58th KFF – 2018

dir. Marta Węgiel

43′dok2017

dir. Adam Lewandowski

23′dok2017

dir. Bogusława Stanowska-Cichoń

56′dok2017

dir. Wojciech Szumowski

51′dok2017

dir. Monika Skwirtniańska

42′dok2017

dir. Paulina Ibek, Mirosław Krzyszkowski, Bogdan Wasztyl

32′dok2017

dir. Dagmara Merecik

46′dok2017

dir. Monika Skwirtniańska

42′dok2017

dir. Damian Kocur

26′fab2018

Damian Kocur („What I Want”, „Nothing New under the Sun”) is trying his hand at historical cinema. It is 1410 and one of the greatest battles of medieval Europe is about to begin. A knight and his squire respond to the king’s call and travel across Poland to arrive at the fields of Grunwald..

dir. Victor Orozco Ramirez

8′anim2018

We all know these images: a GIF file with lost John Travolta or a film about an alligator biting a man’s arm off. The animated, chaotic mix of memes circulating online has become an opportunity for the director to reflect on the contemporary world in which memories are sold for “likes”.

dir. Abel Ferrara

82′dok2017

There is a place in Rome frequented by both the homeless and movie stars - Piazza Vittorio. This is where one can meet Abel Ferrara or William Dafoe. The open-air market, bustling with life, which used to be the quintessence of Italy has filled with immigrants from across the world today. Not everyone likes it.

dir. Petro Aleksowski

50′dok2018

Painfully frank stories of two veterans of the war in Afghanistan. The aborted mission ended up in a similar way for them. They are physically wounded and mentally scarred for life.

dir. Konrad Tom

82′fab1936

Ada is happy, full of life and a bit unruly. Her father sends her to a boarding school in another town where they will teach her manners and what the done things are. In the meantime he, is also planning her wedding with a young son of an earl, but Ada does not want to marry someone she does not know.

dir. Jaanis Valk

92′dok2018

The eponymous character, Ahto Valter, wants to realise his great dream about a sea voyage around the world. He sets off, together with his family and colourful crew, in 1938. The film contains primarily archival materials, including films and photographs from remote corners of the world.

dir. Lisa Gertsch

25′fab2017

A subtle story about love and a disease. A man, whose name is Paul, is lost and knocks on the window of Leandra’s car. They are a loving couple but he can remember less and less. He is 47 and suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. He will soon move to a care centre but convinces Leandra to take a trip to the seaside to spend their last holidays together.

dir. Andreas Neumann, Joshua Homme

82′dok2017

When, in 2015, Iggy Pop met Josh Homm from Queens of the Stone Age, nothing boded the great success of their joint album, "Post Pop Depression", which it was soon to achieve. Personal reflections of both artists make a story about the backstage of the complex process of creation.

dir. Władysław Ślesicki

14′dok1960

dir. Willy Perelsztejn

90′dok2018

What happened with Hitler’s closest collaborators after the war was over? Some of them ended up in a secret prison in Luxembourg turning from murderers into convicts awaiting their trials. The documentary gives the voice to the creators of the performance about Ashcan, historians and the last witness of those events.

dir. Maciej Kawalski

28′fab2018

Philosophy, humour, Tomasz Kot, Marian Opania and the music by Łukasz Targosz. What secret is Adam aka Atlas hiding? Day and night, he is standing with his arms up and remains stubbornly silent. Who is he? Why is he in this, slightly crazy, psychiatric hospital? And what will happen when he lowers his arms?

dir. Lilli-Krõõt Repnau

4′anim2015

In the same way as nature wakes up slowly to life every year, a blank sheet of paper in animation slowly fills with the images of stems, branches and precisely drawn little leaves on trees. A film about cycles – not just in the world of plants.

dir. Kiana Naghshineh

4′anim2018

A dark street, the clatter of high-heels and the shadow of a woman cast on a road. Suddenly, something else appears– the shadow of a man. Will the woman manage to defend herself against him? This animated thriller is a recording of a murder from the perspective of a victim and her perpetrator as well as passive observers.

dir. Michał Ciechomski

25′fab2018

In the living room of Auntie Leonia, the family has gathered to celebrate the host’s birthday. The conversation soon turns to uncomfortable subjects. Conflicts are revived and long-hidden secrets come to the surface. Maybe laughter is the only remedy? This film, excellently cast, is on the border between cinema and theatre.

dir. Helen Woolston

7′anim2017

The particularly boring life of a cow changes when a circus appears on the hill nearby. By observing acrobats, the animal discovers a completely new potential within itself. But it is hard to convince the owner of the field to have faith in its talent.

dir. Natalia Koryncka-Gruz

72′dok2018

This documentary animation tells a war story of a family presenting a unique, intimate point of view. The testimony of annihilation has a private dimension in this film, filtered through the perspectives of three women. But the pain of the inherited trauma affects the mother, the daughter and the granddaughter, each one to a different extent.

dir. Władysław Ślesicki

19′dok1958

dir. Jerzy Passendorfer

78′fab1966

The wedding day of Kuba and Majka was supposed to be exceptional. Unfortunately, just before the ceremony, an unknown girl started to attack him verbally as a bigamist. Kuba’s explanation that she must have confused him with someone else did not help. The boy decides to find his look-alike, who turns out to be a big-beat star.

dir. Władysław Ślesicki

6′dok1958

dir. Władysław Ślesicki

28′dok1964

dir. Anna Oparkowska

7′anim2017

A big polar bear feels a little lonely – no animal in the North Pole wants to make friends with it. Seals, fish or reindeer run away in panic at the mere sight of it. Will Bernard be able to convince other animals that there is nothing to be afraid of? It is true that the bear poses no risk?

dir. Eric Liner

95′dok2017

The Philippine eagle is the biggest and rarest eagle species that can only be found in the Philippines. Today, as a result of human activity, there are no more than 800 representatives of this species left. What should be done to save them from extinction?

