Discoveries from Poland World Cinema

The sea on whose shore Weronika Szyma has set her film is a dense, pulsating blue. The beach and the family who are staying there, meanwhile, are limited to delicate black and white line drawings. Their minimalism makes the blue stand out all the more enchantingly: Sometimes represented as a horizontal strip that promises freedom but also fuels insecurity. Sometimes sloshing diagonally across the screen, swallowing up the image completely for a brief moment and marking a caesura. And there are quite a number of caesuras, because the seven film minutes span the story of several generations.

An animated film about how beautiful the night can be. The moon is shining, the stars are shining, cats are walking on the rooftops, and on Christmas Eve, the first star signals that it's time.

A satirical take on the issue of "sugran" – a new high-quality feed made from a mixture of dried fodder and whey. A satirical film directed against the squandering of social initiatives. Its critical tone led to a ban on its distribution. Ultimately, the film did not premiere until 1981.

A documentary showing the First of May celebrations.

The short film of four months in the life of newly graduated, Kinga. A graduate in Polish Linguistics, she returns to her hometown in high spirits, determined to find a job quickly and renew her bonds with the family she left behind a few years earlier when she went away to university.

A man meets a childhood friend who does not recognize him.

The passage of time during the pandemic has grown to become my character. The world froze, together with the camera on my balcony. I’m watching a shard of the world in a frame and a unique slice of time we have all found ourselves in. I listen intently to abrupt silence. But life that has slowed down continues under my balcony. New characters are moving along like on the stage. I’m asking people questions I cannot answer myself - what will come next?

The author of the film observes seven-year-old Zuzia's struggle for life from up-close. The girl suffers from an extremely rare genetic skin condition. Her skin, as sensitive as a butterfly's wing, falls apart under the gentlest touch. The only possibility to alleviate the girl's suffering is an expensive surgery in the USA, which entails high risk. The camera captures her parents in poignant moments of despair and their glimmers of hope when they are trying to survive this emotional rollercoaster. What is the most impressive in this film is Zuzia herself, who is aware of her situation in a very mature way.

Dark vision, moody colors and clouds of smoke everywhere – these are the most characteristic elements of the award-winning video clip for Syny. Written and directed by Sebastian Pańczyk, produced by studio Dobro and with visual effects created by Platige Image artists. Smoke plays important visual role for Syny – not only at concerts and live performances. Even the lyrics of “Nag Champa” are dedicated to the smoke generator, so it could not be missing in the video as well. Smoke is present almost in every frame of the film and creates mysterious, slightly unreal atmosphere.

Documentary about the making of the 1983 film "Danton" by director Andrzej Wajda.

Szymon, preparing for the race, spends time in the paddock surrounded by family and friends. However, just before heading out onto the track, he is left alone, enjoying a moment of silence before the start. Film produced as part of the Lighthouse Film Community.

Ms. Zosia, once thought to remain with her mother forever, frequents the “Wrzos” Day Care Center in Lodz’s Bałuty district. There, she meets Mr. Tadeusz, who has struggled with loneliness and alcohol after his mother’s death. They decide to marry, surprising their families and the center’s regulars. Malgorzata Szumowska documents their journey, capturing the reactions of those around them. The wedding, held at “Wrzos,” transforms their lives, bringing companionship despite their continued modest circumstances.

The protagonist of the film "Klawisz" is Jan Doliński, a former guard of the Lublin Castle prison, who held his post during the German occupation and remained in it almost until the prison was liquidated in 1954. He was dismissed because he did not want to join the Polish United Workers' Party.

In the northeastern corner of Poland, on the edge of a lake, stands a house of women – mothers, daughters, and sisters. From generation to generation, the women pass down their inaccessibility, steadfastness, and family secrets. Twenty-year-old Łucja will be able to begin an independent life only when she confronts the truth about her family. An old clarinet leads Łucja to a story long erased from the pages of a family album.

A school etude referring to a painting motif about the farewell of lovers. He, the uhlan, must ride away on his horse into the blue distance, and she, the girl in a flower wreath, cannot come to terms with it.

