Discoveries from Poland World Cinema

A man consumed by guilt because he did not dare to defend his mother, he plays the role of a murderer and forces ten-year-old self to face trauma.

The story begins in March of 1968, the days of students protests. A hot- headed student protests the Dean's decision to expell a fellow student on fake accusation charges, upon which he drops out of university rather than make a compromise. He loses everything in the process: his girlfriend, housing privileges - he becomes a coal deliverer. On the job he witnesses an accident that causes death of a fellow worker. He decides to write a story, which is good and a publishing house wants to print it, but only after some corrections are made. He refuses again and the story is not printed. Finally, a story is commercialized and made into a succesful film and brings fame to the original author.

Roman is a young, talented composer, but he is constantly plagued by bad luck. He earns extra money by anonymously writing music for his less talented colleagues. One day, he meets a friend from school who promises him a generous reward for doing him a small favor. By helping him, Roman becomes involved in a smuggling scandal involving people in prominent positions. The operation is led by Jerzy, who has unlimited power. Roman falls in love with his wife, Anna. Love becomes the driving force behind exposing the gang.

An intimate film focused on a man and the small world around him. The protagonist is a lonely man working as a railroad crossing guard in a place where practically no one passes by and no trains stop. His only entertainment is playing the trumpet. However, one day the signalman is given a chance to change his rather monotonous life.

Poland under Stalinist rule, 1953. A young nun Anna is brought to a prison where an influential priest is kept in. She discovers the priest is the man she loved a few years before. Communist authorities try to make her spy on him now.

Stefan Pulman, a lonely Varsovian, spends his vacation every year in a quiet guesthouse. He makes very real marriage plans. The object of his sighs is beautiful Susanna.

In the near future an indifferent activist announces that at midnight on New Year’s Eve he is going to commit suicide in protest against the renewed slavery system in Poland. His plan is put on hold the moment he finds an abandoned slave woman in the trash and decides to help set her free.

The documentary film is based on reconstructed archival films of the 1920 Polish-Soviet war, which ended in one of the greatest military successes of the Polish nation. The film also uses radio recordings, accounts of participants and witnesses to the events, as well as archival material testimony that has survived to our time: photographs, orders and records of secret reports. Polish Television carried out a digital reconstruction of century-old, previously unpublished archival films, including those from Soviet Union, France, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Hungary and the USA.

A reflection on tourism assembled out of amateur videos filmed by tourists during their trips.

A man awakes in his apartment but is stopped from leaving by an invisible line.

Barbara leads a stable life, is fulfilled professionally and has a loving family. Her foster daughter Alicja, who learns that she is adopted, decides to find her biological mother. When Alicja finds the real mother, the life of the main characters changes, and the positive relationships that linked them become blurred.

Krzysztof, a 30-something writer has been on a downward spiral ever since the success of his first novel. Struggling to compete his new work, the "Book of All Books" he retreats into alcoholism when he meets Basia, with whom he begins a volatile relationship.

Norbert, the protagonist of the film, is a priest. But also a father and a criminal convicted of bank robbery. His future is uncertain, as is his family's.

A young girl meets a gangster at a psychiatric hospital.

Portrait of an artist as a young manic. First, a montage of still photographs of an artist's face. Then motion. He stirs in sleep; he paints and expresses frustration. He looks for a light for his cigarette. He sketches, wads it up; makes tea; stares at his face in a mirror, then looks at canvas after canvas of self-portraits.

Andrzej Wajda mentions Andrzej Wróblewski (1927-1957) as a painter and friend. It tells about a man facing the challenges of the epoch and dramatically searching for his space. Wróblewski, seen through the eyes of Wajda, is a genius who had to wait a long time for recognition, but also did not fully recognize his own greatness. Their paths crossed right after the war, when they both studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. Born in Vilnius, the young artist studied at the faculty of painting and sculpture, he also studied art history at the Jagiellonian University. The film was produced on the occasion of the exhibition of the same title organized at the Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in Krakow in 2015.

Superstitious 7 year old Lycke and her grandma go to pick chanterelles from their secret mushroom picking spot. On the way there grandpa tells the girl the tale of the Elf ring and it's dangers. The rowing trip back home doesn't go without trouble, and as they've already made their way back, mom says that grandpa's condition has worsened. Lycke desides to save her grandpa.

The notary is coming to the hotel to conduct a secret lottery. There is a nervous atmosphere among the participants. The notary faces tough choices in an obscure game where no one wants to be a winner.

An elderly couple living in a quiet town receives news that their only son has arrived.

