Discoveries from Poland World Cinema

Izydor tries to convince his skeptical friend to write a letter to Santa Claus.

Piotr's life is not working out for him until he unexpectedly hits the cover of a popular magazine.

As Christmas approaches, ambitious Mel struggles to host a grand Eve dinner for his “Santa” business and, seeing his younger self in hapless employee Grzesiek, vows to save him from repeating old mistakes. Meanwhile, Karina and Szczepan’s quiet holiday is disrupted by a burst pipe that introduces repairman Lucek and stranded traveler Józek into their home. And Wojciech, fresh from London, plans a serene reunion, until he meets mysterious Ewa, who’s flown in to see an internet love.

A reporter, Alicja Tabor, after many years returns to her hometown of Wałbrzych to write a report about kidnapped children and also to face her own dark family history.

September 1st, 1939. German battleship Schleswig-Holstein marks the start of World War II by firing on the garrison stationed at the Westerplatte peninsula in Poland.

Jerzy Stuhr scripted, directed and plays four roles in this Polish comedy about four men -- an army officer, a college instructor, a priest, and a drug dealer -- and their relationships with four females. An attractive student puts the teacher in an awkward spot when she reveals her love for him. An 11-year-old informs the priest that she's his daughter. The army officer is pleased when confronted by a past lover. The drug dealer, taken prisoner, must decide whether or not to trust his wife with his hidden loot. In the wrap-up, the elderly accountant passes judgment on all four men. Stuhr acted in films by the late Krzysztof Kieslowski, who had some input here by offering advice to Stuhr on this screenplay.

Jez Jerzy is a skateboarding hedgehog who likes to drink beer and fondle breasts. He finds it hard to pursue his passions, however, while being tormented by neo-nazi skinheads, mad scientists and a drooling, flatulent clone of himself.

A story about two sisters - Małgorzata, who is single by choice, and her younger sister, Łucja, a mother of two and an assistant in Małgorzata's law firm. The women embark on their first first trip in many years. It quickly turns out that one of them is terminally ill and her destination is Switzerland, where euthanasia is possible.

Is a party after a canceled wedding a recipe for disaster? It is. And what a disaster it is! Two families differ in everything - origin, status, wallet content, taste. The parents of the groom and bride are initially shocked. What did such a thing happen? Who was at fault? What about the wedding party? Should they welcome the guests? Play music? Pour the vodka? Who will cut the cake? From word to word, polite smiles turn into public washing of dirt. And finally a real bomb goes off... And in the meantime, the wedding party turns into a wild party. And no one is bothered by the absence of the newlyweds.

Set in the time of Napoleon wars, shows how the wars swept over the unfortunate Polish country at the beginning of the XIX-th century. Story revolves around the Polish legion under command of General Dabrowski, who then fought on Napoleon's side with the hopes of Poland's revival.

A young Polish filmmaker sets out to find out what happened to Mateusz Birkut, a bricklayer who became a propaganda hero in the 1950s but later fell out of favor and disappeared.

The clash of youthful rebellion with a conservative environment. Agata arrives in a small town near Krakow. Her job is to cook for the oasis participants. Agata’s arrival causes perturbations in the three-generation family – seventeen-year-old Mirek falls in love with her, his mother, an organist at the local church, discovers the demons of the past, and his grandfather, already suffering from dementia, sees Agata as his lover from his youth.

Shortly after World War II an American soldier (Norman) and a Polish refugee (Emilia) fall in love. Eventually he will return to the U.S. and both expect that she will soon follow him with her mother. Emilia's mother is sick, but will recover with the right medicine. But the mother, and not Emilia, knows that there will only be one ticket...

"Deserter's Gold", the sequel to the very popular "The Deserters", is a rich war comedy, skipping humorously around the more serious dangers of a war. Deserters Gold takes place during World War II, while the first film happened during WWI. The heroes' mission is to rob a Nazi-run bank in Poland for gold that will buy military supplies for the Polish Underground.

This dialog-free film, originally presented as 33 short films, is an experimental, bizarre set of meditations and flashbacks of the grotesque.

