Discoveries from Poland World Cinema

A report on the Polish all-female expedition to the Karakoram led by Wanda Rutkiewicz.

Mai, fleeing Vietnam, ends up in an illegal workplace in Poland. A growing affection for Daria in the new country becomes a hope to escape from a trap. The past, however, is unwilling to forget Mai…

In a small village, in a modest cottage, lived a mother with her three sons. Each of them was different. The eldest stood out for his strength and beauty, the middle one for his knowledge, and the youngest for his love of nature. Everyone made fun of the youngest. Once, they sent Jędrek to a nearby forest called the Black Forest. There, the young man met a dangerous sorcerer who was holding a beautiful princess captive on Glass Mountain. Upon returning home, Jędrek shared this news with his loved ones. The brothers decided to defeat the evil sorcerer and free the princess, but each of them had a different goal in mind.

Portrait of an outstanding Polish athlete - Waldemar Marszałek.

A reconstruction of mating rituals of stag beetles

A modest tailor sews a cape in his basement. He would like to use it to fly. Modern machines change other people. The tailor remains the same, old-fashioned person. Persecuted, he escapes on the sewing machine and rises into the air. He flies among the zodiacal constellations. Earthly pursuers follow him and shake hands with him. However, this is just another dream of a modern Icarus.

After a bank robbery, Jonas loses his memory. He can't remember who he is and two people claiming to be his friends give him wrong information.

Arseniy, a train operator, loves his job. There is just one thing that keeps bothering him: passengers. One day, he decides to teach them a lesson.

A son films his father preparing the Polish Christmas dish bigos - a process that takes four days.

Report on the Meeting of Young Builders of People's Poland, which took place in July 1952 in Warsaw.

The 1980s Poland was a country of empty stores and long lines of people, standing all night and day to buy virtually anything. This film takes a look at such a gigantic queue and recreates its surreal dialogues and atmosphere.

A short film about two children who stayed home alone.

The story of a young and ambitious shoeshine boy. Every day, he shows up at Galeria Mokotów in Warsaw to keep shoes clean. When he goes to work in the morning, he sees hundreds of pairs of shoes pouring out of the Warsaw subway. For him, these aren't just shoes. They're a job! But the hero of the film isn't just a shoeshine boy. He's also a dreamer. And, of course, a future millionaire. He believes in the "American dream." After all, there is a fine line between a shoeshine boy and a millionaire. He believes that sooner or later he will become a millionaire. If someone in America can do it, why can't someone in Warsaw?

A cinematic grotesque whose protagonist is Mr. Kowalski, who suffers from insomnia.

Short propaganda film. Warsaw's post-war reconstruction as seen through the eyes of the passengers of a red bus.

A film based on a legend telling where the salt in the sea came from

n a ministerial office, representatives of major political factions meet to decide which famous Poles should appear on newly denominated banknotes. Despite heated debate, none of the proposed historical figures gains universal approval, revealing how political decisions are often made elsewhere. A satirical comedy written and directed by Juliusz Machulski.

The film tells the story of the creator of the Bieszczady shelter "Chatka Puchatka". Ludwik Pinchuk for half a century with superhuman efforts built his legend and cult of the shelter on Połonina Wetlinskaya.

A grotesque story about life that is similar to a wedding feast. In the beginning it is joyful, later it becomes tiring and old. A young couple leaves a church and goes to their wedding feast. At the end of the animation, there is a bed in a plowed field. We could see an old couple wearing wedding clothes under the duvet.

A new man enters an old courtyard surrounded by walls on all four sides. He sees the people there turning into objects: a sink, a trash can, a garbage bin. He cannot leave, and together with another new man, he turns into an object like the rest: laundry.

Unemployed thirty-year-olds Mark and Piotek, unlike their resigned neighbours, resist their fate and move to London for a job. A confidential camera follows their journey from their hometown to the city, where they find no work and end up on the streets. Despite this, they persist in responding to job ads, seeking food, feeling homesick, and dreaming of owning a small bar. The documentary, reminiscent of Ken Loach’s films, captures their resilience and the social challenges of a changing Europe.

In the early inscriptions, this film is presented as a “lyrical bounce from reality” but not “senseless extravagance.” The plot involves a trek official to the advice of “There will be a hole in the sky even if you go back”, the procession of two people with a wardrobe and a march of people defending the established rules (“Down with walking backwards”). The formal aspect in the movie is a lot of trick shots using a mirror, photographs and negatives.

A slice of life type movie. A main plot goes around showing common behavior and psychological portraits of inhabitants of a typical little town in Poland.

The film Survival offers a grotesque critique of homelessness and environmental decay through a unique blend of live-action and diverse animation techniques, including pixilation and 3D. As an auteur project, it integrates these styles seamlessly to create a striking artistic vision. Its scenography embraces upcycling or "trash art," echoing Marcel Duchamp’s legacy of elevating banal objects into profound art. By incorporating street art and graffiti, the film sparks dialogue about art’s role in society. This innovative approach transforms waste into priceless commentary, challenging viewers to reconsider their surroundings and the nature of creativity itself.

Story of a girl from Surrey who visits Jozef, a Slovenian artist living in Poland, and embarks on an affair.

A nobleman and his servant have many misadventures together.

