Discoveries from Poland World Cinema

Wanting to improve her distant relationship with her depressive father, the adult daughter tries to persuade him to have a deeper conversation and seeks a way to understand him.

Zoya works in a store. She gets a call from her distant son, but hears only gunshots, screams, and explosions. Zoya starts searching for her son, who may have died in the war, but everyone convinces her that there is no war.

The content of the film is a set of reflections of the author reflected in unusual combinations of trick shots based on the principles of geometric division of the frame. People and the city walls around them, their everyday life presented in an unusual way, create conditions for personal perception of the film by each viewer individually.

A short documentary film about an unnamed engineer who achieves a good property position through hard work, stubbornness and consistency in his actions. Scenes from the workplace and everyday family life are interspersed with monologues by the protagonist, in which he expresses his opinions on attitudes towards superiors, conflicts or the qualities of a good professional. He thus invites us to polemicize and reflect on the life of a careerist and the concept of success.

KSW 96: Pawlak vs. Janikowski was a mixed martial arts event that took place on Saturday July 19, 2024 at the Atlas Arena in Lodz, Poland.

The inhabitants of a village surrounded by misty mountains perform magical rituals. When Florek and his cow are separated, the boy does everything to get her back.

Made by the Polish Telegraphic Agency, this reportage shows the construction and operation of the modern cargo port in Gdynia and its facilities. It is a typical example of a propaganda film of the second half of the 1930s, showing the rapid development of the young country and its growing economic power. The film has been digitised based on a copy imported from the Soviet Union in 1980.

A short film depicting a young woman wandering around Warsaw Central Station while being observed and stalked by several men.

The sea on whose shore Weronika Szyma has set her film is a dense, pulsating blue. The beach and the family who are staying there, meanwhile, are limited to delicate black and white line drawings. Their minimalism makes the blue stand out all the more enchantingly: Sometimes represented as a horizontal strip that promises freedom but also fuels insecurity. Sometimes sloshing diagonally across the screen, swallowing up the image completely for a brief moment and marking a caesura. And there are quite a number of caesuras, because the seven film minutes span the story of several generations.

An etude depicting theft and the pursuit of a thief taking place in an urban setting.

Two little boys watch how houses are built.

Two men spend the day together strolling through the streets of Łódź, following routes omitted from guidebooks. An attempt to take an honest look at the city and describe its atmosphere.

The film encourages people to settle in the so-called Regained Territories. Not only cities and towns but also villages that offer brick buildings and fertile soil. The region of Zielona Góra, Szczecin, Wrocław, Olsztyn – people are wanted there.

Jaracz is an experienced oilman. He discovers a place where oil is found underground and installs a well there to extract the valuable resource. Needing a year to work, he hires Jerzy, who is a friend of Antek, who rents a room from him and works nearby in a steel mill. Both men are in love with Basia, Jaracz's daughter. Seeing that he is losing the competition for Barbara's heart to Jurek, Antek decides to take a reckless step.

The little naughty bunny is kidnapped by a fox and a wolf.

A satirical take on the issue of "sugran" – a new high-quality feed made from a mixture of dried fodder and whey. A satirical film directed against the squandering of social initiatives. Its critical tone led to a ban on its distribution. Ultimately, the film did not premiere until 1981.

The film tells the story of pilots, American volunteers who fought in the Polish-Bolshevik war.

Adored by the youngest, the resolute cat faces new adventures. Together with her faithful friends Pacek, Adelka and Julian she will go to the pool, beach and, of course, on a picnic! We'll also see how she meets a new friend while playing ball, learns an important lesson by playing store, and visits her uncle in the countryside, where she delights in his new tractor! The movie stories based on Anita Glowinska's beloved books are the perfect opportunity for an unforgettable screening at the cinema. The series "Kitten" on the big screen!

The first of nine short films made by Agnieszka Osiecka during her studies at the Film School. The cinematographer for the exercise was Jerzy Woźniak, then a third-year student of cinematography. The names of the authors of the short film and its title are revealed in the opening credits. However, these are not traditional credits on a blackboard. Someone's hand moves chalk across the board, decorating the title with a flower. The nature of the opening credits, which together with the closing credits form an integral part of the film, a kind of narrative bracket, introduces the viewer to the mood of the short film - a light, funny and unpretentious story.

Collective heroes of the film: men, women from across the eastern border. Belarusians, Russians. In Poland they found a chance for a better existence. Many have education, often higher education, but they work on construction sites. Ten hours a day at a time. They are treated as second- or third-class people. They are required to do more than Polish workers, and paid much less. They accept this. They have no choice.

A report from the work of two Polish icebreakers called ‘Perkuna’ and ‘Światowid’ during a harsh winter near the Danish Drogen Strait. The film shows the value of collective work and the ability to harness the forces of nature by a man.