dir. Paulina Ziółkowska

5′anim2017

The city is the grip of a great flu epidemic. It is very easy to contract something from another human being, not just rhinitis. What else this might be is left to the viewers’ imagination. "Bless You!" is a brief and funny story showing that each interaction with another person leaves a mark.

dir. Sergei Loznitsa

52′dok2005

This film, made in the found footage technique, is one of the most important achievements of this kind of documentary filmmaking. Archival photographs from the siege of Leningrad by the Third Reich army were edited and revived thanks to the suggestive soundtrack.

dir. Rakan Mayasi

15′fab2017

The music of Kroke enters an Israeli prison where one Palestinian is serving his sentence. He is looking forward to the visit of his girlfriend. They will have only one chance to change something in their lives forever. This is a completely new take in cinematography on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

dir. Ewa Drzewicka

9′anim2018

Poland and Krakow in a distorting mirror, with no concessions. This is a satire on “true” patriots – heroes, the unexplained catastrophe and the city choking on smog. It is also a parody of society and the portrait of people who usually blame others for their own mistakes, even if others come from space.

dir. Michael Palm

126′dok2017

The digital revolution came to cinema quite late and was treated with distrust for a long time. Together with the filmmakers, we can visit archives, museums and film studios to find out how digitisation influences cinematography, what opportunities it offers and what dangers it entails.

dir. Zofia Kowalewska

18′dok2016

dir. Aili Allas

4′anim2017

The audience gathered in the circus is waiting for the performance, the show is about to start, but the clown is missing. Children should never play with magic items, especially those that can make something disappear.

dir. Marcin Podolec

11′anim2018

Marcin, who is 26, is a colaholic. The fizzy beverage has accompanied him since childhood taking an increasingly more important place in his life until, eventually, its complete domination. This documentary animation in the convention of a romantic comedy tells the story of an addiction and love at the same time.

dir. Ksenia Okhapkina

51′dok2016

The eponymous phrase “come back free” is an expression rooted in the Chechen tradition. Here, the war never ends. To survive, you have to be prepared to fight any time. The pivotal part in the film belongs to a cemetery, coming back like a refrain, which is juxtaposed with the everyday life of the village following the rhythm of the seasons.

dir. Daria Godyń

6′anim2017

Falling Icarus becomes the symbol of the character’s fall. When his life stops at one place, he sets off on a journey inside his soul. Overwhelmed by the “gourmet of grief”, he is looking for the reasons of his failures and gets drowned in guilt. Against all odds, will he be able to save himself?

dir. Shakir Khan

4′anim2018

A deserted town, an apocalypse and just one man. He tries to run, he runs between buildings trying to hide. But there is a bomb attached to his body. Will he manage to survive? Who presses the button that sets off an explosion?

dir. Christos Massalas

14′fab2017

This is a story of Copa-Loca, an abandoned Greek summer resort. Everyone knows Paulina. Everyone cares for her and she cares about everyone – in every possible way. Sarajevo Short Film Nominee.

dir. Lorenz Wunderle

10′anim2018

A crazy, absurd and psychedelic animation about a coyote whose family was murdered by wolves. Now, as a lonely rider, he ranges across the desert looking for consolation as well as revenge. “Coyote” is like an amalgam of Tarantino’s films and the series “True Detective”, but in fluorescent colours.

dir. Natalia Koniarz, Stanisław Cuske

22′dok2018

A father and a son on a trip. They meet to spend some time together after the period when they broke off contacts. But it is not a carefree weekend at a hut in the Bieszczady mountains. The drunk father asks a rhetorical question: “And what, did you think it would be easy?”

dir. Mara Tamkovich

29′fab2017

What can a father do when his beloved daughter was so much hurt by someone that he finds her unconscious in the bathroom, lying in her own blood. What can he do when the system fails him standing in the way of justice? The film is a part of the social debate in the current context of the #MeToo campaign.

dir. Julio Ramos

14′fab2017

The construction of a luxurious villa progresses as planned until an accident happens. Armando immediately takes up actions to help the injured person, but his hands are tied. Neither him nor the rest of the crew are legally employed. Social cinema with the qualities of a thriller.

dir. Anastasiya Miroshnichenko

80′dok2017

In a Belorussian facility for over 1500 inmates, a theatrical performance is being prepared under the supervision of prison cameras. During rehearsals, volunteers may forget about the families they left at home and their incarceration for a while. The first performance on stage? In their lives, everything is the eponymous debut.

dir. Vincent Lambe

30′fab2018

Vincent Lambe goes back to the harrowing case of the murder of two-year old James Bulger who was killed by two ten-year-old boys in 1993. The script is based on the authentic recordings of the interrogations of the perpetrators by the police. The film confronts evil with children’s sensitivity (or lack thereof).

dir. Kuba Czekaj

38′fab2009

dir. Stanisław Berbeka

85′dok2018

In his documentary, Stanisław Berbeka revives the memory of his father, Maciej Berbeka. Thanks to the accounts of expedition participants, the reminiscences of his family members and archival recordings (film and sound), we can gain a better insight into the way of thinking of this eminent Polish mountaineer and traveller.

dir. Hernán Zin

87′dok2017

A war is addictive and captivating. War correspondents are the best proof of that. They reach the most dangerous places, witness and describe the hell of armed conflicts all over the world. They experience them as strongly as soldiers and inhabitants of the areas involved in conflicts.

dir. Edyta Adamczak

14′anim2018

The chicken lost its head, the cow’s guts are out in the open and blood is spurting all over the screen. "Eatself" is a grotesque animation about what ends up on our plates. Not only for the people with strong nerves or vegetarians.

dir. Shirly Berkovitz

70′dok2017

Death does not have to be the end. That is what Irit and Aser deeply believe in. Their son Omri was an officer in the Israeli navy who died young before he had started a family. His parents want to use their son's semen to have a granson. Yet the law is not on their side.