The main character is a very superstitious man. On the 13th day of the month, after a very bad start to the day, he reads the newspaper and learns that he won the lottery. The unexpected happiness causing him to make a scene at work. Soon it turns out that there was an error in the newspaper and he did not win.....

A story about identities – the one we receive at birth, the one we feel, and the one we choose. A movie about the confrontation between dreams and reality and how to live after such a confrontation.

A unit of the People's Army celebrates the moment of liberation of the country. They remember the times of occupation, the actions they took, and their fallen colleagues.

The story takes place somewhere in Eastern Europe. The authorities declare a state of siege. A visually impaired old man becomes the commander. One theory applies - there is an enemy all around! The manipulated inhabitants of the Homo sovieticus trust the news without reservations and prepare to defend themselves. The city becomes a closed fortress. The authoritarian authorities introduce morning gymnastics. Volunteer patriots willing to die for the cause appear. The protagonist, internally torn, wants to escape. The authorities decide to fire a cannon at the supposed enemy. Although nothing remains, everything is under control. The fortress becomes a bygone history, but the demons of war never sleep

Poland in the mid-1970s. In a small town, the student theater is preparing its premiere.

A group of teenagers run away from a computer game camp after group leaders confiscate their computers and cut their access to the Internet. The impossibility to escape to the virtual world makes it equally impossible to stay in the former reality. The youngsters are found 20 days later in the forest, deeply traumatised by hiding in silence and the knowledge that one of them is forever lost.

What is lacking in the world in which animals no longer exist? The protagonists decided to establish a company which provides services for those who need a replacement for animals that are already extinct. As it appears, in relations of human and animals, all kinds of emotions are involved.

A young German girl jumps off a Wroclaw church tower. She is a member of a Women's Gregorian Choir.

The last Yiddish feature made in Poland before WWII, this 1939 film is based on a 1907 play by the prolific playwright Jacob Gordin. Living in poverty in Kazimierz Dolny, the Rywkin family sees the father emigrate to the U.S. in search of a better life, where, after years of hard work and loneliness, he meets Bessie, a nightclub singer who helps him reunite with his family from Poland.

The clash of gray communist reality with the American dream. The nostalgic story of the welder Staś, who left Poland in the 1970s to work in the largest and oldest circus in the world, "Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey.” However, everyday life does not turn out to be so ideal.

In Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, a mandala is a mystical symbol of the Cosmos. The circle combines harmoniously with the square. This is how the present and the past, reality and dream intertwine in the world of single mother Łucja. However, instead of harmony, there is arduous daily rehabilitation work and a nightmare as if from another dimension.

A young cat named Marcel is fed up with living in the old mill and starts his journey. He catches one sneaker while fishing. The flying raven, MSc Plato tells him it's a seven-mile sneaker, judging from the word "7M". Marcel decides to try it out, but it doesn't work. Magister Plato thinks a second sneaker is needed. Marcel therefore intends to devote his journey to the search for the second sneaker.

The film presents a flashback of events from the childhood of the main character, Hania.

A film about the possibilities of our brain. A poetic journey deep into the world of thoughts of people with autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. Where do the boundaries of our minds lie, and how much does culture confine or even extinguish our creativity in everyday life and even in love? In the film, we meet people of various ages who experience autism to differing degrees on the spectrum of the illness. With some, there is practically no contact at all, whereas others at first glance give the appearance of being “healthy.” Each of our subjects is a separate world and a unique means of seeking his or her own path in life.

Sophie has bad luck in life. She is a romantic, she doesn’t like her job and everyday, little inconveniences meet her. Real trouble starts when she meets her ex partner from whom she once ran away to another city. In the beginning, the girl believes in his transformation but their relationship turns into a string of fights and verbal abuse again. Sophie decides for a final resolution – she calls on her father.

Ahead of Weronika, an outstanding graduate of Warsaw Ballet School, lies the prospect of an international career. It turns out that talent, dedication and hard work are not always a guarantee to success. Sometimes one bad moment wipes out all the plans. However, Weronika isn't one to give up easily.

Adam is young and very ambitious journalist working in local newspaper - 'Pomerania Courier' - in Gdansk (Poland). One day he receives a stamped envelope by mail. There's a text in Latin written on that envelope: 'Tibi et Igni' (eng. 'For you and for fire'). He finds 3 photos of his fiancée Annie inside the envelope. Annie claims that these photos were made in places where she has never been and with people she has never met. Adam starts his own private investigation in order to find out who and why sent him these pictures. The investigation leads him to discovery of a terrifying truth.

Jack, a former commando, sets out to find his father, an idealistic, independent observer on large fishing trawlers who disappears during a voyage. The crew reports it as an accident, but Jack doesn’t buy it and instead begins his own investigation.

Bird droppings. For the human species, an urban nuisance. But for a certain flock of birds, they are the foundation of life. In their extraordinary world, a delicate harmony reigns—until the day a mysterious object washes ashore.

Daniel goes to a party where he can't find his place. By coincidence, he gets involved in paying a delivery girl for a stack of pizzas.

This is a tale of a young woman Sara Braga who kills her lovers with the help of her servant Juliusz. She is a succubus and her servant is a personification of Asmodeus.

Film in two parts about the events that took place in Radzilow and Jedwabne in July, 1941. The documentary is equally divided with information about both towns, and there are also small sections about Wizna and Wasosz.