Discoveries from Poland World Cinema

After being drafted into military service, a Polish student spends his last day coming to terms with his estranged wife, visiting old friends, and savoring some last moments of freedom.

When his grandson is beaten by gangsters, a Warsaw veteran gathers his war buddies to take them on.

A well-known professor of medicine finding himself at the threshold of autumn of his life, takes stock of his achievements and experiences. "In the end it ends with what has been known for a long time: that conscious life without a fixed worldview is not life, but torment, horror. - wrote Anton Chekhov in one of his letters summarizing "An Uninteresting Story". The protagonist, Professor Nikolai Stepanovich, is a character characteristic of Chekhov's entire oeuvre - a Russian intellectual from the late nineteenth century, depressed by boredom and a sense of his own uselessness and the meaninglessness of his existence.

While she is practicing yoga, he is looking at his phone. When he sits behind a desk, she goes to the kitchen to prepare a shake. Suddenly, the protagonists and their rituals begin to revolve around each other as if they were celestial bodies and their flat becomes the centre of the universe.

The play depicts the circumstances of the crash of an old steamer carrying Mohammedan pilgrims and Jim's attempts to rehabilitate and atone for his guilt years ago.

Jan, an accountant at pre-retirement age, is on holiday at the Baltic Sea with his wife. He doesn’t enjoy her company. He doesn’t enjoy other people’s company either. The resort’s atmosphere makes him sick. One day he meets a mysterious girl on the beach. She becomes his spiritual guide.

An exceptionally gifted teenage boy is about to start studying physics at university. He is working on the theory of parallel worlds, which are linked, he initially believes, by light. He has an extraordinary mind and a wounded soul, which his mother, who steers his life, is incapable of healing.

The story of male friendship, vitality and the joy of living, even after turning 60 years old. When one of the three friends is taken to hospital, the others are there for him.

On the night of August 31, 1939, Dolas, from a platoon reinforcing a train station on the German border, falls asleep in a train car and unknowingly crosses into Germany. The moment he shoots a German, who he thinks is a saboteur, the German invasion of Poland begins, and Dolas is convinced it was his fault. He is taken to Stalag POW camp, the first destination in his odyssey around Europe.

Set in 1905. The story focuses on a young and inexperienced man in a revolutionary execution squad. He does his killing job out of idealism, and for the love of a woman. The young student murders a Russian spy and is afterwards arrested by the police. Much to his surprise he is released after a session with the traitor-judge, hinting at some leaks in the organisation. Student reports his suspicions back to the organisation, but in response is given a new hit mission.

A couple of architects are working on a new project. Its implementation is delayed by information about the woman's illness.

A filmmaker and his wife, an actress visit their cabin in the woods for the first time in 10 years. He sets about filming whatever he can in the area, including an alluring blonde who lives nearby.

How can the flames of desire be rekindled after 25 years of married life? Izabela Plucinska’s erotic comedy, made entirely through the use of modelling clay, delves into the private lives of Alice and Henry, a couple in their fifties numbed by routine, who are holed up in a rococo-kitsch hotel room…

An unknown terrorist infects computer networks with the most important institutions in the country with the virus. It paralyzes hospitals, trains, aircraft control system. Suspicions fall on Michal, a thirty-year-old IT genius and owner of a small computer company. Michal must prove he is innocent. He agrees to the proposal to cooperate with the prosecutor.

Poland 1946. Militia looks for commander of anticommunist partisans called Grom (Thunder). It quickly comes out that militiamen have to discover a rat in their group.

Told in flashback as Mieszko lies feverish in his bed just before the Battle of Cedynia, Gniazdo recounts how the revered leader extended Poland's borders, formed an alliance with Emperor Otto I, and ultimately strengthened his country's autonomy by achieving victory during that crucial battle in the year 972.

In the winter of 1903, a group of characters painted by the master escapes from Jacek Malczewski's paintings.

The heroic struggle of Polish post office workers in Gdańsk on the first day of World War II.

The film depicts a moral dilemma of a clerk who has to face a choice: whether to save a stranger or to pretend that he hasn't seen anything, so that he won't put himself into risk.

Study of a man obsessively seeking revenge.

This drama follows a lawyer who, averse to the sound of a barrel organ, changes his outlook upon meeting a blind girl. Based on the short story by Bolesław Prus.

Three friends – a rooster, a cat and a vixen – meet the kidnapped princess on the eve of the war between Balbacja and Tiuturlistan. To prevent a war, they try to bring her to her father's house. They tell each other stories from their lives during a journey full of adventures.