An American businessman moves to Europe and lives in a castle, where the ghost of one of the previous owners haunts him.

Impressions about fighting the passing of time, living in a constant hurry and the uphill battle of finding the natural tempo to life itself.

An adaptation of the book by Jerzy Niemczuk. The protagonists are strange but friendly creatures inhabiting the heart of the forest - Tatun, Mamuna, their child Sonek and grandfather Lesavik. The grandfather's inventions - including a kite, a znikolina and a conusola - save the children trapped in the mighty Marbat castle.

A man walks down the exterior staircase of building of flats; he's dressed to go out, taking care to wrap a scarf around his neck. He pauses as he passes a small window that's about eye high. He ventures to look in, and there a young woman stands at a washbasin, drying her hair,

Episodes of the Warsaw Uprising as reported by the insurgent radio station "Błyskawica," illustrated with archival photographs and photos of contemporary Warsaw. Professor Tomasz Strzembosz talks about the specifics of the insurgent struggle and the construction of the station's transmitter, which was constantly moved to different buildings in the city center during the fighting. The film attempts to show what "Błyskawica" meant to Home Army soldiers and the residents of Warsaw and recounts what the station reported on, namely the general situation in the city during the uprising, problems with weapons, food, and water, the insurgent postal service, the explosion of a tank trap, the work of ad hoc hospitals, teenage liaison officers and guides in the sewers, and the execution by the Germans of an entire unit that had surrendered.

The five protagonists, instead of having a pleasant weekend in Mazury, drown in a thick atmosphere of insinuations, lies and individual interests. Increasing puzzles and unexpected situations make the viewers, along with the characters, will discover their true motivations one by one.

Andreas arrives on a remote Greek island to sell a plot of land inherited from his uncle. But who would buy a barren, rocky field with a stone hut? In order to sell the plot Andreas has to pay off a debt his uncle ran up with Yiannis, a local farmer.

Pucio and his family are exploring the world! Every day brings new adventures—making jam together, painting a family portrait, and even… a kayaking trip and camping in their own living room! When it’s bath time, Pucio and Bobo are joined by a cheerful toy crocodile who also desperately needs a bath! Pucio learns to share with others, make new friends, and cope with boredom on a rainy day. In every episode, Pucio proves that imagination and creativity can turn the most ordinary moments into something truly special!

A girl breaks up with her boyfriend, and her neighbor's cherished dog passes away. While some might dismiss these events as unrelated, they'd be mistaken.

Janek, a lighthearted graphic designer from a large city, is called to read the will of a stranger. To research his family history, he goes with his older sister to a small town. Unexpectedly he is given a house in the middle of the forest. It turns out, however, that not only he claims the right to it.

Izabella, a beautiful young woman, works at her aunt’s shop in a small town in Poland. She uses her hands to create unique small objects for the shop, but in the night she has the strange habit to feed bats.

"The Life and Legacy of Jacob Boehme" is the first biographical documentary about Jacob Boehme (1575–1624), one of the most interesting European thinkers and most influential mystic of Western esotericism. The film explains the most important elements of writings of the great mystic and philosopher and presents the extensive impact of his ideas in the world.

Tatiana is forty-two years old and she is a stylist for one of Kyiv’s women’s magazines. She is ironic, self-confident, Tatiana lives in a large house on the suburbs of the Ukrainian capital and she enjoys the freedom that her recent divorce gave her. Her quite successful life is interrupted by the outbreak of the war. Friends and acquaintances come to her house, including her ex-husband and colleague who has a crush on her. Together, they watch how Russia destroys their city. After a few days, almost everyone tries to get out of Kyiv and persuades Tatiana to follow. But she can’t make up her mind.

When Malgorzata Szumowska was an elementary school student, she had a diary in which her friends, acquaintances and loved ones wrote in. Now she has a movie camera. So she decided to ask her friends to repeat this old entry in a new form - on film. The attempts to record their statements become the material from which Szumowska creates a documentary film that is - paradoxically - in a way directed against the documentary. Kasia and Marek, Magda and Kamil, Przemek, Julka and Wojtek, grandmother Stefania, Malgosia talk about love, happiness, relationships with loved ones, dreams, betrayal.

Journalism students have a conversation with a psychologist about the sudden death of one of their classmates.

Nicolaus Copernicus, the son of a Toruń merchant, is a bright and curious child. When he is ten years old, the Dutch astrologer Paul van de Volder predicts a great future for him, which develops in the boy an interest in the stars. Paul van de Volder reappears in Nikolai's life when he is already a student at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. A battle for the student's soul begins between the charlatan astrologer and Wojciech of Brudzew and other university professors. Astrology fights with astronomy. From the doubts and questions that hound Nicholas, a discovery is born that will change the world.

