Discoveries from Poland World Cinema

Elections of authorities were a real holiday in the Polish People's Republic. Sometimes suits, often red ties, decorated with the national colors of the committees. The country's residents flocked to the polls in crowds to express their support for those in power with their vote. In compact columns, soldiers and civil servants marched to the commissions. In hospitals, doctors and nurses voted, the ballot boxes were delivered to seriously ill patients. With special documents, railroad workers traveling around the country were also able to fulfill their duty. Years of effort by the authorities in making the public politically aware bore fruit.

In 1948 on the Gardno lake near Szela village 21 girl scouts drowned. It was supposed to be a dream day. The girls wanted to see the sea. That morning they went to church, sleep-deprived – the previous night they had sat for a long time by the bonfire, busy discussing an old legend about princess Wanda who drowned in the rapid currents of Vistula river.

Two siblings and filmmakers look through old tapes they filmed during their shared four weeks of vacation with their father each year.

The report tells the story of the work of the LOT Polish Airlines team, using the example of a passenger flight from Warsaw to Łódź.

Reportage from the construction of a major highway.

The misadventures of a hungry kitten.

Peter Breugel’s famous picture The Mill and the Cross became an inspiration for Lech Majewski’s new film. The director has admitted that this is his greatest film challenge. Both Hollywood stars (Charlotte Rampling, Rutger Hauer, Michael York) and hundreds of extras were involved in the shooting. Over 1500 film set elements and costumes were prepared. Dagmara Drzazga follows the creation process of such a remarkable endeavour.

A documentary condemning the scourge of poorly conducted inventories.

Andrzej Koszyk, a filmmaker, and Jacek Kaczmarski, a singer, take a trip around Warsaw, the place of their birth and youth, after years of emigration.

The youth of a group of teenagers from the social periphery passes through the walls of the Youth Educational Centre. Will the year that Krzysiek and his friends have left to leave enough for the boys to believe that there is a place for them in society?

A short film by Vermilion Film Group. Written and directed by Weronika Wójcik. A story about polish, troubled teenagers, who get overwhelmed by their own problems. A manifesto of independence, freedom, love, pain and pity.

Wasko analyses the relationship between space, sound (the microphone), and image (the camera). In this film/performance, the viewer becomes an active participant of the projection by making it possible to translocate sound from the visible space to the invisible space, and back.

Witold Kaczanowski is one of Poland’s best-known artists, much more famous abroad than in his country of origin. He was born in Poland and spent his childhood under German occupation. Since 1980 he has lived and worked in the USA, where his art attracted numerous admirers and collectors.

The film depicts the silhouette and activities of Mother Ursula Ledóchowska, founder of the Congregation of the Conceiving Heart of Jesus, and the continuation of her work in the modern world.

They planned to spend only three months in Germany. Unexpectedly, the imposition of martial law forced the mother and the daughter to change their plans. A nostalgic story about loneliness, longing and unpredictability around which the audience is guided by a little girl and Barnaby the bear.

Darek is 24 and after 10 years of education at a school for students with intellectual disabilities he needs to confront himself with adulthood. At a film workshop, he receives a camera that will enable him to tell a story of the final weeks at his favourite place from his own perspective. In his musings about trifles as well as matters he cannot fully understand, he is accompanied by his best friend, Daniel. They experience the world in their own way and, at the same time, enable the viewer to see the reality through their eyes for a little while. Full of warmth and humour, the film is a story of friendship as a universal value that joins people regardless of any differences or limitations.

A found footage essay film inspired by Stanisław Lem’s Solaris, consisting of excerpts from 70 films produced by the Educational Film Studio in Łódź in the 1960s and the first radio adaptations of Solaris.

On Christmas Eve a young boy Darek decides to visit his father who now has a new family.

A film about art. Unusual compositions of images give familiar objects a new look.

A documentary about the Jarocin festival in 1990.

In this stop-motion made in the chiaroscuro style of German Expressionism, a poor man sells his face to a pawnshop for a penny, hoping to use it to buy a single lottery ticket.

A portrait of 9-year-old Józek Lizon, an artistically talented boy living in a village near Nowy Sącz. The protagonist talks about his love of sculpting and the work of his father, a folk sculptor. Józek's wooden sculptures reflect the world of the child's experiences and sensations - his games, home activities, the boy's relatives and peers.

A fictional telephone conversation between the filmmaker and his mother on her birthday. A performative reflection on the relationship between public and private spheres in which the maker turns his back to the camera, simultaneously shielding himself, and engages the viewer in the (im)possibility of bridging the gap between the man and his mother. Capturing the intimate conversation seems to be a way of keeping a personal memory alive while it merges with the viewer’s memory.

Morning. Cold interior of an apartment in a block of flats. The hero gets up, carefully does hi morning rituals, eats breakfast, reads the newspaper, gets dressed, adjusts his tie, looks at his watch, it's 7:50... He'll probably go to work soon. He is in a hurry not to be late... And suddenly, instead of going to the door, he directs his steps to the window. He jumps...

A mafia membe wants to make amends for his mistakes, but not everything goes according to plan.

Directorial debut. Short experiment.

