Discoveries from Poland World Cinema

A Latvian engineer returns as an expert to the shipyard on the Coast, which he had to leave once.

The action of the show begins in 1964. The heroine - Agnieszka, an assistant at a university, lives in a hotel for young researchers. She differs from the rest of the inhabitants, she is lost and closed in on herself, which triggers malicious reactions in the environment that turn into acts of collective psychological aggression.

On Christmas Eve afternoon, Hania waits for her dad to come back from work. When Hania returns from shopping, she finds a mysterious bag and hides it in the backyard's closet. After a while, she meets a black man in royal clothes. He recognizes King Belshazzar, who lost the gift he was carrying. Hania decides to keep King Belshazzar in her room.

The documentary tells about the underground activity of the Polish Scouting Association, known as the "Gray Ranks", during World War II.

Margot, Łania and Lu fight as a queer collective against oppressive norms in today’s Poland. The courageous women succeed in bringing about positive change, but the attention to their actions has a price.

A footballer ending his career takes up a job as an engineer.

Kamil is unable to choose between two women he cares about: his wife Izabella and friend Małgorzata. Christmas Eve will turn out to be a turning point in a man's life.

A swimming instructor takes part in a swimming marathon.

A group of teenagers get together for a few summer days at a lake house. However, their carefree time is interrupted by a series of strange and inexplicable events.

A hot summer at George Sand's house in Nohant. Her children, friends and Fryderyk Chopin are staying at the summer resort. The relations between them are extremely confused, full of long-accumulated resentments, regrets, but also deeply hidden passions. The main character in the whole story, however, is George Sand. In her shadow, under her caring supervision and watchful eye, Chopin's talent flourishes. His music is everywhere at home.

A provincial prosecutor who has just moved to Warsaw appears at the General Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw with the intention of resuming an investigation into a high-profile political crime from years ago - known as the Murder of Bohdan Piasecki

The film takes place just after the war in Lower Silesia. Jan and his wife, Janina, who are expecting a child, settle in one of the villages. The soldier Bartek dies in tragic circumstances, and in his honor the couple named their son Bartłomiej.

Around the visit of a long-lost childhood friend, Ewa is trying to pretend that she has married Marek and is carrying his child.

Greg Zglinski graduated with Przed zmierzchem/Before Dusk in 1995 under artistic supervision of Krzysztof Kieślowski.

The circus visits a small town during the German occupation. The lion trainer becomes the object of the local lineman's sighs.

Octave de Vergenes, a romantic poet and frequenter of salons, leaves Paris and lives in the provinces, in the estate inherited from his father. Soon he meets his neighbor, a young widow, Brygida Pierson.

An elderly woman takes a job as a housekeeper in an elegant villa.

In the sea, Peter and the dog find a bottle with a note written by a shipwrecked person. They go looking for a sender asking for help.

Józef comes to Krakow, where he is to participate in the jubilee of Nowa Huta.

When Piotr, as a mature man, browses through family photos, memories arise in him. He then returns to his childhood, which evoke both emotions and reflections related to the values, tradition and cultural heritage he received from his father and mother.

The title inheritance is a square in Buczacz, bequeathed by an American citizen to Leon Zabielak as a token of gratitude for saving his life during the war.

In the film Warsaw 88-89 we observe the city on the eve of the coming changes, captured on VHS tape. Tomasz Dominik and Piotr Rozbicki capture interesting, distinctive details - an unusual balcony, inscriptions on the walls, beautiful but dilapidated architectural details - from the gray reality of shabby tenement houses, blocks of flats, squalid courtyards. In the background we can observe the political, economic and cultural context of the period: lifestyle, cars, clothes, texts on walls. In the public space the sphere of the sacred mixes with the profane.

A documentary reconstruction of the events of June 1956 in Poznań based on accounts of witnesses and participants of the strike as well as security service employees. The picture is dominated by photographic and film archives from state resources and unique materials from private collections.