Amid alcohol addiction, the mother's sudden return disrupts a chaotic Polish family's routine, leading to a rebellious teen sibling's disappearance, burdening the elder sister and pushing the mother to the brink of surrender.

Children from the Youth Culture Centre in Nowy Sącz, under the care of their instructors, prepare for a performance to dance and sing together. They belong to the regional song and dance ensemble "Sądeczoki". They try to follow the teachers' instructions as best as they can to improve their skills and refine their performance.

Jowita, who seemingly has it all with her boyfriend Krystian, yearns to start a family, just to discover he isn’t ready for commitment. When Krystian adopts a shelter dog named Lucy to steer Jowita’s affections, the clever border collie sets Jowita on a path toward a new suitor, forcing Krystian to prove his love or lose her forever.

A story of the love affair between Janek Małodworny and Hanka, daughter of the kulak Nalepa. The two love each other, but their happiness is hampered by differences in possessions. To make matters worse, Małodworny is in favor of establishing a cooperative along Soviet lines, while old Nalepa is staunchly opposed.

A story of a young woman arrested by police on the day of her wedding for embezzlement, and promptly sentenced to life. She is already pregnant and has her baby in prison. Immediately after birth they are separated and only later Klara finds out that the child had a spine injury in an orphanage. After the years her sentence is shortened and she is released from prison on parole after 12 years.

Romek, an idealistc 19-year-old boy, takes a job as a tailor in the costume department of a Warsaw theater company where his new colleague, Sowa, is pressured to make a costume for an overbearing soloist.

An animated short film from 1987 that deals with the incarceration of a man in a dark cell from where there is no escape.

The film tells about the life of Warsaw Commissioner John Blonda.

A man lost in the forest is attacked by strange individuals.

Ironic impression on the value of Polish money. The leitmotif was a animated image of working miners from an old 500-zloty banknote. . .

The second of six episode compilations of the TV series, featuring episodes 2 and 4.

Karol Weber, born in the mid-1970s, settled with his parents in a small town as a boy of several years. His passion was photography. We meet him at the most important moments of his life - at the age of 7, when his mother left him, at 18, when he experiences his first love and contemporarily, at 47, when he celebrates his 25th anniversary as a photojournalist. After the exhibition, he learns of his father's death. Charles goes on a journey to bury him. The night train escapade is full of surprises on the borderline between reality and dreams. Charles meets characters from the past - his mother, his father, Alina, his first love, and Adam, the friend he betrayed. What he remembers will turn out to be different from what actually happened.

A pair of courtiers, a woman and a man, enjoy each other's company. Both of them become victims of armed conflict. Disconnected, they seek each other among the survivors. The man finds his beloved woman.

Did the 1989 revolution in Central Europe devour its children? This question is answered by representatives of the anti-communist opposition from Warsaw, Prague, Budapest and Berlin. The documentary shows images of the upheaval, with songs by Jacek Kaczmarski, Jaroslaw Hutka and Wolf Biermann as a backdrop.

Based on a romantic knightly ballad. The story takes place in the world of insects. The Blue Knight sets off on a long journey with his squire to free the sister of the Butterfly Queen. After many adventures, he reaches the castle where the princess is imprisoned. The Blue Knight defeats the cruel suitor-kidnapper and sets off on the return journey with the princess. The brave hero is in love with the beautiful princess, but she chooses Count Zawisak, whom she met on the way. To make matters worse, the vengeful knight Jelonek wounds the Blue Knight in a duel. Fortunately, at the court of the Queen of Butterflies, the kind Ant rescues the wounded hero, who, as he recovers, notices the beauty and kindness of the Ant, who is in love with him.

A man's face appears on the screen with his eyes covered by a black strip. After a while, the strip covers his mouth, and when it covers his eyes again the man begins to say something.

1945. Home Army soldier who hides in the village must decide if he wants to engage into dangerous situation to help group of Jewish runaways.

Czeslaw Niemen, who died ten years ago, was an icon for several generations of Poles. In Poland under communism he managed to raise popular music to the rank of true art; he also won renown abroad. He was born in 1939 in Stare Wasiliszki (today's Belarus) and his biography was largely shaped by the tempestuous history of this part of Europe. The film is a portrayal of the charismatic musician, made up of unique archive materials and reminiscences of his family and friends.