A study of human transience, interrupted by the unchanging image of factory chimneys that smoke without pause.

In 1946, the 1st National Competition of Trade Union Member Clubs was held. Almost one thousand amateur teams took part in it, bringing together approximately 40,000 workers, women and men. The reportage was created during the performance at the Polish Theater in Warsaw.

A psychedelic journey towards the light of lamps and the possible mystery associated with them.

A documentary short constructed from the photo album of a German officer, tracing his movements across multiple World War II fronts. The film transforms private souvenirs into stark testimony, exposing how personal mementos intersect with the broader history of the war.

One winter day in the life of a village boy.

A film about two times refugees and their ability to maintain creativity in a time of political terror, repressed culture and fatal bombings. The experience of Belarusian creators who went through two catastrophic transformations in a short period of time. Their lives have been destroyed twice in two years, but they have the strength and energy to carry on. Create and inspire others. They establish Belarus outside the geographical borders of Belarus.

Emotional portrayal of a man's relationship with his mother.

It is a fairy-tale episode, told with tenderness, gushing with the intense colours of flowers and élan vital.

Since the dawn of time, dreams are an inspiration for reflections on the subconscious and work as a gateway to the world of abstract images created based on our thoughts, feelings and experiences. In 'I DREAMED OF' author decided to interpret the dreams of people dear to him and present them in the form of an animated short.

Two people are staring at the flashing lights outside their windows, thinking about walking the distance between themselves. The calm of the empty station and the passing views from the train deepen their loneliness.

Cornelius is a happy-go-lucky crab bachelor. A night spent drinking with his friends turns awry when the parasitic barnacle, Sacculina, spikes his drink and has his wicked way with him. In the days that follow, Cornelius experiences physiological and mental changes that transform his life.

A documentary film about the Laboratory Theatre of 13 Rows.

Building walls along lines on the map is the perfect way to do politics by managing fears. That is why the fairy tale about the Great Defensive Wall On The Border is still told and still eagerly listened to. This film is an expression of anxiety about living in a restricted space. High walls with musty air inside - it is easy to suffocate in an airtight container. The more the wall protects me, the more I feel trapped. Surrounded from the inside.

On Sunday morning, a peasant secures his farm and runs away from the village. A crowd of tourists gets off the train. Sunday in the countryside will be full of noise and rubbish. In the end, everything will be consumed by fire.

The mystery of the New Year's night told from three different points of view. A caretaker, a chimney sweep, and a postman visiting female tenants on several floors experienced it in a different way.

Two sisters travel to the realm of clouds on a paper plane. They are looking for the big tree with the golden leaf. Their plane has to be mended again and again, and the big sister is worried. When she falls ill, the little sister takes control. Slowly they get closer to each other and their goal on this arduous journey.

A four-year-old dog called Pink is big and energetic. The shelter is a place where he feels safe. One day volunteers, worried that Pinki is not being noticed, set up a Facebook page for him and start looking for a permanent career.

The modern world in which Adam and Eve are parting. After spending a plenty of time together, the couple realizes that they don't feel anything for each other. So, they just need to let it go. However, the problem is that despite the lack of feelings, they just got used to each other.

Animals are our silent companions. They have witnessed humanity's greatest achievements and worst failures. What would we see through the eyes of a crab?

The film consists of over a dozen animated epigrams connected by the motif of being trapped in a loop of absurdity. In a colourful labyrinth of observations, the protagonists try to make sense of nonsense – or stay mindlessly within it.

An animated film with documentary elements. The protagonists perform repetitive tasks at a CD factory. Observation of the production line is a pretext for seeking meaning, purpose, and time within the system.

A story about the experiences of a little boy.

This documentary is about the last days of soldiers stationing in Brzeg. Soviet barracks were in the town from 1945. In this film produced in 1990 we could see citizens of Brzeg. They want the Soviet soldiers to leave the town. Moreover, the citizens want to be paid damages for their loss.

Ewa, a woman with intellectual disability, creates handmade dolls and toys. Through them, she talks to the people around her and communicates her emotions. We also see fragments of animation based on Ewa’s tale inspired by her life.

A documentary about the election campaign and the first free elections in Poland in 1990. The filmmakers look behind the scenes of the political game. They present candidates during meetings with voters, document meetings of election staffs and listen to the ‘voice of the street’.

The film is dedicated to the memory of American surrealist Paul Sharits. Sharits sent Robakowski a film score with a proposal to use it in a film production, but the outbreak of martial law prevented the idea from being realised. The film was not made until 2004. The film was created as a result of a very rigorous, constructivist formal procedure, subordinating specific visual values to the melodic line of the musical piece. During the screening, as the notes of the composition are played, corresponding colours appear on the screen, eight colours that correspond to the notes of Fryderyk Chopin's Mazurka Op. 68 No. 4. The vibration of the changing colours and the radiance of the light create a coherent whole with the composer's nostalgic piece. The colourful fields pulsating to the rhythm of the music evoke, on the one hand, the American's structural cinema and, on the other, show the almost vital energy of colour.

A documentary about an outstanding stage and costume designer and author of papal altars, who contributed to the success of Polish cinema in the 1960s and 1970s.