A censor's tale about the official and unwritten rules of censorship in the People's Republic of Poland accompanied by shots and archival photographs. Their selection and presentation reveal the ironic attitude of the authors towards the protagonist's statements. The film was made in the year of the liquidation of the Main Office of Press, Publication and Audience Control.

Documentary about three inhabitants of Grzybowska street in Warsaw. Their statements, photographs and film footage reveal the characters' relationship to their place of residence, describing the "here and now" of the Poles.

Historical documentary about the last months of life of Tsar Nicholas II and his loved ones and recreating the day of his assassination on July 17, 1918. The visual layer of the film consists of unique film and photographic archives and a few contemporary shots.

Sightless main character, fascinated by an ancient description of a peculiar animal, decides to find one and get some personal experience. Accompanied by his three blind friends, he starts an intriguing journey in search of the mysterious creature. They are led through a mixture of various scents and noises to finally reach their goal. Each character, relying on his senses, gets a very different impression of the elephant.

A woman feels that she is losing the meaning of life, she is unable to feel anything. The magical power of the moonlight begins to attract her.. She falls in love with it and makes a serious decision.

A viewer sees how a picture of a horse appears on a white sheet of paper. The horse emerges from successive traces of a black felt-tip pen. The horse is shown in various positions and fragmentary close-ups. It also takes on a disturbing abstract shape of a transparent huddled creature. It looks dead with its lack of limbs, visible ribs and deep eye sockets. It evokes associations with horses who were victims of hostilities. Its contours are blurring. It falls apart. The animated film for adults directed by Jan Tkaczyk, the cinematographer of several dozen animated films. The director used drawings by Barbara Jonscher, a Polish painter and cartoonist, from the ‘Arsenal’ generation. The context of her works often refers to literary works. The series of horse drawings was inspired by Bertold Brecht's poems with anti-war meaning. Andrzej Kurylewicz is the author of jazz music in this film.

Citizens of Nowhere delves into the experience of citizenship, nationality, and identity. The film is a personal response to the Brexit referendum and the increased xenophobia that followed, created by Zuzanna Rabikowska — a Polish filmmaker who moved to the UK as a child with her mother and sister in 2001.

For the girls of the sociotherapeutic facility, the last days of the school year are crucial. Soon, they will leave the place that they grew up in to start adult life. Right before heading back to their families, the girls once again need to confront the past and all their mistakes.These conversations make them face the truth about themselves and their loved ones.For Weronika, starting a new chapter of her life is a step she is not ready to take yet. She can hardly answer any of the questions on her plans. Returning home is supposed to be the key factor in searching for answers. She will need to deal with her past, her childhood and her mother.

In defiance of the war in former Yugoslavia and ethnic and religious antagonism, which is still alive, women from Bosnian Rogatica who belong to different nations, denominations and generations live together in an old house.

A woman looking for a poolside frolic finds an unlikely ally in the cucumber vendor.

With 40 years of playing together, floating on a huge wave of success Budka Suflera decided to say goodbye to her fans and prepared something special: a Przystanek Woodstock concert as their last show.

This silent film presents original materials from 1917–1921 and later reconstructions. Polonia Restituta shows the German occupation of Warsaw, the fight against Ukrainians for Eastern Galicia, the liberation of Vilnius, the Polish-Soviet war, the Polish-Ukrainian alliance and the conquest of Kiev, the Polish counteroffensive in August and September 1920 and the signing of the Treaty of Riga.

A short film screened at Il Cinema Ritrovato 2020

Art is best left to people with open minds... and THIS will be that art. Filmed in Poland and created by JAKUBJANKOWSKI1992, this exercise in bad taste pushes the limit of what we will watch when offered the chance.

Short and simple story from the time of pandemic - a poetic view of isolation, loneliness and boredom.

From a Distance allows the forest animals to take the forefront, to be and observe. Humans do not report or explain, but are present only as sounds of passing cars or on a look-out in a bird tower – as if being part of a herd themselves.