Małgosia, a young girl from the countryside, arrives in Warsaw. She wants to get into college, find a job, and meet her "prince charming." Before her entrance exams to the Academy of Fine Arts, she meets young Piotr. Małgosia falls in love with him, and he, too, falls in love with her. They live together for part of their studies and afterward. They both work at a catering company, but that's not the pinnacle of Małgosia's dreams. She applies for a job at an advertising agency.

A family takes a journey across the globe on a strange and amazing flying machine, experiencing a series of adventures along the way.

Kaja Miller is a police officer that is abducted and abused on one of her missions. Eight years later she meets her former boss Nowicki, who takes her to Gdynia with the task of exposing a large criminal circuit.

Kuba's sister falls seriously ill. In order to gather the required money for treatment he starts taking part in illegal car races.

An epic tale of Poles, Ukrainians, Jews who are deported to Russia. Their fate is shown from the perspective of a young boy Staszek, who goes to Siberia with his family and neighbors from a small village in the eastern Polish borderlands. Together with his companions he starts hard struggle for survival, where the most fearsome opponent turns out to be terrible, merciless nature... Circumstances force the boy to reevaluate his life and grow up faster. Soon he will have to learn the essential struggle for survival and make decisions that will where rate will be life of his relatives. He will also have to choose between love for the Jewish Zinnia and the Russian Luybka.

After the loss of his daughter, Jurek, together with his father-in-law Ben, decides to perform the Chinese minghun ritual.

Cuma, a retired master thief living peacefully on Spain’s Andalusian coast, rejects one last job, until rival Chudy, Cuma’s former partner turned adversary, plots a massive heist in Kraków with a ruthless new crew and no place for him. Driven by pride and the need to reclaim his title as the world’s greatest burglar, Cuma returns, reunites old allies, assembles a fresh team, and prepares to face Chudy on his own terms.

South Africa, Free State region, isolated stronghold to the Afrikaans white ethnic minority culture. In this conservative farming territory obsessed with strength and masculinity, Janno is different, secretive, emotionally frail. One day his mother, fiercely religious, brings home Pieter, a hardened street orphan she wants to save, and asks Janno to make this stranger into his brother. The two boys start a fight for power, heritage and parental love.

Young Waldek wants to earn some money abroad and asks his experienced neighbour, Mr Kuka, for advice. When he finally gets to Vienna, he can confront the reality with what he has been told about.

Shopping malls - today's place of creating desires. Best jewelry, clothes, shoes. Unaffordable by young girls, but they "work" to get themselves sponsors for new items.

Grandfather's wife unexpectedly leaves him for another man and this sparks a series of events. His son and grandson arrive from abroad and set of for a journey to find a woman dear to each of them.

Aniela has lived the first half of her life as a man: with an office job, a wife, and two children. But neither her family's opposition nor repression by the government in Poland can stop her from finally becoming the person she's always been.

A film based on a Tolstoy novel about naïveté, idealism and love facing harsh reality.

A spaceprobe called Beresheet, legless birds of paradise, hamster cull and humanity trying to make the world make sense.

Inka becomes an outcast to her small home town when she comes into conflict with the local priest. She is convinced she is right, but is being right worth the lonely fight?

Children of the Leśniewski family decide to help their mother in daily chores so she can have more time for herself.

A story of a man with a very dense eyes who sees all the surrounding reality only after seven years. The consequence of the eye defect translates into the mental immaturity of the man, lack of understanding of the present and belated reflections on long-gone facts. The man is never mature enough for his age and constantly lingers on the past.

A snowboarder, whose career was interrupted by an injury, meets a determined pianist who inspires him to pursue his Olympic dreams.

A Polish priest arrives at a convent hoping to save the Mother Superior who is supposedly possessed by eight demons.

After his mother’s death, Adam finds his parents’ correspondence. We discover a love adventure entangled in the 20th century, when the world was cut in two and the war between Iran and Iraq marked the start of tragic conflicts in the Middle East. Mixing animation and found footage, we dive in a odyssey full of bombshells and secrets.