dir. Matteo Gariglio

26′dok2016

The Molina family live in poor surroundings of Boca Juniors, a famous football stadium in Buenos Aires. The family members earn their living selling fake tickets for football matches, which is why they often come into conflict with the law. The elder of their family is trying hard to give their home the appearance of normality. Kraków Short Film Nominee.

dir. Viktors Buda

80′dok2017

In the late 1980s in Western Europe, electronic dance music was king. Indulis Bilzēns, a multi-media artist born in Riga, together with other witnesses of those times, helps us understand how this music got to the other side of the Iron Curtain and helped to pull it down.

dir. Stephane Kaas

66′dok2017

Two fans of Etgar Keret decide to make a documentary about him. The master of short fiction turns out to be as extraordinary and fascinating as his writing. His biography is intertwined with the book narrative, making up a charming story of the man for whom telling stories is the essence of life.

dir. Maciej Bochniak

71′dok2017

Thirty years ago, Francis Falceto, a French musicologist, discovered and promoted the phenomenon of Ethiopian music – a unique fusion of traditional music with jazz, soul or rock’n’roll. The film tells the story of a passion for music that survived despite any political or social changes.

dir. Jan-Eric Mack

27′fab2017

This Student Academy Award winner is a story about respect, love and bureaucracy. Fareed, a Syrian refugee, was very well received by his new Swiss neighbours. When his wife dies, it turns out that he cannot bury her according to the Muslim tradition. Everyone wants to help but they cannot do anything.

dir. Sergei Loznitsa

30′dok2004

The factory is in operation day and night. Men and women are working hard performing routine activities at a place that has long been past its prime. In this film essay without words, sound and colour emphasise the exceptionality of the place where time passes slowly and the characters seem to be engulfed in lethargy.

dir. Katja Fedulova

97′dok2017

Are there still heroines in contemporary Russia? Katja Fedulova, who returns to the country after 20 years of absence, goes in search of them. The triad of faith, hope and love is symbolised by three women determined to change their country, but each of them has a different vision of it.

dir. Patrycja Widłak

27′dok2017

A Polish - Nigerian marriage is going through the first few weeks after the birth of their child. They encounter consecutive problems related to the communication between the spouses, mother’s psychoactive drugs and breastfeeding.

dir. Władysław Ślesicki

24′dok1966

dir. Kacper Lisowski

33′fab2014

dir. Kaleo La Belle

120′dok2017

In the film „Beyond This Place", the director settled accounts with his father and his hippie concept of freedom. This time, he tells the story of his own attempts to create a perfectly functioning patchwork family. The result is a vivisection of complicated family relations.

dir. Denise Janzee

15′dok2017

Amber (12) doesn't have hair. She will never know the sensation of the wind blowing trough her hair, like the models in shampoo advertisements. But Amber is positive about her situation. Every year she gets to choose a new wig. Every year she gets to decide what kind of a girl she wants to be...

dir. Simon Vahlne

15′fab2016

Epic beach fight! This is what happens when you yell “sieg heil” and call someone's mother a whore. A fight breaks out on a crowded beach. Valladolid Short Film Nominee.

dir. Renato Borrayo Serrano

31′dok2017

It is hard to please your in-laws, especially if you are a foreigner. Renato tries to have a good relationship with the parents of the woman he loves. The grandparents of his son are proud Russians and the grandson not only received a Spanish name but also inherited the looks after his Guatemalan father.

dir. Aggie Pak-Yee Lee

7′anim2017

When, mindlessly, you make five steps too many, you can get stuck in the place with no way out. How to free yourself when you have no strength left and all ideas – literally – bounce off the wall?

dir. Leonard Buczkowski

97′fab1946

"Forbidden Songs" is the first Polish feature film that went into cinema distribution after World War II. Initially, it was planned as a documentary. Its characters are songs and chants that accompanied people during the Nazi occupation helping them to cope with the terrifying reality.

dir. Shlomi Eldar

73′dok2017

Is any understanding possible between two nations in conflict? The Jewish director of the documentary who is a former journalist meets an Arab actor, once a popular sitcom star. Both cannot find themselves in the conflicted reality of Israel nowadays. Maybe, emigration, which was chosen by the actor’s son, is the only solution?

dir. Róża Fabjanowska, Sławomir Malcharek

79′dok2017

A biography of the most famous Polish art curator, Anda Rottenberg. Her journey from a girl growing up in the provinces in the gloomy 1940s and 1950s to the position of one of the most influential figures in the art world was presented against the backdrop of Poland’s latest history.

dir. Farshid Akhlaghi

75′dok2017

Can music help in the ultimate encounter with death? An Australian harpist, Peter Roberts, believes it is possible. As a musical thanatologist, he accompanies dying people in the process of going to the other side. The film shows him at the moment when he is facing his own old age as well as the prospects of a long-distance journey.

dir. ShihChieh Chiu

7′anim2017

Dinosaurs, Darwin’s theory and metal music concerts – a young fundamentalist is tempted all the time. The ironic picture of the world of religious fanaticism as seen through the eyes of a growing boy. The comedy turns into a horror when the protagonist decides to escape the omnipresent vision of infernal fire.

dir. Jass Kaselaan

8′anim2018

According to the Gaia hypothesis, all creatures on Earth act together to maintain the most optimal conditions of living. In Jass Kaselaan’s animation, this vision is realised in quite a brutal way...

dir. Sven Tönis Puskar

8′anim2015

Fighting for the chance to press the red button is an element of everyday entertainment for commanders. But their game does have an impact on the life of the plant employees. It determines whether they will have a little bit of fun or experience hell leading to self-destruction.

