Discoveries from Poland World Cinema

An actor is married to a dancer whose drug addiction drives them to desperation when World War II breaks out.

In a small Polish town, a young Tatar man is entering adulthood navigating between his Muslim community and local peers, between his mother and his girlfriend. He lives in a small town of Sokółka in the Podlasie region, in a remote corner of Catholic Poland, one of the most mono-ethnic countries in the world. Omar is a normal teenager, but at the same time he is also different – by religion, heritage, and looks. We watch him as he straddles the different parts of his identity as they become increasingly difficult to keep together; in the background, we witness the struggles of a community to remain distinct and survive.

During World War 2 Polish skiers take up a fight against the Germans and become couriers, delivering mail to Budapest.

The story of three people and their complicated emotional relationship. A mother and her 30-year-old son live in a poor neighborhood in a big city. She is having trouble finding a job, he is having trouble finding his way in modern realities. The mother's sudden illness shatters the son's previous life. The new situation requires from him maturity, which he unfortunately lacks. A woman appears in his life, whom he uses in his game with his mother.

One of Gabriela Zapolska's most famous comedies, it was written in 1907. A realistic story of a marital triangle, precisely constructed in terms of the psychology of the characters. In this classic production, director Tomasz Zygadło emphasizes above all the truth and universality of human characters and behaviors.

A Ukrainian family is spending their final day of vacation in Tenerife, Spain when suddenly Russia’s ongoing occupation of Ukraine turns into a full-scale invasion. As their return to Kyiv becomes impossible, the tourists become refugees overnight.

Rose, an older woman living in Paris was born in Poland as a daughter of an aristocratic family. Her family house is now an impoverished home for the elderly.

A friendship grows between two prisoners when they haul a cart with provisions during the evacuation of a concentration camp. However, their friendship ends tragically.

A little girl gathers a few toy soldiers to conduct a battle.

The film is set in a small town near Warsaw, to which a young and coming director comes to produce a classic play (Wyspianski "Wyzwolenie") with a modern vein. Everyone in the production gets his usual stereotypical role, but the aging idol of the ensemble senses opportunity to give the performance of his life. For young director everything is already set. The leading man, however, is not giving up and is trying to restore the role according to his view. His wife listens to his fears, complaints and frustrations, while resigning herself to a fading career in a puppet theatre.

Warsaw's Central Railway Station. 'Someone has fallen asleep, someone's waiting for somebody else. Maybe they'll come, maybe they won't. The film is about people looking for something.

In 1456, Francis Villon and his companions attack a merchant in the forest. On the cart they find a girl dead of the plague. They give up the robbery. Villon spends the evening in an inn. He drinks, dances - the fun is interrupted by the arrival of a leper. Only Villon is not afraid to touch him, he treats him as a neighbor. In bed, his lover Gretel complains to the poet that no one wants to marry her....

How does a computer work? It’s easy! This educational film vividly explains the principles of the binary system, which is the underlying operating concept for digital machines.

The film uniquely recounts the lives of workers at Ukraine's Chornobyl nuclear power plant, National Guard soldiers and residents of surrounding towns and villages. These have been at the epicenter of the Russian occupation since February 24, 2022. It's a film that shows how a thin line separates humanity from another nuclear catastrophe and how the fight for survival was on a "ticking bomb." Under the constant threat of shelling and rockets.

A young girl meets a gangster at a psychiatric hospital.

During a horseback ride, Peter, a young journalist, has an accident and is taken by ambulance to the hospital. Marek, who accompanied him, sets off after the ambulance. Unexpectedly, on the way, Piotr dies. Marek, trying to find out why this happened, falls on the trail of a big scandal. Has Peter been murdered? Is Marek's life also in danger? Based on authentic events in the Lodz emergency room.

A young factory worker takes up on boxing as a way to find himself and advance his chances for the future. But the difficulties of sorting himself out in the crooked boxing environment hold him back in the beginning, until he arrives for tournament in Chicago, where he can prove himself. In the end, he wins over his Yank opponent, an amateur below his ranking, and is back in the factory.

