Discoveries from Poland World Cinema

A satire on the consumerist lifestyle.

A subjective look at the city through the eyes of its inhabitants: artists, intellectuals, but also so-called ordinary people. Each of the characters portrayed "his Warsaw," so the film includes a wide variety of places - both generally known and those known to a few, both beautiful and well-kept, as well as those that arouse dislike.

In a certain tenement house, a resident of the top floor once again makes life difficult for his neighbors. Neighbors are forced to react to his behavior.

An original impressionistic film that asks viewers about the shape and duration of life. By fulfilling their needs, humans devastate the environment and cause ecological disasters. It is also up to them whether life will be destroyed or continue.

The film is the author's message of memories and reflections evoked by the celebrations of the anniversary of Warsaw's uprising. The picture of the cemetery with crowds of people who came to visit the graves of the insurgents presented in a way that aroused emotions because of the power of the memories it refers to, but also because of the fact that the anniversary was private, unorganized - it was an expression of spontaneous, grassroots activity. The Warsaw Uprising lived in the memories and emotions of those who remembered it, who lost loved ones, friends, acquaintances, but also lost their city, because Warsaw is also the subject of this personal anniversary.

The Deaf Mime Ensemble prepares the premiere of the Parasolki play at the Provincial Cultural Center in Olsztyn. Actors communicate with each other using sign language and they communicate with the audience with facial expressions and gestures.

Paweł looks for the perpetrator of the theft in a student labor cooperative.

The film is a continuation of the films I Died to Live in 1984 and After My Funeral in 1989. As in the second part, the action consists of fictional events (the first part was about real events). Błażejewski is caught in a round-up. Leopold Wójcik's papers were found with him. The pointer lets Wójcik know about this event and warns his colleagues from Kielce who manage to escape. During the interrogation, Błażejewski denies the papers that were found with him. Soon he is released. This does not mean the end of problems for people dealing with Wójcik's case.

A documentary on Leszek Możdżer, a Polish jazz pianist.

A family lives in a remote Kazakh village. There are five sons. The oldest, Aslan, becomes the father’s deputy in charge of all the work and delegating tasks to his younger brothers. Fair and humane, he sympathises with his siblings when they err, and accepts the father’s blame for them. One day Aslan takes the children to the river, a moment of happiness as the river is deep enough for a real swim. Since then, life is different. The children become more diligent in their daily chores, while the river turns into the focus of their lives.

It is still one of the most popular Polish animated films. Servants prepare the table for a luxurious dinner party in a beautiful palace. Guests are gathering slowly. Suddenly they are surprised by an unexpected change of roles between the eater and the one who is eaten.

Man's rebellion against the world of the digits.

The film explores prayer as a real force and the community that can sustain a person when they can no longer cope. The story revolves around the extraordinary journey of Michał Ulewiński, who travels almost 650 kilometers across Poland, carrying a 15-kilogram cross. The route—from the Vistula Lagoon to Giewont, then through Gniezno to Sokółka—forms the symbolic sign of the cross on the map of Poland. This is not just a physical endeavor. It is an intense, personal prayer, a spiritual struggle, and a process of profound inner transformation.

An analysis of the space of the Stadium of the Decade. Formerly the site of the most important sporting events and state celebrations, since 1989 it has become one of the largest markets. The director, presenting one day in the life of the Fair Europe, shows his multi-level construction and the hierarchy of sellers, often coinciding with the topographic layout of the stadium and national affiliation - mainly Polish or Vietnamese, though there are also other visitors from outside the eastern border. The film creates a mosaic of stories told by traffickers, policemen and local criminals. Their accounts show the realities of stadium life - the day of work begins at night, and besides trade, it is filled with numerous thefts, frauds and ethnic tensions. The film also uses archival material from the Documentary and Feature Film Studios, showing the life of the stadium in PRL.

Wiktoria and Franek decide to take another action, this time in the Catholic church. Hybrid in content and form, the documentary "Bad Poles" tells the story of two young LGBTQ+ activists who, in their social and performative actions, fight disinformation, violence and hate speech, especially the formal and institutional ones. Their latest action takes place during Holy Mass. Opposed to the reality around them, they try to change it in their own way, regardless of the consequences.

A crowd of people feel a sudden need to come to a mysterious tower standing in the middle of nowhere. Inside, they are unable to stop moving and dancing, and without even realizing it, they perform a ritual arranged by the creature spinning at the top of the tower.

Grzegorz Królikiewicz’s documentary is dedicated to Prof. Bolesław W. Lewicki, a film critic, theorist, and historian, as well as the rector of the Łódź Film School.

In the Wrocław Museum of Forensic Medicine You can find a peculiar exhibit, namely a hangman's noose made of locks of hair. The material for this macabre object was obtained by a series of assaults on a number of random women in a city's public transport. The animated short - ""Hairytale" is an attempt to tell the story of the creator (as well as a user of) this "work".

