Discoveries from Poland World Cinema

The video explains how contraceptives work.

The protagonists of the report are Piotr, who owns a house in Krabi and has been living in Thailand for 17 years, and Rafał, who has been permanently based in Bangkok for 14 years. Both work in the tourism industry, speak Thai fluently, have blended into Thai society, and have no plans to return to Poland. Yet they still remember their homeland — they organize gatherings with fellow Poles and occasionally visit the country.

Ball is a 30-year-old who lives with his parents and works from morning till night, yet doesn’t shy away from parties and the consumer pleasures of urban life. However, in keeping with Thai tradition, he decides to become a monk for a short time. He enrolls in a monastery set in beautiful surroundings, run by a charismatic abbot with an intriguing past.

Vietnamese people make up one of the largest national minorities in Warsaw. They have brought with them a fascinating culture, customs, and a difficult history. Why and how did they end up in Poland? What do they do, what are their dreams? The film is a record of a search — an attempt to get to know and understand them, made from the perspective of an ordinary person. For a moment, we can take a closer look at the faces of the protagonists, their eyes; see them laughing, growing sad, or deep in thought. Like any other community, the Vietnamese have their own problems and divisions. There are political, economic, religious, and generational differences among them. But there is one thing that unites them all — they are Vietnamese Varsovians.

Is living as a mythical creature, mouse or furry not the most radical form of self-realization? In her film, Masion moves through VR spaces as an avatar to explore touch.

When a princess decides to escape from a possessive ruler, she wonders if her desire for freedom will triumph over the king’s despotic visions. Paper Love is brought to life through animated paper cut-outs and an entrancing score that together showcase the young filmmaker’s inventive imagination.

A special installment of the Polish Film Chronicle on March 8, 1949, highlighted women’s emancipation under socialism, emphasizing their roles in both light and heavy industries. The state supported women with childcare facilities, and feminatives were not used in job titles. Notable figures included Antonina Traczyk, a female shock worker, and Eugenia Pragier, a deputy minister. These changes were part of the Eastern Bloc’s feminist movement, as noted by the International Women’s Congress in Budapest.

A propaganda film showing the recruitment and preparation for the service of Poles in the assembly camps in France.

Contemporary montage of shots taken in the first quarter of 1945 in Warsaw by an unknown cameraman. The special specimen is part of the project "Film Memory. Miracle at the Vistula River and other historical events in FINA's film resources".

Thirty-six-year-old Anna is experiencing a crisis in her orderly but, as she believes, hypocritical life. After a failed suicide attempt, Anna ends up in a detox center, where she meets her old childhood friend. This encounter changes the lives of both women.

An intimate portrait of six-year-old Kasia. The girl has a vivid imagination and observes the world around her with great attention.

Julka is an avid photography enthusiast living in a dangerous neighborhood that has been ruled for many years by fans of two football clubs: Czarni and Pogoń. The girl meets Maciek, who stands on the opposite side of the football divide. The great love that will unite their hearts will set off a series of tragic events.

Veronica and her daughter arrive in a small town. Veronica has a plan but first she needs to ask someone for help – someone she hasn't seen for a while. This person is Thomas, a priest in a local church. Their meeting however will take an unexpected turn.

After his wife's death, Tadeusz goes to the lake, where he tries to unravel the mystery she left behind.

A satire on the trading system in People's Poland. A husband and wife watch a TV commercial for a cake that can be made and baked very quickly. The wife dreams of a new stove, while the husband dreams of something sweet, so he goes to town to buy ingredients for the cake.

The film closely follows the lives of patients in a hospice. We witness their everyday existence – their tears, pain and suffering, but also some joyful moments. For, against all expectations, a hospice is not only a place where one comes to die.

One of the villages in the Podlasie region near the border, inhabited by the Belarusian minority, and in fact already partly abandoned by it - the young did not want to take over the family farm and left for a nearby town, somewhere further into Poland or abroad, while only the elderly remained in the village. Often widowed and lonely, they try to find something to do in the spiral of successive days that are no different from each other. One such ‘pastime’ is a visit to a travelling bread shop, which for many of them is their only ‘window on the world’, an opportunity to leave home for a while and have a few words with another human being...

Dwarfs appeared in Poland in the 80s, painting over opposition slogans with their images. They organized happenings under “There is no freedom without dwarves,” contributing to the fall of communism. During Ukraine’s Orange Revolution, Polish dwarves supported it by traveling to Kyiv in an orange bus, bringing chocolate heads of candidates, orange ribbons, and a 15-meter scarf, which they draped around the election winner.

The extended television version of the film 83 Zlota Street, offering an expanded look at the various colourful characters introduced there.

A short film about professional and private dignity. Portrait of Andrzej Krzysztof Wróblewski, an acclaimed Polish journalist.

Borzecka made a film about love. In this type of feature film, the characters are usually young, beautiful, and rich, or at least hold two of these characteristics. The heroes of this film are the complete opposite. They are neither young, rich, nor beautiful. At times, however, they become beautiful. With the love that brightens their faces, reduces wrinkles, eradicates years and ailments. It brings joy. It calms anger and despair. Borzecka found her characters in the senior clubs— places where older people, often alone, try to get out of the circle of isolation, have fun, and especially to love and be loved.

A study of those on the periphery of society; unseen outsiders eking out an existence in sewers and subways.

A biographical documentary on Krzysztof Komeda, the great jazz composer who signed the scores of many of the first Roman Polanski's movies, from Noz w wodzie to Rosemary's baby. It features footage archive from Komeda concerts and from movies that have Komeda's soundtracks as well as interviews to people who worked with him and to his widow. There's also a brief dialogue between Jerzy Skolimowski and Roman Polanski, supposedly shot shortly after Komeda's death.