dir. Piotr Małecki

26′dok2018

Two older gentlemen share the same name and a passion for sailing. Also, both are 83 years old. Because of his health condition, one of them will soon be unable to enjoy his hobby. But the other is ready to take care of the friend. Will they go sailing onto the lakes one more time?

dir. George Michael, David Austin

108′dok2018

In June this year, George Michael would have turned 55. Almost until the end of his days, he was working on a documentary presenting the key moments from his life and career. The film, which shows the artist’s great impact on contemporary music, includes footage that has never been shown so far.

dir. Sasha Snow

87′dok2015

„Hadwin’s Judgement” is a visually fascinating story about environment protection, obsession and myths of the north-west coast of the Pacific. The film, inspired by „The Golden Spruce” written by John Vaillant, describes the events that led to the destruction of a 300-year-old tree considered sacred by the indigenous people of Haida.

dir. Mano Khalil

88′dok2018

This is not a typical film about an old painter and his muse. The artist, who comes from Lebanon, found a safe haven next to his Swiss wife, but only in the presence of the cameras do Hafis and Mara face what has been hiding behind his anxiety and her patient presence.

dir. Maciej Buchwald

24′fab2018

A lighthearted comedy about ordinary people, their desires, dreams and perverse fate. On one winter afternoon and night, Joanna, Tadeusz, Mariusz and Julia are looking for peace, success and love. Sometimes, however, what you most need to be happy is luck.

dir. Elsbeth Fraanje

52′dok2017

Time passes differently here and human matters take on a completely different weight. A chapel by the motorway is visited by drivers that are looking for moments of privacy or concentration. Some put down their most hidden secrets in a notebook that was placed here especially for them.

dir. Anna Pawluczuk

17′fab2018

When both nature and medicine fail them, Maria and Paweł turn to Iwona, a medicine woman (played by Jowita Budnik). But Paweł is not entirely convinced about unconventional methods. The future of the couple is put in doubt.

dir. Dev Patel

16′fab2017

A black comedy about teleshopping and a marriage. Maybe it was better to remain silent than to kick Penny out because she bought yet another mixer? Dev Patel („Slumdog Millionaire”) makes his debut as a director, Leigh Whannell („Saw”) is a co-author of the script, but these are not the only surprises offered by this killer story.

dir. Piotr Augustynek

30′dok2017

dir. Wojciech Klimala

80′dok2017

Zdzisław Misiak, stage name “Dzidek”, used to work at funfairs. Since his daughter died and son-in-law went to prison, he has been taking care of Hugo, his little grandson. Together, they live in the surreal scenery of a dilapidated funfair in the city centre.

dir. Nicolas Boucart

25′fab2017

A myth about Dedalus and Icarus among the landscape of Groix island. The inventor, obsessed with flying, believes that only a pure, innocent and light person may lift himself up using his own arms with wings attached to them. He finds a boy who matches the ideal and infects him with his ambition.

dir. Marta Pajek

12′anim2018

The characters meet in a meeting room, at the end of a winding hall which looks like a labyrinth. Why have they come here? Did they know each other before? It is irrelevant. The only important thing is the sensual and disturbing play that just starts between them.

dir. Magdalena Szymków

26′dok2018

This documentary was made in the found footage convention. Summer of 1968. The mosaic of different archival materials and wedding memories of one marriage whose happiness is overshadowed by the invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops on Czechoslovakia.

dir. Daniel van der Velden, Vinca Kruk

24′fab2017

“Information Skies” is an essay in which live action and animation create a new cinematic aesthetic. The film presents a young couple who believe in living a perilous and heroic life. When a traumatic loss exposes their fantasy as fake, they immerse themselves further into their own world. Rotterdam Short Film Nominee.

dir. Edmunds Jansons

5′anim2012

When people are festively celebrating the International Father’s Day, a bird father cannot allow himself to be idle. Instead of a ceremonious parade, he devotes his entire day to looking for food for his hatchlings. A film about love hidden in everyday duties.

dir. Filip Bojarski

16′fab2018

If a few days, summer holidays will start. But instead of taking a rucksack and guitar to set off on a journey into the unknown, Ewa, a teacher, may only go on a spontaneous bike trip with her slow coach of a husband. There is a surprise awaiting her and the viewers by the river. A light-hearted film made in the Silesian way.

dir. Marcin Sauter

50′dok2018

Karalina left Belarus, just like the overwhelming majority of her friends from music school. The lives of Belarussian intelligentsia members are portrayed in the form of a study of nostalgia – longing for their families, friends and the childhood they remember in idyllic colours.

dir. Brett Morgen

90′dok2017

"Jane", retrieved from the National Geographic archives and including materials that have never been published, is a story of an incredible researcher, Jane Goodall, who spent her entire life among chimpanzees.

dir. Adela Kaczmarek

50′dok2018

This portrait of Janina Ochojska, Head of the Polish Humanitarian Action, shows, above all, her private face. It is revealed by the narration of the protagonist herself and animated pictures inspired by her memories and illustrated with Grzegorz Turnau’s music.

dir. Florian Baron

30′dok2017

Young Joe Boots joins the army under the influence of the September 11 events. Mentally unprepared, he ends up in the middle of brutal reality, unknown to him. This nightmare of the war does not end after his return to the US. The trauma continues and alcohol or drugs do not give him any relief.

dir. Armelle Mercat

12′anim2017

Oliver, a 50-year-old chemist, will do anything to hide his bald patch from his wife. But, one day, a cat pulls out the rest of his hair and the mysterious potion that is supposed to accelerate its growth causes unforeseen adverse effects.

dir. Delfina Jałowik

74′dok2017

The film director presents the topic of inherited trauma in the family of a Holocaust survivor. Henri Kichka was a prisoner of concentration camps for three years. The shadow it cast on his soul was partially inherited by his son Michel, a famous illustrator and cartoonist.