Anna – the mother of a 16-year-old Adaś, who is dying of cancer, is desperately trying to find Wiktor, an author of an internet blog. Wiktor maintains to have found a cure for cancer. Anna’s night journey through the real and virtual world ends with a shocking discovery. The film is based on the short story 'Płomyk za szybą' [Flame behind the Window] by Marcin Kaczmarek and corresponds to the tenth Commandment: 'You shall not covet your neighbour’s goods'.

A fairy tale film based on an ancient legend about the founding of Warsaw and the good fairy Sirene of the Mazovian forests, who became the patron saint of the city.

Piotr is a freelancing journalist in early 1980's Poland. One day, he comes across a curious case of a woman's death during work and the workplace's refusal to pay the insurance to her mother.

University student Anna and her boyfriend Tomek use a precious photograph to trace and unveil the complex wartime and post-war past of their parents.

A passage of time presented by interplay of vision and sound. The issues of transience and duration materializes in a dychotomy of a turmoil of the city and a tranquility of the nature. Time, which has come to a stanstill, discovers the face of an inevitable fate.

The former head of the Institute of Science - Professor Molnar, returns to the Institute to seek treatment for his heart condition. The new director of the Institute, and his former assistant, Dr. Egberg had a falling out with Molnar after the latter considered his research unethical. However, after waking up from surgery, Molnar makes a horrifying discovery; Egberg has swapped their brains!

After winning an all-inclusive trip to Egypt, Tomek, his energetic mother, teenage daughter, and cunning son arrive to find lost luggage, a terrible hotel room, and no food, while Tomek unexpectedly runs into his high-school crush and her perfect partner. When the tour operator goes bankrupt, the consulate stays silent, and their funds vanish, the family must sche­me their own way home by earning enough money for return tickets before the holidays.

A film adaptation of six short stories by Marek Nowakowski from the collection Mizerykordia.

Zbigniew Gąsior, a thirty year old singer, is a youth idol. Despite fame, money and success with women he can't neglect the emptiness in his life.

The action of the film takes place in the 17th century. Piotr Wolski returns to the country and is appointed juridic governor. A man tries to rule fairly and restore order. He soon falls in love with Konstancja, but his background causes problems.

The wealthy Lord Artur Savile learns from a palm reader that he's destined to become a murderer. Obsessed with the prophecy, he decides to commit the deed as quickly as possible.

It is World War II, and the Nazis have taken over Poland. In this story, three citified children of Resistance fighters have taken refuge in the mountains, and they manage to hook up with three local youngsters. All six of them are being hunted by the Germans, and they are also being looked for by an adult who wants to take them to greater safety. Along the way, the children occasionally put on spontaneous theatricals.

This is the story of Sylvia, who loses her stepchildren on a shopping trip in Poland. For fear of losing her husband's love too, she is unable to tell him what has happened and returns home, pretending everything is fine. When he realizes that his children are missing, the father begins a desperate search. He is ready to give up anything in order to find them. Sylvia supports him in any way; she tries to comfort him and takes care of his hope's vulnerable flame. For the first time he really needs her. While the children are trying their best to get home, the police fail in detecting their whereabouts. When a very vague trace leads to Poland, the parents hit the road to find the children on their own.

The main character is hiding in a room. He feels like he is being followed at every turn. He spends his days sneaking as far away from windows as possible, fearing his pursuers - faceless people.

The story of what daily life was like in Poland under communism: private conversations, cruel interrogations, recruitment attempts, recorded and filmed with hidden devices; of how the secret services spied on every activity of ordinary citizens: nothing escaped the brutal system of control developed by the Soviets in the name of freedom.

Jan and Maria become a couple in 1930s Kraków. Jan tries to get a job as an architect but fails. They struggle with poverty and extreme humiliation. Their attempt to survive leads to a desperate crime.