A young girl Anka is locked up in a psychiatric hospital even though she thinks everything is fine with her. She becomes the leader of the therapy group and creates new rules that cause trouble.

A documentary film about the tragedy that took place on April 10, 2010, at the airport in Smolensk.

Scarecrow in a characteristic Polish landscape as a witness to the dramatic events of Polish history. World wars, changes in socio-political systems, civilizational transformations, national dramas - in this animated film take the symbolic form of costumes. Zygmunt Konieczny's dramatic music adds expression to Krzysztof Kiwerski's visual vision.

The artist sits at a table over a blank sheet of white paper. He ponders, supported on his elbows; his head in his hands, as if in a vice. The camera, penetrating - it's the veins on his shaved head swelling in deep thought, it's the still empty paper - notices that the sheet shrinks in size until it's a barely visible shred, accidentally swept off the table by someone's breath...

A short story about two queer people living in Poland. Because the country condemns being queer, only at home, behind closed doors, can Andrea and Kornel be themselves. It's a slightly mocking story in which they make fun of stereotypes about queer people.

"Piwnica pod Baranami" - this legendary literary cabaret group celebrated its 30th anniversary in 1986. The jubilee ball, thanks to the host Piotr Skrzynecki and the invited artists, turned into a night of magic.

A documentary film that presents the current condition and the past of the Hel Peninsula, which is gradually taken away by the sea as a result of inappropriate human management. The situation in this small part of Polish land reflects the state of the country right after the fall of communism.

A treasure of Polish culture. A concert film that presents the performance of Mazowsze Song and Dance Ensemble recorded at its headquarters – the palace in Karolina (a part of the village of Otrębusy near Warsaw). The repertoire includes: Bandoska, Kukułeczka, Pod borem and dances such as: oberek, olender.

The film tells the story of Jan Kański, an industrialist addicted to cocaine. Drawn into addiction because of a beautiful woman, he turns away from his family and friends. He owes his rescue from the final fall to his daughter, who is looking for her father.

A travel and nature documentary showing the history and post-war achievements of cities and towns in the Lubusz Region, including the attractions of Miedzyrzecz, Gorzow, Zielona Gora, Lubniewice, and Lagow.

In this unique combination of documentary narration and magic realism, the authors present poignant accounts of those who witnessed the Warsaw Uprising as children. Halinka was saving cats and dogs. ‘Kazimierz’ was watching American B-17 Flying Fortress bombers fly over the city. ‘Hipek’ was a member of the scouting team of canal rats. Jureczek was 9 and he was the youngest soldier sworn in by the Home Army. He served in the district of Mokotów and was hiding in cellars after its defeat.

A woman exists as an incomplete form of herself. She goes unknowingly through various stages of life. Suddenly, her real self wakes up and forces her to fight for liberation.

A short story about an three-man crew of lodgers and their task of cutting down a single tree.

From 'The Workshop of the Film Form'.

A comedy of errors about an unwanted pregnancy, a choleric father , a mother-in-law on his head, a nosy neighbor, a sadist dentist and a stubborn dog.

A ceremonial blessing and hanging of the new bell takes place within a temple.

Fahed, a Palestinian, has been studying film directing in Poland for several years. He is learning the ropes on the set of a production about the Second World War. For the time being, he is working as a sound technician’s assistant, but he soon gets the chance to take on a slightly different role. Although it is an unconventional choice, the young man agrees to play the role of a Nazi.

A summer day. In the middle of a rollerblading ride, you stop by a building long out of use. You don’t come there to swim - there’s no water in the pool. You bring your friend. Besides, neither of you can swim. But what if the pool were filled with imagined water?

Abstract animation.

Deported to Siberia after the Russian invasion on Eastern Europe in 1939, Jakub (11) has only one idea in mind: return home to Poland. Thus begins his odyssey, through the Russian gulag, Taiga and soviet Uzbekistan, from childhood to adulthood.

Excerpts from the diaries and essays of juvenile inmates at a juvenile detention center.

An instructional video on the ongoing replacement of freight wagons, commissioned by the Ministry of Transport. The narrator describes the various stages of the repair process performed by specialized workers.

Wiera Gran was a popular Polish-Jewish singer who managed to survive the Holocaust. However, all of her later life was doomed due to the accusation of being a Nazi collaborator in the Warsaw Ghetto. Was she really a traitor?

The film character, thirty-year-old single woman who is a lawyer, leads a prosperous and well-organized life in Warsaw. Every day in the same time, in her apartment resembling the pictures from luxury catalogue, she practices series of several exercises and cares her body with great patience. However, something is missing…

Together with the crew, Paweł Kędzierski managed to record the statements of nine cichociemni, including the only woman from this distinguished group - Elżbieta Zawacka, pseudonym "Zo". Two of the film's characters did not live to see its premiere. Neither of them is alive today. Thus, the documentary managed to capture for posterity the memories of the last living cichociemni, which gave it historical value.