dir. Anna Gawlita

20′dok2018

The residents of a village near Opole are celebrating Easter Sunday. People as well as horses have gathered near the church. It is a traditional component of Easter celebrations, which include prayers, a horse ride around the households nearby and fervent singing under the influence of alcohol.

dir. Sergei Loznitsa

60′dok2003

The camera is contemplating the winter landscape of a small town somewhere in Russia. Landscape is an experience where cinema borders with painting. The Bruegelesque scenery is slowly revealed to the viewer by the hypnotising work of the camera and enigmatic editing.

dir. Harry Lighton

17′fab2018

A small town in Wales in 2016. The Welsh football team gets to the EURO Championships semi-finals and the UK decides to leave the EU. Emotions reach an all-time high and some people mistake racism for patriotism. Kasia and her mother are not liked by the group of local teenage girls. But Kasia does not like her boundaries to be pushed…

dir. Krzysztof Nowicki

18′dok2017

Leocadia has a small shop at the very heart of old Barcelona which sells vinyl records. For an older lady, this place is an enclave reminding her of the old times. For her clients, it must be a curiosity that will soon disappear from the city map.

dir. Ülo Pikkov

11′anim2017

According to the Japanese tradition, in order to free yourself from the traumas of the past, you must make a paper doll and let it float away. In this animation, Agnes, a girl from an orphanage, makes such dolls, enchanted in a hypnotic dance, out of her memories, which can hurt like a nail. Will she be able to get rid of her demons?

dir. Ana Dumitrescu

87′dok2017

The history of Romania presented through the perspective of a 92-year-old man. Licu lives alone in a house full of photographs and items that trigger memories. His happy childhood was soon replaced by the war and then, hard conditions of living under the rule of the totalitarian communist party.

dir. Sergei Loznitsa, Marat Magambetov

34′dok1998

The film was shot in rural Russia, near the city of Smolensk. It shows a small village which has only older inhabitants as all the young people have left. Basic goods are missing, but the residents are able to enjoy their simple life and its values.

dir. Nicky Maas

15′dok2017

Noëll – Little Fire – Schulte, an 11-year-old boy with autism, isn’t the most easy going type and has a hard time connecting with people. When Noëll gets Gerrit, a though buddy with a motorcycle, appointed to him they head of on an adventure. On the motorbike Noëll is freed from the outside world that tells him how to be. A road trip full of dreamy and observing moments follows. Will they learn to trust each other?

dir. Susan Kucera

86′dok2018

Jeff Bridges, an Oscar winner, takes us on a visually beautiful journey to find out who we are and what challenges are set up for us by the environment. Together with renowned scientists and experts, the actor tells the story that helps us to understand our place on Earth.

dir. Igor Kawecki, Betina Bożek

8′anim2017

What is loneliness? Summersaulting on a curtain rail in your thoughts, arranging dead flies on a pillow or reading the same books once again… Such a picture of loneliness emerges from a short story by Brunon Schulz, which, supplemented by the observations of filmmakers, became an in-depth study of the phenomenon.

dir. Heiki Ernits, Janno Põldma

81′anim2006

Far, far away, beyond a great sea, there is a little fairy land called Gadgetville. Its residents come up with ideas for various gadgets, the weirdest possible, which make their everyday lives easier. The spirit of competition for the first award in the annual contest for the best invention, which is about to be held, can be felt everywhere. For little Lotta, this exceptional event is an opportunity to have fun and gain new experiences.

dir. Oliver Adam Kusio

30′fab2018

A story about guilt, abandonment and love. Janusz finds out about the sudden death of his wife with whom he broke off contact a long time ago. He pays a young prostitute to attend the funeral with him pretending to be his girlfriend. What secrets is he trying to hide? Is he able to forgive himself?

dir. Réka Bucsi

15′anim2016

In her film, Réka Bucsi presents a mystic and kinetic analysis of relations between bodies, which is used a basis to develop a universal treaty about the creative power of love. Every creature who lives on the green planet experiences, in its own way, an extraordinary force that combines bodies with others in mysterious fusion. Uppsala Short Film Nominee.

dir. Małgorzata Imielska

77′dok2018

A double portrait of Adam and Wanda. Their feeling is tested by Alzheimer’s disease, which Wanda was diagnosed with five years ago. With time, her health condition makes it impossible to communicate using words. The relationship between the ill woman and her caring husband reveals a deeper dimension of their marriage.

dir. Ines Sedan

6′anim2018

This documentary animation presents Charles Bukowsky, a poet, at the moment of his emotional weakness. Takes from an archival video, drawn frame by frame, are intertwined with the illustration of a poem that he himself is reciting. Instead of a poet provocateur, we can see a man longing for love.

dir. Ori Netterman, Adi Toledano

22′dok2017

Prove your love – this is the task that Michal and Philip are facing. He is British and she is Israeli, so their relationship has been a long-distance one for many months. Philip decides to acquire an Israeli visa to move in with his girlfriend. Officials and restrictive law preclude it.

dir. Veronica Solomon

6′anim2018

Everyone wants to be loved or command respect, also the protagonist of the animation “Love Me, Fear Me”. A creature made of plasticine is ready to abandon its identity to win the admiration and respect of others. How much will it change to be able to stand in the spotlight?

dir. Agnieszka Mazanek

67′dok2017

“Luxus” was one of the most eccentric artistic groups in Poland at the end of the communist era. Its contesting character was the product of rebellion against omnipresent greyness. Also today, its members express their individuality rooted in the spirit of punk rock.

dir. Tomasz Drozdowicz

75′dok2018

With his genius, diligence and inexhaustible temperament, Jerzy Maksymiuk is one of the most charismatic personalities of Polish music. But the film portrait of this conductor, pianist and composer would be incomplete without his wife Ewa, who has always supported and inspired him to continue his work.