The chicken lost its head, the cow’s guts are out in the open and blood is spurting all over the screen. The protagonist works at a production line where automated processes have made her approach her job and its effects in a cool-headed emotionless way. Each day, she makes chicken for dinner, but one day, a piece of meat starts staring at her in a strange way. A grotesque animation about what ends up on our plates.

A short experimental film dedicated to Polish artist Wacław Szpakowski (1883–1973).

An intimate study of coming-of-age in the shadow of family tensions and intergenerational experiences. The director, who is also the protagonist, documents the daily life of her closest relatives—sisters, parents, and grandmother—over five years, creating an emotional portrait of a home that is both a refuge and a place of difficult confrontations. Voiceover of the auteur guides the viewer through a personal journey about the need for intimacy and reclaiming one’s own voice.

A short doc on techniques that painters have used to achieve 3D depth of field effects.

A Lidia Hornicka Animated Short Film

Somewhere between life and death a thrilling chess match takes place. The stake is high - a gateway to the world of living. And the sole referee of this exciting tournament is a figure no one wish to meet in their path.

A poetic metaphor about man's eternal pursuit of beauty.

A film from the "Impressions" series, made using classic animation techniques – pastel drawings on paper. The director's debut and diploma at the State Higher School of Fine Arts in Poznań under the supervision of Prof. Kazimierz Urbański. The film's composition uses selected portraits by Witkacy from his "Portrait Company." The director refers to Witkacy's "cosmic imagination" by showing animated portraits on a visualization of Earth "stolen" from the Universe.

Educational documentary that illustrates the living conditions and importance of ants in environmental ecosystems.

A bloody duel between two knights takes place at a medieval court, which becomes the beginning of a cruel war. Soon it turns out that the battlefield was a chessboard, and the participants of the battle are chess figures.

A portrait of 9-year-old Józek Lizon, an artistically talented boy living in a village near Nowy Sącz. The protagonist talks about his love of sculpting and the work of his father, a folk sculptor. Józek's wooden sculptures reflect the world of the child's experiences and sensations - his games, home activities, the boy's relatives and peers.

During the isolation period caused by the coronavirus outbreak, the director talks on the phone with her friends and family. The movie is a record of private confessions of people trying to adapt to this unusual situation—their longings, needs and emotions.

Once upon a time in America... Two friends - Anka and Dzastina - dream of a better life. When they decide to hitch-hike, an innocent adventure irreversibly changes their mutual relations.

A documentary presenting the story of a monk and exorcist, Matteo da Agnone. Murder, Love and Forgiveness. Evidence from the late 16th and early 17th centuries and testimonies that will not leave you indifferent. Who was Matteo? What do the archives of the town of Agnone hide? How did the Vatican react to the story? These questions are answered by Fr. Cipriano de Meo, Fr. Nazareno M. Galullo, a charismatic priest, and Prof. Maria Cristina Melloni, an Italian history researcher.

Documentary Short by Jerzy Ziarnik

A group of veterans recount a horrifying experience when trapped in a minefield, resulting in each losing their sight.

One of the three epitaphs that Robakowski created between 1966 and 1994, in an installation entitled Mr Deer (Self-Epitaph). The static shot from a bird’s-eye perspective shows the artist lying on a red and pink carpet with deer antlers attached to his head. Holding a burning cigarette in his mouth and exhaling smoke, the performer delivers a longer, unintelligible monologue; the words are gibberish, as if he were speaking with his mouth full. Robakowski commented on his self-epitaph: “Today, after almost thirty years, another epitaph appears, this time of ‘Mr Deer’, to personify the desire for arrogant gestures. It is meant to decry the miserable fate of the contemporary artist as a naïve fool, a bootlicker and creator of beautiful ideas and things…”.

A reality filmed in fragments. The artist concentrates on seemingly ordinary elements, which our minds almost automatically reject as insignificant. Sadowski posits a different kind of perception, which resembles the way the world is enthusiastically beheld by children. At the same time, the artist remains ironic and far-removed from any sentimentalism or elation.

25 years ago, three persons made up their minds to record the movement of the Sun. Today, Kuba continues the tradition of their solarographic experiments.