Despite the deep traces of trauma caused by sexual violence and torture at the hands of Russian troops, Ukrainian women survivors are uniting to break stigma and silence, transforming their testimonies into a powerful form of resistance.

The theme of the film is the Battle of Somosierra, which took place during the Napoleonic Wars. During this battle, Polish cavalrymen under the command of Jan Leon Kozietulski crossed a two-and-a-half kilometre long gorge and a pass within 7 minutes, paving the way for Napoleon Bonaparte's troops to Madrid

Pre-war, elegant Warsaw, the Olympic arena in Amsterdam and the wilderness of eastern Poland. These in September 1939 Konopacka traveled while being one of the drivers of a convoy evacuating the reserves of the Bank of Poland, led by her husband Colonel Ignacy Matuszewski. The action takes place on two time planes: the dramatic evacuation of the reserves of the Bank of Poland is supplemented by flashbacks, in which the most important events in the life of the main character will be introduced.

Wojtek spends his days sitting on a forest pulpit and tracking grouse plundering nearby villages and towns with foresters. One evening he returns through the fields from work and stumbles upon a strange phenomenon. A house is moving in the distance. Or rather, a single lighted window. When he returns the next day, the situation repeats itself. Day by day more and more windows appear. Intrigued, Wojtek tries to unravel the poetic-abstract riddle.

Kazik is born on the same day that Kazimierz Deyna scores a goal in a match against Portugal. Contrary to his family's hopes, however, the boy has no talent for soccer. So he searches for his own path.

This film is about the relationship of a mother and her daughter, the split-up of their family, the blessing and curse of belonging together and about coming of age - all this from the perspective of the young girl Aglaja. The story is based on real-life events, an Eastern European circus artist family that fled to the West. If they want to stay in the circus business they have to make up an exotic act. The mother spends all their money to buy a very dangerous act: hanging by her hair high up in the dome of the circus while juggling with burning torches. Every night Aglaja is terrified by the fear of losing her mother. But, on some day, she has to follow the family tradition and become the "Woman with the Hair of Steel".

In the summer, family allotment gardens become a refuge from the urban hustle and bustle, and time there clearly goes by at a different pace. The camera observes allotment gardeners of all ages as they work and rest, capturing small gestures, brief conversations, and repetitive rituals.

Eight women of different ages. Love and loneliness. Fear. Therefore, all that clothes us. A film about the fact that if a person chooses "half-life", he rots. The heroines of the film "Collection of dresses" are the subjects of a strange experiment.

The main character of the film has just received her dream apartment in an old tenement house. However, it is not allowed to enjoy it for too long. When he returns home with the child, it turns out that the tenement house has disappeared. The woman's goal is to find her own home.

An ordinary man has to do constant favors for other people in order to reserve a place for himself in a queue.

Franciszek Kłos is an officer of the Blue Police in a small town. He is sentenced to death for collaborating with the Nazi occupiers.

Warsaw, Poland, end of the Seventies. Following the workers’ revolt against the rise of prices violently repressed by the communist power, a group of opponents create the KOR (Workers’ Defense Committee). Heir to the currents of opposition to the Communist regime since the end of World War II, sponsored by intellectual and moral personalities who had been standing up against social injustices since the Twenties, the KOR tries to break the information monopoly of the State and to set up an autonomous labor organization.The action of the KOR leads in 1980 to the birth of Solidarnosc, first independent trade union of Eastern Europe.Three members of the KOR remember and tell us the story of a victory against communist power in Europe.

An exciting and motor-filled ride through life's difficulties, achievements and activities of one of the most popular Polish influencers: Kamil Labudda, known on the Internet as "BUDDHA". This is a film about how to create effectively on the Internet, how to make money on social media and what amounts are hidden in this industry.

An intimate psychological drama: the story of two brothers who, in the winter of 1848, waited for the opportunity to enter General Bem's troops in Hungary and experience emotional conflicts in a noble manor, which lead to a fundamental confrontation of attitudes and characters.

A young boy, Jedrek, arrives in the big city. He doesn't know anyone here. He finds a job as a poster maker. He is taken care of by the Old Man, who is possessed by the idea of being able to detach a person from the earth by means of psychic energy. He teaches the boy the "blind man's game," which involves throwing dice with his eyes closed. Jedrek is slowly drawn into Old's world. He agrees to take part in the experiment - he is to be lifted by the energy of the people gathered. The experiment is interrupted by a landslide of the wall, but Jedrek stops stuttering and gains self-confidence. The boy falls in love with Eve and takes care of Stary. The latter offers him to jump from a great height and gently bring him down using psychic energy. When Jedrek refuses, the Old One decides to make the risky jump himself. Jedrek fails to stop him. With the word "Dad," he bids farewell to the Old One, lying on the pavement.