dir. Chintis Lundgren

13′anim2017

A broken washing machine is not a problem if it is being fixed by a handsome and well-built wolf. But the problem arises when an affair with the mechanic is something desired by both fox Manivald and his mother. Chintis Lundgren’s characteristic protagonists are experiencing, once again, their dilemmas of love.

dir. Annick Ghijzelings

112′dok2018

Tahiti, a paradise island in the shadow of a mushroom cloud. It allures tourists with its tropical climate and exciting exotic culture. Yet very few foreign visitors delve into the history of Polynesia, affected by nuclear weapons tests. And the events that took place more than 50 years ago still loom over the island and its inhabitants.

dir. Ewa Drzewicka, Dominika Fedko, Weronika Kuc, Małgorzata Jachna, Małgorzata Jędrzejec, Aleksandra Rylewicz, Grażyna Trela

6′anim2018

How many failures can an artist suffer before he can find the best way to express his art? "Masterclass" tells the story about the growing of an artist, the slipups and mistakes he needs to make to achieve mastery. The master in this animation is Roman Polański.

dir. Anna van der Heide

85′fab2016

Sita is thoroughly prepared for her presentation about frogs and cannot understand why her nice teacher, Mr Frans, does not want to hear it until the end. The suspicious girls starts to follow him and soon discovers that sometimes he turns into a frog! The world is not always safe for animals, which is why Sita and her friends will have to protect Mr Frans.

dir. Olga Chajdas

15′fab2017

A story about alienation, loneliness, self-destruction and a crime. One evening, the character shuts down during dinner like a cord that broke down, but no one noticed. After dinner, quietly, as if involuntarily, she commits a crime. She goes to bed. And this is when the film starts.

dir. Alicja Błaszczyńska

13′anim2018

If your boyfriend starts to bore you and brings you unwanted gifts, it is a sign you should leave him. But what will happen when he starts to live his own life while yours will be sinking in a swamp? A gloomy animation about the consequences of rejected love in the style of a fairy tale combined with a horror.

dir. Rina Castelnuovo-Hollander, Tamir Elterman

87′dok2017

Muhi is seven years old and has spent his entire life at an Israeli hospital. This lively boy, who has no limbs, is full of energy and enjoys life. The problem is that his contacts with his parents are restricted as he comes from the Gaza Strip.

dir. Andreas Boschmann

29′dok2018

Andreas and Vanessa are orphans raised by their grandparents. Their mother died of leukaemia and their father passed away a few years later, probably because of a heart condition caused by longing. The only keepsake they have after the deceased is a video tape. It serves as an excuse to look into the past, for the first time after twenty years.

dir. Denise Janzee

79′dok2017

Three friends on a school photograph. Composer Ennio Morricone, director Sergio Leone and Giorgio Crisanti between them. This boy that nobody knows becomes the topic of a documentary investigation. Who was he? What happened to him later in his life? Was he equally fascinated with cinema as his friends from Trastevere?

dir. Lidia Duda

74′dok2018

She ran away from home for him. He broke away from his traumatic past for her. They've been inseparable for 11 years. Their first child is born... „Newborn” is a film about a love that can change lives.

dir. Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz

75′dok2017

The memories of one of the least appreciated Polish film directors – Edward Żebrowski, whose films include the screen adaptation of Stanisław Lem’s novel „Hospital of Transfiguration”, are revived in the lens of Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz.

dir. Michael Frei

4′anim2011

The characters of this animation are like mirror reflections: black and white, light and darkness, a man and a woman. Employing this minimalistic play of contrasts, Michael Frei wants to check how much truth there is in the saying that “opposites attract each other”.

dir. André Hörmann, Samo (Anna Bergmann)

15′anim2018

A shocking animation which shows the suffering and cruelty of war. Its protagonist, Akita Takakura, is one of the last survivors of the Hiroshima attack. In her memories, she goes back not only to those terrifying events, but also to the relationship with her father – difficult, demanding and full of love.

dir. Talal Derki

98′dok2017

What does the life of jihadists look like? After „The Return to Homs", a testimony to the radicalisation of the rebellion against al-Assad’s dictatorship, the director paid a visit to his home country again. He spent over two years with the family of an Islamist fundamentalist filming their daily life and the war forcing its way into it.

dir. Arno Oehri

90′dok2017

The author of the album „Open Land” (1999), who died in 2017, is a legend of American jazz. The places important in his life, people who inspired him over the years and poetic visualisations make a portrait of the guitar genius who was full of colour and warmth – despite being stricken by fate.

dir. Rafał Gużkowski

35′dok2017

A shepherd's ballad about Zbigniew Łagosz, the last shepherd-loner in the Beskidy Mountains. Polany Surowiczne is a place hidden among mountains and trees with meadows providing food to cattle and space for horses. For the film's protagonist, it is his perfect retreat where he can “jabber to himself”.

dir. Silvia Bellotti

60′dok2017

It is here where the true heart of today’s Naples is beating. The employees of the office in charge of managing thousands of local municipal apartments are up to their elbows in work. A colourful combination of human types, hot tempers and bureaucratic procedures. Is it possible to reconcile these opposing elements?

dir. Mohammed Almughanni

19′fab2018

This political fiction was made at the Film School in Łódź. Hamza lives a modest and honest life in his new country but, now, he has found himself up against a wall. He needs money, a lot of it and fast. An old friend has a proposal for him. Will the protagonist take him up on this offer that will forever change everything?

dir. Marta Prus

74′dok2017

Two trainers are involved in the preparation of a 20-year old Russian gymnast, Margarita Mamun, to the Olympic Games in Rio. They represent different approaches, both to success in sports and their protégée. Striving for championship is linked with brutal character formation.

dir. Aljona Suržikova

46′dok2017

In the end of the 19th century, 73 Estonian families left their homeland in order to, eventually, after 13 years of wandering, find a perfect place for themselves, which was Sochi by the Black Sea. When Russia decides to organise the Olympic Games in the city, the fate of the immigrants’ descendants is put in doubt.