This short documentary fascinatingly depicts a seldom-captured but economically fundamental process: the production and distribution of sugar.

Ber, an alcoholic aspiring to become a veterinarian, and Dr. Howl, a cynical professor posthumously reincarnated in the body of a dog, become entangled in dark mysteries that they must solve.

On January 30, 1968, the staging of "Dziady", directed by Kazimierz Dejmek, was taken off the billboard of the capital's National Theater. Warsaw students protested against the decision of the highest party and state authorities - after all, it was not made independently and courageously by censors from the nomen omen Mysia Street - by convening a rally at the monument to Adam Mickiewicz.

REM - the phase of sleep where dreams occur. The film is an attempt to depict dreams in which the forming creatures are devoid of narration. Fragments of the unconscious are mixed up and deconstructed, which leads to the erasure of sleep from memory.

Sao Paulo - Brazil - 2013-03-31

At the famous Grand Hotel in Sopot, each worker - whether a porter, a maid, a cook or a stoker - feels an important part of their workplace. Perhaps even the most important.

MDM explores the relationship between architecture and ideology by focusing on one Warsaw neighbourhood. The Marszalkowska Housing District was one of the first and most famous of Poland's 1950s Socialist-Realist housing developments. Conceived on a monumental scale as a model of socialist planning and an architectural showpiece for the new Soviet-backed Communist regime, it rose up from the ruins of a city almost completely destroyed in World War II.

A group of soldiers attempt to hit a specific target using a cannon.

In the city water pump there are 8 clams. The lives of millions of people depend on them. In case of contamination of water supply, the clams will close and automatically shut off the water for the city. The main scientist-malacologist watches over the system's operation. The film is a philosophical essay on dependence people from nature and the world around them.

About collective consciousness, how not being accountable for our actions pushes us to follow the crowd, and could lead to tragedy. The consequences of collective hypnosis for those fighting against it and on the crowd.

In occupied Poland in 1943, a wounded Jewish woman escapes a transport train and is discovered by villagers who, despite their sympathy, are unable to help her. Based on a short story by Zofia Nałkowska.

Zdzislaw Misiak, known as Dzidek, is the retired king of amusement parks. After his daughter's death his 7 year-old grandson Hugo comes to live with him in one of the left over barracks. In the enchanting surroundings of the amusement park a bond grows between the boy and his grandfather. This helps them both heal wounds caused by their tragic loss. But this cannot last. Soon, they are brought to the attention of the System and the peace of Dzidek-land is disturbed. Hugo is a film about love and the courage to live this life by one's own rules, and to undermine traditional upbringing models in which most of us are still entrapped.

A uniquely constructed portrait of the Polish Colonel Ryszard Kuklinski, who provided the CIA with more than 40,000 strategic documents from the Warsaw Pact during the Cold War. Was he a traitor, or the savior of Poland? The Polish documentary filmmaker Dariusz Jablonski begins his story of the colonel in 2004, when he was supposed to interview him for the very first time. It turns out that Kuklinski has just died, and at the request of the colonel's wheelchair-bound wife, Jablonski agrees to take care of his ashes. He talks with a considerable number of closely involved ex-servicemen -- from the U.S. head of espionage General William E. Odom to the Warsaw Pact Commander-in-Chief Viktor Kulikov, the Polish General Wojciech Jaruzelski, and former Polish President Lech Walesa.

A documentary impression by Władysław Ślesicki showing the life of women - the joys and sorrows of motherhood, the hardships of everyday life. The individual sequences, made using the observation method, form a mosaic portrait of a mother.

The young merchant Duncan is back from a long expedition that bought back the sacred stone called "Heart of the Mountains" from the infidels. Duncan has missed his loving wife, Heather, for many weeks. During a party held in honor of the expedition's happy return, the village is raided by Skaar's men, who steal the stone and kidnap the beautiful Heather. Duncan wants to set out on his own to recapture Heather, but the village Druid advises him to ask for help from Veronar, Heather's brother, who has been sentenced to exile for unknown reasons. Duncan sets out on the expedition, but not everything goes his way...