Igor is a professional boxer whose world comes to a halt when he learns that his brain has been severely damaged from his many years of fighting. Refusing to undergo surgery, he knows that his days are numbered. Not having much left, his last desire is to leave a child behind as his legacy. A young Vietnamese immigrant, Yen Ha, agrees to have his baby in return for Polish citizenship. Despite the nature of their agreement, they slowly fall in love, but then Igor's health deteriorates...

Sixteen years after an explosion on the Sun that made the Earth deteriorate, outcast soldier Stefan wakes up under carpenter Herman’s roof in the middle of nowhere.

The adventures of a motorized museum worker in a mansion full of free-spirited...

A young engineer tries to get a card secret from a dying countess that allows him to make a fortune.

Set in 1952, the story follows events around the "Peace Run", a propaganda 3-day marathon for peace. The winner is to be presented with a new motorcycle by the country's president. Chief organizer is a ruthless manipulator who will stop at nothing to make sure that the right man wins. There are two runners, Budny and Stolar, who are participating in the race for different reasons.

A study of two people involved in the story of the love triangle. However, not the plot itself is the essence of the film. It is a study of moral attitudes, it tells about dying physically, as well as about the dying of feelings.

In 1943, Ewa decides to take care of her Jewish neighbour's daughter and brings her home just for a few days. When the ghetto uprising begins, the woman keeps on looking after the little girl.

Young man frustrated with his life and pointless job becomes one of the suspects in serial killer investigation, but he suspects someone else...

A literary critic's quest for love takes a hopeful turn when he runs into a woman from his past, but their turbulent quirks strain their new romance.

A suggestive, lyrical story about friendship, loneliness and illusory hope.

This documentary follows the feats of high-altitude climber Jerzy Kukuczka and his ascent to higher heights before his death in 1989.

Polish film directed by Jacek Skalski. A young student, expelled from university for taking part in strikes, and a middle-aged married woman, whose husband is abroad, fall madly in love during the tumultuous times of 1980s martial law.

Russian woman is robbed after crossing Polish border and has to wait until the local policemen catch the thieves. The priest, who is the main authority in the town, orders that she stays at organist's house.

Based on a true outbreak of smallpox in Wroclaw. A young doctor picks up a girl and they go to bed, but the night is ruined by the doctor being called to the epidemic. The doctor has to leave, and when it is all over, runs into her with another man.

When her daughter is kidnapped by a suspect in a multiple murder case, a police officer must commit a crime to rescue her only child.

During a routine traffic stop, the police discovers the body of a girl in the trunk of a truck. Since the dead girl spent the night before with the driver of the car, he becomes the prime suspect. In the course of the trial uncomfortable truths surface.

A talented boy from the block dreams of making an album together with complete members of a hip-hop band. It's not easy for him. An alcoholic father, taking care of his younger sister and lack of perspective is his everyday life.

A Soviet tank breaks through the front line during the January 1945 offensive.

The Wizard of U.S. is a social satire - an animated documentary about emotions, based on themes from the popular American novel "The Wizard of OZ", in order to illustrate how Los Angeles makes the American Dream come true. The film describes the observations, dilemmas and adventures shared by all of those, who just like Dorothy - the main character-want to be "the voice of their generation" and try their luck in Hollywood. This is the hyper-realistic America, with all its attractions, such as living "at full capacity", the enthusiasm and embarrassingly white smiles of "the local people" seen through the eyes of a "stranger" from Europe. Using the factual interviews with the inhabitants of Los Angeles, observing their everyday life, habits and behavior, after three years of having survived in L.A. the director reveals the thrills and absurdities that govern the world of the big stakes and unleashed dreams the way it is all perceived by an immigrant from Europe.

Bound to a suffocating existence, a young man embarks on a marvelous journey of the imagination, transforming ordinary details of his room into fantastic images of natural beauty, where the cycles of life mysteriously play themselves out.

A psychological portrait of a missing girl is drawn by the people who knew her, being interviewed by a journalist helping in the search.

A decades-old diary found at a construction site reveals the harrowing account of a professor in hiding during the early days of the Warsaw Uprising.