal players illustrate that more than half of acting is reacting. (Saturday, November 12, 8:45 p.m., Little Theatre)

The twisty whodunit "Entanglement" has all the makings of a Hollywood genre flick: handsome, jaded cop and leggy, no-nonsense prosecutor must team up to solve a murder despite their thorny romantic past. The first case Agata (Maja Ostaszewska) gets assigned to after relocating to Kraków pairs her with Smolar (Marek Bukowski), and it's a weird one, featuring a dead man skewered in the eye, four suspects without apparent motive, and the questionable therapy methods that brought them all together. You can write this one yourself (but most likely not in the Polish language), as Agata and Smolar get in over their heads once it starts to look like their investigation ties into a previous killing rooted in politics, money, and jealousy.

But whoever said that foreign films are all required to be dry and arty? "Entanglement" is nail-biting fun, with a labyrinthine plot, hammy performances, and spectacular flyover shots of stunning Kraków that would make a postcard envious. (Tuesday, November 15, 7 p.m., Little Theatre)

2011 Rochester Polish Film Festival

Thursday, November 10-Tuesday, November 15