Amidst harsh winter conditions, Patagonia Park Argentina’s rewilding team works to dismantle deadly fences – enabling guanacos to continue their ancestral migrations unimpeded. This effort is part of their remarkable mission to restore the Patagonian steppe. This short wildlife documentary is a journey into the heart of Patagonia Park, Argentina, where the spectacle of winter migrations unfolds against the backdrop of ongoing rewilding efforts.

A Jewish child deported to Kazakhstan is saved and adopted by Kasym, an old Kazakh railway-man. Kasym gives him a Kazakh name, Sabyr, that in Kazakh language means humble. The child grows up in the small Kazakh village along with other deportees Vera, a traitor's wife, and Ezhik a Polish doctor. The Soviet militia harasses the poor peasants and Vera suffered the harassment of a bully cop: Bulgabi. Finally Vera accepts the marriage proposal of Ezhik but the jealous Bulgabi tries to prevent the marriage. The result is a fight in which Ezhik shoots himself accidentally. The old Kasym decides that Sabyr is now old enough to go to seek his real parents. At the end Sabyr, now an adult, decides to return to the village, but the village no longer exists because it was destroyed by a Soviet nuclear test.

In 1960s Krynica, veteran artist Włosiński’s orderly life is disrupted when local outsider Nikifor - deaf, mute, and dismissed as a harmless eccentric - arrives at his studio and begins painting his naïve masterpieces. Their unlikely friendship transforms both men, sparking a late-life creative and personal rebirth that reshapes Włosiński’s world and finally earns Nikifor recognition for his singular talent.

An impressionistic, black-and-white portrait of the day-to-day of a nonagenarian woman as she experiences the final act of her life. Danuta Szaflarska stars as Aniela, who lives in a massive yet rapidly-deteriorating wooden house, filled with souvenirs and treasures of eras gone by. Aniela runs into conflict in her dealings with others, particularly a nasty neighbor who sees her property as an eyesore and wants to do everything in his reach to buy it up and tear it down, and her married adult son, who - though kindly - triggers paranoia within Aniela (she cannot help but believe that he is scheming and planning to wheedle the property away from her). Driven aback by these individuals, Aniela finds one of her only sources of comfort and reassurance in her daily talks with her dog, Fila - and develops a great affinity for spying on the neighbors' doings whenever boredom creeps in.

Nina, a teacher in her mid-30s struggling to have a child, looks for a surrogate mother. It would seem that together with her husband she has found an ideal candidate, yet Nina falls for the woman, who could have given birth to her child.

Natalia is a 17-year-old mom living with her mother and son, Antos. She wanted to have a baby because it was a “cool” thing to do, and because she feels she has someone to love; someone who can love her in return. Everything changes when Natalia’s mother decides to move out, giving Natalia a chance to lead a “normal life.”

The astronaut Charles Enak refuses to come back to Earth after completing a mission in orbit. While he also refuses to give any explanation for his behaviour, the world enters its biggest crisis since the Cold War. As journalists try to find out more about Enak and his backstory in communist Poland, they discover that he possesses the ability to influence people's sub-consciousness.

A biopic about Jerzy Kulej, a two-time Olympic champion and one of Poland's greatest fighters. The film is set between the Olympics, when Kulej wins his first gold and goes for a second.

A popular TV star finds himself the subject of a local media scandal, a teenage boy has a moment of self-discovery on the rooftop of his high school, and a series of strangers disclose their most intimate secrets under the comfort of anonymity. Fleeting connections and hidden desires abound in this poignant collection of stories about the drama and passion that erupts behind closed doors. Segments: [1] SKIN TO SKIN 🇮🇪 2021 (Luke Daly, Nathan Fagan) … [2] ROOFTOP 🇹🇼 2021 (Teng Pocheng) … [3] PORTRET 🇵🇱 2014 (Wojciech Tubaja) … [4] SHIBA SAN AND MEOW CHAN 🇹🇼 2018 (Chiang Chungchieh) … [5] HOLE 🇨🇦 2014 (Martin Edralin)

Romek is a Polish railway worker and Guido is a German soldier. They are both 17, in love with jazz and the same pretty girl. But it's 1943 somewhere in German-occupied Poland, and their lives are bound to change soon.