dir. Jüri Lääs

4′anim2015

With every aircraft flight, the living space of the polar bear is shrinking. The climate is becoming warmer and ice floes are melting. Hopeless, the bear swims to the only island within its sight. Will it turn out to be a paradise?

dir. Heta Jäälinoja

5′anim2016

Potatoes are beginning to sprout, and the stack of plates in the sink is increasingly less stable – but Penelope does not mind the mess in her flat at all. The situation changes when she hears a bell at the door. Will she manage to clean up the mess before she lets the guest in?

dir. Władysław Ślesicki

12′dok1962

dir. Władysław Ślesicki, Kazimierz Karabasz

15′dok1957

dir. Heba Khaled

21′dok2018

We are in the midst of the war in Syria. Devastated houses, ravaged households and groups of people with guns followed by the digital camera of a nameless cinematographer. An enemy is mistaken for an ally, a shelter for a trap and each minute can be the last one. Experimental debut by Heby Khaled.

dir. Tomasz Gugała

31′dok2017

dir. Piotr Sułkowski

13′fab2018

Adam Woronowicz as a driver and Joanna Kulig as a passenger in a car swirling in a trauma, dream, psychodrama, fear, wine, genre cinema, gore, cola and pop culture. Where is this crazy chase among expressive sounds and photographs heading? And where does it really start?

dir. Vangelis Liberopoulos

33′fab2017

A new and exceptionally charismatic voice in the contemporary Greek cinema. Corporate extravagance combined with crazy fun and a gloomy finale as one can escape rules but never consequences or personal responsibility. An obligatory screening for pop culture vultures.

dir. Katarzyna Kotula, Paulina Ibek, Maciej Dźwigaj

42′dok2017

dir.

56′dok1928

„Polonia Restituta” and „Flag of Freedom” use original battle footage from 1914-1920 showing war destruction and important military events. The only copies for the screen are, in fact, the edited versions of both films, including a variety of materials focusing on similar subjects.

dir. Sergei Loznitsa

28′dok2002

The idea of the film is simple and suggestive. Static, almost photographic takes of people in a winter landscape as a backdrop make a series of portraits of the residents of a Russian village. We are watching a man almost organically bound with a place.

dir. Jukka Kärkkäinen, J-P Passi

97′dok2017

The famous film about the band, „The Punk Syndrome”, was made six years ago. Since then, the members of the Finnish band Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät have gone a long way, also marked by tensions within the group. But, against all odds, the four punk rockers with mental health disabilities take up a new challenge.

dir. Christina Vandekerckhove

95′dok2017

A high-rise building with social apartments has nothing to do with the imagined paradise of a Western European country. Living here means vegetation on the margins of society. Following the decision of demolishing the building, the stories of its residents are revealed: their loneliness, isolation and lack of opportunities.

dir. Teresa Czepiec

15′dok2018

The director observes Stanisław Radwan, one of the most ingenious Polish composers of film scores and theatre music, at work. The camera reveals the way of work of the man who wrote music for „Hospital of Transfiguration”.

dir. Kriv Stenders

88′fab2016

A holiday story, full of humour and adventures, about a great friendship between an 11-year-old boy and an exceptional red dog. The smart animal adopted by Mike becomes his inseparable companion and their friendship triggers a series of extraordinary events.

dir. Sergei Loznitsa

18′dok2017

The film combines, using double exposure, static takes of contemporary Sarajevo and portrait photographs of city defenders of 1992. The photographs taken during the siege by Milomir Kovačević make subtle reflections on the backdrop of traffic and everyday bustling.

dir. Till Schauder

72′dok2018

Since 1998, when they managed to qualify for the World Cup, Jamaicans have been putting out their best efforts to repeat their memorable success. Each victory of the representation has a unique flavour in the country mired in poverty and violence. Will the new coach help the footballers and fans to realize their dreams?

dir. Emmanuelle Fleytoux

20′fab2017

In this outstanding directorial debut, Anouck has found herself in a toxic triangle, torn between the two men whom she loves and who are at each other’s throats. Living with a partner and a younger brother under the same roof is no longer possible. Anouck has to take some drastic measures. EFA Nomination - Krakow Film Festival.

dir. Sergei Loznitsa

82′dok2008

The film shows the double life of a Soviet proletarian. Out of propaganda newsreels, the director extracted the essence of everyday life – mundane physical work – and contrasted it with the fragments of “official” life in the Soviet Union.

dir. Krzysztof Ridan, Grzegorz Zariczny

28′dok2017

dir. Raimo Jõerand, Kiur Aarma

77′dok2018

Made in the convention of a crime drama, the film is a gripping story about the first free general election in Estonia since World War II. The events from many years ago are reported by the co-creators of the then-new government who remember the country engulfed in chaos and poverty they had to manage at that time.

dir. Michał Socha

6′anim2018

Room is geometric space drifting freely in space. Inside, there are no windows, doors or any furniture. There is only Head that does not stop trying to get out. Employing a surreal convention, this animation tells the story of passing time and the situation which seems to have no way out.

dir. Ingel Vaikla

29′dok2017

For over 40 years, Roosenberg in Waasmunster, Belgium, served as a convent. In 2016, the building was left by four nuns. The camera captures their final activities. This is a story about a place, its architecture and spirituality. About what is transient and elusive. About the beginning of an end.

dir. Stephen Nomura Schible

102′dok2017

He is known as a composer of the scores for Bertolucci’s films who has recently made music for „The Revenant”. This time, Sakamoto presents himself as a musical experimenter as well as a man struggling with a serious disease. He is looking for new sounds in nature ranging from the North Pole to Africa, the cradle of humankind.