Gerda meets Little Robber Girl in the Berlin subway. There’s only ten, twelve hours until they’ll part ways. The mutual interest turns into love affair and all that ends in the morning. But still there’s a sea of the city to float by night.

Buddhist Iwonka falls in love with Oskar, who extorts money from her to help children in Africa, and disappears from her life. Lenka is a fortune teller and has a gift for extracting money from clients. She predicts to Ivona that she will find love in her next incarnation. To achieve fulfillment in her feelings, the woman decides to commit suicide. Despite repeated attempts, she still fails. Oskar's colleague, home-grown inventor Antoś, rushes to her aid. Lenka tries to correct the mistake she made. She wants to make Oskar fall in love with Iwona.

The tragic life of five Warsaw poets who died during the World War II: Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, Tadeusz Gajcy, Zdzisław Stroiński, Andrzej Trzebiński and Wacław Bojarski.

Danusia and her daughter Basia live far away from the modern world, in tune with the rhythm and laws of nature, among animals and the spirits of the dead. The peace and sense of security offered by their enclave come at a price - the women increasingly long for contact with other people. Bucolic is an affectionate observation of people who live in a different way. It evokes a curiosity about their world and a desire to take a closer look.

The house of a family of five is to be demolished due to the expansion of the city. The residents who are waiting to move are surprised by the progressive paralysis of their son.

PZU Inspector Anatol Kowalski is sent to the city of Paryżew on a special mission to catch a gang of bathing suit robbers.

The story takes place in a small, provincial town in Masuria. Beginner artist painter Piotr comes here from Warsaw to paint frescoes in the local church. Piotr is a great karate and treats everyone as potential rivals. His antagonist is Roman, the head of local hooligans. Soon there is a conflict between them and the situation becomes very dramatic.

Rafał is suspected of killing a turtle that fell out of the balcony.

Diver Antoni Barnat is falsely accused of causing an accident underwater that almost led to his fellow diver's death. Interestingly enough, they are both in love with the same girl, Teresa.

Set in the near present, captures a nation on the brink of war. Due to the unstable political situation, Dawid loses his job without a warning. As his family prepares to flee the country, Dawid’s younger brother becomes involved with the only organization willing to stand against the encroaching enemy.

The last of the four theatrically released episode compilations of the TV series, featuring episodes 7 and 8.

The film is a portrait of Zygmunt Samosiuk, a great forgotten cinematographer, who died in 1983. As a director of photography he worked on such films as The Birch Wood, Landscape Afterthe Battle and Austeria. He introduced, among others, hand‑held camera shots, colour lights and shooting at minimum exposure. Reminiscences of his colleagues and friends, including Andrzej Wajda and Piotr Szulkin, show a gifted artist and a modest man who valued his work above all.

The youngest protagonist of the documentary is Wartburg, an automobile over 50 years of age. The car is still on the road, driven by Bogdan, a 70-year-old who is taking his mother to visit the German factory where she was forced to work during WWII. In this road movie which takes place between Majdanpek and Germany, the trip becomes a journey into the past, retracing memories from the war and revealing a unique relationship between an old son and his elderly mother.

Modern-day Warsaw shines in this romantic comedy about the love life of a young, hip architect. In his break-out role, popular Polish television star Maciej Zakoscielny plays the handsome young professional, who is torn between two women.

There is a strike at the spinning mill in Łódź. Among the protesters, Dorota Waltz, the granddaughter of the factory's founder and owner, stands out. Soon, a lawyer arrives from France who, under the terms of the will, makes Dorota the sole owner of the company. As Dorota is not lacking in nerve and cunning, she quickly finds her feet in the role of a businesswoman. She decides to save the factory from bankruptcy at all costs. The lawyer helps her, but not selflessly. He wants to take over the girl's fortune and merge it with his wife's clothing company in France.

While preparing for a sold-out stadium show, Polish pop star sanah shares her journey to stardom through archival footage and intimate interviews.

Polish and German soldiers stuck in a Research Station in Greenland must overcome their differences and survive the unforgiving conditions.

Ewa Bonecka, a young student about to start school in a new place finds herself without a place to sleep after she is declined a room in a women-only hotel. Helped by a pleasant policeman, Piotr, she tries to find a lodging in the strange town full of thieves and petty troublemakers.

Wealthy merchant Stanislaw Wokulski falls tragically in love with beautiful yet vain Izabela Lecka. His unfulfilled love leads to many foolish decisions sealing his fate.