1945. Soviet offensive is approaching Cracow. Local resistance cooperate despite political differences to save the city from destruction planned by Germans.

This Polish historical drama film traces the fascinating saga of a wealthy, princely Polish dynasty in years 1900-1935.

Andrew and Marta are about to get married. But on the stag night, Andrew finds himself drawn in to an evening of mischief. As the party kicks off, no one can anticipate the incredible and outrageous situations these guys are going to get into.

Zenon Ziembiewicz, a young, budding journalist, comes to his parents' manor house for a vacation. Here he enters into an affair with the lovely Justyna Bogutówna, the daughter of a cook. When the canicule comes to an end, Zenon packs his bags and leaves for Paris to study. Returning after a year with a doctorate in political science, he makes a fast and glamorous career. He becomes the editor-in-chief of the local newspaper and, soon after, mayor of the city. He also marries Elzbieta Biecka, but still does not break up with Justyna.

Follows four friends in their quest to form a punk band. As workers protests sweep across the country, Janek and Staszek, the sons of a navy man, the rebellious Kazik, and the affluent Diabel gel as a band, but their disparate lives are touched by social turmoil and outside perceptions.

Zenia is an industrious Ukrainian migrant worker in Poland who makes house calls as a masseur to the needy and aspirational residents of a middle-class gated community near Warsaw. He is privy to all of their problems, anxieties and secrets – and something of an unwitting guru figure. Zenia’s grounded spirituality, apparent healing powers and broad shoulders make him an object of lust for many of the lost souls in the community.

The rebellious IIIB crew and their unconventional teacher Jan Sienkiewicz are back! Love, troubles and school dramas make up everyday life of Dante, Nel and the whole gang. It is joined now by a young mathematical genius - Korek. The guys intend to teach him how to pick up girls, but it turns out that their know-how is rather theoretical…

Kidnappers demand six million in ransom, but the United Nations does not negotiate with terrorist. One of the best counterfeiters is serving a lengthy prison term and the agent who arrested him needs his help.

Tomasz, a doctor, and atheist, is diagnosed with cancer. His ex-wife offers him the money for treatment in Paris, but his lung cancer is past the operating stage. Facing imminent death, he questions the beliefs he has held all his life and starts experimenting with both his own life and those of others.

The film tells the story of two Highlander brothers – Maciek and Andrzej. After the death of their father, which Andrzej contributed to, and the loss of his beloved Bronka, Andrzej leaves the family home. On his way, he meets the mysterious Wolfram, an anthropologist and climber. He shares with him his mountaineering technique and knowledge about the Prague origins of the highlanders. Andrzej returns to Zakopane, war breaks out. To protect the Highlanders from wartime destruction, he wants to persuade them to cooperate with the Germans. Andrzej and Maciek are standing on opposite sides of the barricade. The brothers' confrontation is bloody and painful.

Tato is the story of a divorced father fighting for the right to raise his 7-year-old daughter. When his marriage falls apart, he decides to kidnap his daughter rather than let the court award custody to his mentally ill wife, whom he deems unfit to raise their child. But as he quickly finds out, it’s easier to be a real man than it is to be a real father.

Fed up with pandemics, quarantines and news about ecological disasters, worried about their own uncertain future and the fate of the world, a group of high school students are invited by Kamil, a millionaire's son, to a party at his father's seaside residance.

A blind teacher breaks the rules to help a female student rediscover the pleasures of life.

Six-year-old Stefek challenges fate. He believes that setting a chain of events in motion will help him get closer to his father who left his mother. His sister helps him bribe fate with small sacrifices, but things go wrong and then Stefek tries a very risky trick.

A provincial police unit raids a forest moonshine operation but is ambushed, leaving one officer wounded and the bootlegger at large, while simultaneously a young woman’s body is found drifting on a lake. Pregnant Sub-Inspector Iza Dereń juggles these intertwined investigations, helped by her junior colleague Marzec, just as two fellow officers, including her partner, vanish.