Scene from The Arbor, one of the films featured in the Planet Doc festival.

Warsaw will be ablaze with colour this weekend owing to the annual Juwenalia festivities, when students have a licence to party, resulting in some bold fashion statements and heavy hangovers to match.

A Jamaican style carnival emerged on main strip Krakowskie Przedmiescie today, and reggae gigs - with free entry - will kick off on campus in the afternoon. More revelry follows on Saturday.

For those who want none of these cheery student larks, what better antidote than to head down to Katowice, where Brit Goth overlords The Fields of the Nephilim, a cult sensation in 80s Poland, will be letting loose the dry ice, Friday evening.

Meanwhile, up in the Tri-City, musos can catch Smolik, the so-called Polish Moby, who'll be playing his first gig on the Baltic in many moons. Catch him at Gdynia's Uchu club, this Sunday at 8.

Returning to fashion, Lodz is the place to be this weekend, as Lodz Fashion Week is already underway. Catwalk darlings can catch some of the action, which closes on Sunday 8th.

For film buffs, Warsaw is hosting the 8th Planete Doc Festival (May 6th-15th), a banquet for aficionados of documentary films, with a host of special guests.

Meanwhile, if you thought Polish film was all about earnest historical dramas or vapid romantic comedies, think again. Playing in cinemas across the country are two tremendous debuts about contemporary Poland, Jan Komasa's Suicide Room (Sala Samobojcow) and Marek Lechki's Erratum. Two totally different styles. Two talents to watch over the coming years. (pg)

Review by Nick Hodge