A ballad-like story about a group of young people who settled in a village near Olsztyn a few years ago and decided to stay and work on the land. Among them are art historians, an actor, and an engineer. The film, which has no commentary, is accompanied by a song whose chorus sounds like the young protagonists' credo: "So take life into your own hands, life as it is. You won't get any more of it, you know that very well."

Matthew and Luke are brothers, 10 and 11 years old. In Paweł Kędzierski's film, perversely entitled Children's Day, we accompany them from a difficult morning wake-up call to going to bed in the evening. Although childhood is seen as a time of fun and carefree, Kędzierski's camera closely observes the full lives of the boys who take part in rehearsals for the absurd school play, learn by heart boring poems and help with everyday shopping. In the background, and sometimes in the foreground, the reality of the communist Poland.

In photos and films, Praga resembles a small town rather than a district of Warsaw. One may see service facilities, sometimes only signboards and few craftsmen doing jobs becoming a thing of the past. Grinders, engravers, tailors, blacksmiths, saddlers rarely meet their customers. The symbol of the passing era is a cabman portrayed against high and modern blocks of flats. In the backyards of Praga, mangles are still visible. It is a thing of women, similarly to beauty and hairdressing salons. A lighthouse keeper still lights gas lamps, but the bygone world slowly dies out.

An "Open letter to the directors of the Municipal Transport Company in Warsaw", an appeal for a more rational and passenger-oriented communication policy in the capital. From the film we learn that when asked about the causes of problems with Warsaw public transport, the authorities typically give the same answer: "objective difficulties" are to blame. The author of the documentary, the author of many films devoted to the faults and thoughtlessness of Warsaw officials, managed to identify 8 basic difficulties that make the use of public transport in the capital city in the early 1970s a nightmare. The degree of their "objectivity" can be decided by the viewer himself.

The employees of a tailor's workshop portrayed by him make their working hours more pleasant by chatting, during which the work itself sometimes comes to the background. Their conversations regularly cover the subject of the various issues that tailors and seamstresses have to deal with in their everyday lives. But when customers make complaints and comments about tight jackets and crooked jackets, they can only count on aggression or saying it can’t be helped. All for all is the title of a poem by Julian Tuwim, starting with a stanza: "A bricklayer builds houses, / The tailor sews clothes, / but where would he sew if he didn't have a flat". Kindergarten children learn from the poem that every job serves some purpose and we need each other. Paweł Kędzierski in his documentary ironically shows that the devil is in the details.

A special episode of the Chronicle commemorating the death of Bolesław Bierut. He died in Moscow, March 13, 1956. The President of Poland, the President of the Council of Ministers of the Polish People's Republic, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party, was a guest of the earth-shattering 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, at which Khrushchev delivered a secret speech on the crimes of Stalinism. Obviously, the film does not mention that because in our country Bierut's death began the thaw period. An honor guard was set next to the coffin in Moscow. The funeral was attended by PUWP delegates, marshals of the USSR, family and workers. The last journey led through Moscow to the airport, where the Bulgarian Prime Minister gave his farewell speech. The funeral march created by Fryderyk Chopin accompanies the images in the production.

The observation of the difficult to access natural phenomena is the main attraction of the film. The vast icy landscapes are impressive here.

The film depicts the life of birds, in a very cold place on earth, which is the Arctic.

The coronation ceremony of the Icon of Our Lady of the Dawn Gate took place on 2 July 1927. It was a grand celebration, not only religious, but also national, attended by state dignitaries headed by President Ignacy Mościcki and Marshal Jozef Pilsudski. Despite a storm and rain, Vilnius was visited by thousands of pilgrims, including Poles from the Kaunas region, which is part of Lithuania, for whom it was also a patriotic manifestation. Just 2 days later, on 4 July, a film account of the ceremony was screened at Warsaw's Colosseum cinema. In 2023, the film was reconstructed based on three incomplete copies.

7/3/2015 Poland

Workers in the shipyard assemble a huge ship. Next to her, there’s a stage for the delegation officially launching the ship. When the ship's godmother cuts the rope and the champagne hits the side, the ship does not leave the port. It’s the official delegation.

A post-war film by Włodzimierz Kowańko, created in Argentina

The last pre-war animated film created by Włodzimierz Kowańko

A German Nazi Kulturfilm made by the UFA Studios, Warsaw branch, in 1942. It was made to show "how good" the village life is under the new occupiers. It is also showing the romantic village life in Ukraine similar to the Soviet korenizatsiia films of the 1930s.

In a world without humans, a visitor finds himself exploring the remnants of Earth's culture. Polish museums become a mysterious land of conjecture and fantasy, where artworks gain new life after the end of mankind. Pathos, comedy and melancholy are present in equal measure. Constructivism wanders with romanticism to the to the rhythm of the opera "Twilight of the Gods".

Football. Records, legends, triumphs. The male history of this sport already has its icons, but a new phenomenon is emerging before our eyes. Women's football is developing faster than ever, and the documentary film "Let's Play It Our Way" will capture this extraordinary moment. It is a story of determination, dreams and sacrifice. About a love for football that must overcome stereotypes and limitations. In November 2024, the Polish women's national football team advanced to the UEFA Euro finals for the first time in history. This tournament will be another step in popularizing women's football, and the film "Let's Play It Our Way" aims to support this process by inspiring young girls to pursue their dreams on the pitch.

This film portrays Mohammad Reza and his daughter Saher in Iran, close to the iraqi border. Traces of war and battle are everywhere. The loving father and veteran sees himself in obligation against the Islamic State and struggles for his child's acceptance.