The festival is helmed by Polish star Graznya Torbicka who said that despite the total lack of cinemas in Kazimierz the audiences flocked to see good films when given a chance.

"Our attendance was over 45 000 this year, up 50% over last year," said Torbicka, "we have to build everything here from scratch but it's worth it. There are no cinemas here and audiences really want to see films. The most important thing about Two Rivers is that it gives audiences a chance to see good films that they would otherwise not have a chance to see"

The picture postcard villages of Kazimierz Dolny and Janowiec boast castles and village houses dating from medieval times built from the region's characteristic white limestone. Long a favourite with Polish tourists the area and its unspoiled nature preserves has yet to be discovered by European tourists.

Screenings went on for the nine day event in two ruined castles overlooking the Vistula River, an open market square and several cinema tents erected for the festival.

Audiences had travelled from Warsaw and surrounding regions to this central Poland location to catch such rare cinematic treats as the only screening of this year's Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix winner, Jacques Audiard's The Prophet.

"The director has decided to redit the film so the audiences here in Two Rivers will be the only ones in the world to have a chance to see the original version as it was screened in Cannes this year," said Torbicka

Another highlight was a rare screening of the reconstructed version of the Pier Paolo Pasolini's poetic newsreel montage Anger. Audiences enjoyed the Polish premiers of many of the best of this year's international festival crop while Polish films made up a significant part of the programme which was obviously a big crowd pleaser.

But the Two Rivers is not confined to just film and theatre shows, concerts and spectacles rounded out the programme.