A documentary about the most famous Polish rock festival of the communist era – the Jarocin Festival. With the help of musicians who owe their artistic existence to this festival and its organizers, the filmmakers paint a picture of a legendary, almost mythical event. The very fact that a punk rock and hippie festival existed in a country behind the Iron Curtain was a phenomenon in itself. And when we realize the cultural significance of Jarocin, we understand that this festival was unique and irreplaceable. The film's director presents a wide range of people who appeared at the event over the course of its several years of existence, as well as artists who took their first steps on stage in the 1980s and are now "megastars" and pillars of Polish rock culture.

A simple video performance mocking the so called "butchers of art", some Polish performers that used to devastate their bodies during the performances.

A mother-daughter’s conversation reveals their own struggles respectively in a night. Instance of the marriage crisis, homo-love, and loneliness which are stimulating them to get deeper to each other and their own-self.

Thirteen-year-old Ewa lives in an emotional twine between two families: biological and adoptive. In order to close her first home, she has to erase the past and traumatic memories.

After hearing that Sodom is in grave danger, the greatest sodomite-patriote Adam decides to embark on a journey to save it. Will he manage to save his beloved country?

Kasia and Iwonka's father leaves the family, leaving the girls alone with their mother.

A story about growing up, making decisions, and the daily cruelty of the world, based on an unfinished novel by Franz Kafka. An older servant seduces Karl Rossmann in his family home. To avoid scandal, Karl’s parents send him to America, where he is thrown into the vortex of a strange and ruthless world. He begins an endless journey in search of his place in an unknown country.

A widower confuses the door and accidentally comes to the house of a lady bored of her lover.

Heinrich George was a German actor who began his career in silent film. Although he was an active member of the German Communist Party before the Nazis came to power, he could be seen in many fascist propaganda films in the 1930s and during World War II. After the war, George, his wife and children were imprisoned by the Red Army in Sachsenhausen. George died during an appendectomy in 1946.

A man gets on the train. Things that he sees cause him to have erotic and cruel associations with the sensuality of women and the industrial slaughter of animals. This train to self-annihilation goes only one way, there is no return.

A tenement house in Poznan as a background of social changes and political events in the history of Poland in the 20th century. Shop signs, languages, banners and wall inscriptions change - the tenement is still the same.

A man in the library opens a catalog with the history of the 20th century. The figures from the catalog come to life and show the achievements of the age focusing on their disastrous effects.

At the level of text, Bąkowski's Spoken Film 5 relies on strikingly personal and direct lyricism targeted directly at the viewer. The film is a minimalist, monochrome, hand-drawn animation. Contrary to the previous Spoken Films, it does not lend itself to easy division into parts, which are all merged here by repetitive elements of image and text (such as the vertical lines in the first scene, which later start rotating like the hands of a clock, referred to in the text of the second scene, which finally unfolds into the image of a digital clock). The music for Spoken Film was written by Dawid Szczęsny, experimental musician and turntabler, who works with Bąkowski in a duo called Niwea.

Dive into this erotic, sensorial experience that transforms spoken word into audiovisual landscapes. Combining animation, character choreography and the sonic structure of ASMR, Nightsss distils the Polish-specific sounds in co-director Weronika Lewandowska’s poetry to conjure ravishing onomatopoeic landscapes that cross language barriers.

A mother and her three children live in a place where the only food there is apart from the mother's milk are figs from the fig tree.

The author of the film observes seven-year-old Zuzia's struggle for life from up-close. The girl suffers from an extremely rare genetic skin condition. Her skin, as sensitive as a butterfly's wing, falls apart under the gentlest touch. The only possibility to alleviate the girl's suffering is an expensive surgery in the USA, which entails high risk. The camera captures her parents in poignant moments of despair and their glimmers of hope when they are trying to survive this emotional rollercoaster. What is the most impressive in this film is Zuzia herself, who is aware of her situation in a very mature way.

A contemporary take on the Last Supper of Jesus and the Twelve Apostles with an unexpected twist. A drama based around a group of men seated at a table, moving to the rhythm of modern music for a string quartet.

Dick, a modest little boy, narrowly saves a little kitten from drowning. The cat, very good at hunting mice and rats, interests a sailor who asks to take it on a commercial voyage on his ship. On his return, a surprise awaits his owner Dick...

Several episodes from the series Przygody misia Colargola edited into a single movie.

The third installment of the adventures of a favorite of preschoolers, known to fans of the cult book series. In the next four episodes Basia, with her usual charm and energy, faces the challenges of everyday life: she struggles with the household mess, copes with more responsibilities, makes new friends and prepares for Christmas.

Circumstances trigger concoction of desire and guilt, when secrets from past overcast Daniel's existence. He travels through his nightmares to introspect his sexuality. Daniel's survival turns into a mirage, as he finds himself muddled between homosexuality and pedophilia.

Alla wants to become a ballet dancer very much. It is her another attempt to be admitted to the famous Russian Waganowa Ballet Academy in Saint Petersburg. Entrance exams are extremely difficult for her. Alla needs to practice additionally to lengthen her legs since her proportions are not correct. 52% is an ideal ratio of legs to height.

Documentary about Polish satirist and actor, Jerzy Dobrowolski.

Animation short by Wojciech Bakowski