dir. Thora Hilmarsdottir

24′fab2017

Gloomy cinema from Iceland where the sacred clashes with the profane and faith with obsession. Katrín wakes up at hospital after a serious car accident. She learns that she had a transfusion, which is against her beliefs. In the alien blood that is flowing in her veins now, something dangerous is lurking.

dir. Katarzyna Lesisz

26′fab2018

In the 1990s, in a small Polish town, a young Ukrainian named Saszka gets a message about the death of the man with whom she entered into a sham marriage a long time ago. When the police start asking uncomfortable questions, the memories and faces from the past return to her.

dir. Marcin Giżycki

29′dok2018

dir. Miki Polonski

26′fab2017

A holiday resort on the Dead Sea coast. Unforgettable pictures. An enormous façade of the hotel and hundreds of the same balconies around which maids are bustling. Leah is one of them. Her daughter, Meital, sings at the hotel lobby every evening. Leah is looking for security and Meital for freedom.

dir. Wiktor W. Kammer, Beata Sanocka

35′dok2017

dir. Olga Korotkaya

52′dok2018

Khoomei is a special type of throat singing practiced by the indigenous inhabitants of the Russian republic of Tuva. In the tradition of the patriarchal community, this kind of music-making is reserved for men. Czodura Tumat, the protagonist of the film, is the only woman who teaches khoomei.

dir. Władysław Ślesicki

20′dok1970

dir. Kristjan Holm

7′anim2008

No one disturbs or bothers a man who lives alone in a small house. Nevertheless, the character cannot sleep at night because there is always something that irritates him: an open toilet door or misaligned slippers at his bed. As it is shown in this animation, loneliness can hurt more than another human being.

dir. Shen Zhang

62′dok2017

A little treaty about responsibility and forgiveness. Made, in fact, without the filming crew, the film presents a story of a truly heroic dimension. Why did the mother of a murdered boy from Taipei decide to adopt a young killer doing his time in prison?

dir. Terje Toomistu

75′dok2017

A psychedelic travel in time to Estonia behind the Iron Curtain where, in spite of the grim Soviet reality, the hippie movement is growing. “System”, an informal group, is made by those who identify themselves with the new trend. Today, the protagonists of the documentary reminisce about the old, turbulent times.

dir. Amir Yatziv, Guy Slabbinck

52′dok2018

In 2000, someone stole Monet’s "The Beach in Pourville" from the National Museum in Poznań by replacing it with a copy. The reconstruction of the event reveals the subtle play between the truth and falsification. A standby painter is the person on a film set who makes all the necessary corrections as needed.

dir. Lucija Mrzljak

7′anim2016

A flood. The only chance to escape from home is to arrange chairs in a row. But when one chair turns out to be too low to continue her walk without getting her feet wet, the character stops it. Only then does she notice that near her house there is a tree that is alive.

dir. Peter Peake

15′anim2017

How to take a fox, rabbit and cabbage to the other bank if you just have one place in your boat, the fox cannot be left alone with the rabbit and the rabbit cannot be left alone with the cabbage? In this funny and poignant animation, based on a centuries-old riddle, the main character falls into one logical trap after another.

dir. Peeter Rebane

55′dok2015

The film title is a Tibetan greeting. Tashi, an 18-year-old Buddhist monk, must make a decision whether he will stay at the monastery or return to his village. The outside world is tempting him with attractions, but it also entails risks. Will the holiday trek across the Himalayas help to dispel Tashi’s doubts?

dir. Tadeusz Łysiak

24′fab2017

This story echoes Haneke’s „Love” while the sound of techno rumbles in the background. Ryszard takes care of his wife, Joanna (Danuta Stenka) who is sinking into the dementia of Alzheimer’s disease. A meeting with young and beautiful Sonia pulls him out of his bitter everyday life.

dir. Michał Poniedzielski

15′anim2017

An ant, burnt out with its corporate life, decides to get married. The beetle it meets on an online dating service turns out to be the perfect candidate – handsome, fit and with a sense of humour. It has a big house and a sports car. Their relationship is blooming, but the beetle is a bit reluctant as regards its consummation.

dir. Gabriel Abrantes

29′fab2016

Humour is essential in human relationships. I is used as a form of social control and one of the most complex forms of communication. Blending a Hollywood aesthetic with a documentary approach, the film tells a story of a girl who falls in love with a robot that is a rising star of stand-up comedy in Brazil. Short Film Nominee - Berlin.

dir. Rob Curry, Tim Plester

94′dok2017

She was one of those who revived the interest in traditional English music half a century ago. Because of her voice problems, Shirley Collins had to discontinue her career. But she did not give up, and today, this over-80-years-old legend of folk music makes a comeback in great style.

dir. Floris-Jan van Luyn

85′dok2018

A story about men who have rejection in their blood. Daniel, an Ethiopian, did not know his Dutch father. Joop left his African family without regret and started a new one in Europe. In the meantime, his first-born wrestled with his mixed parentage and the absence of the father’s support.

dir. Kamila Chojnacka

22′fab2018

Music soothes the savage beast! Who said a swashbuckler with the looks of Arnold Schwarzenegger may not fall in love with opera? Krzysztof, who is 19, ends up there by accident, working as a security guard. Moved by the first aria he has heard in his life, he decides to sign up for singing lessons.

dir. Krzysztof Rogulski

86′fab1981

They say you have to steal the first million, which is what 16-year-old Rysiek does after his escape from the children’s home. At the station in Warsaw, he makes friends with Julek and, together, they start to live like millionaires splashing out on the best clothes, cars and hotel apartments. However, nothing lasts forever, in particular money.

dir. Filip Drzewiecki

19′dok2018

The film captures the everyday life of medicine students on a summer internship camp. Everything happens fast, each case is a novelty and some situations are even surprising for the young practitioners of medicine.

dir. Susan Koenen

15′dok2017

If only every grown-up politician could display the same determination and dedication as young Yassine, a Dutch boy of Moroccan heritage who is elected mayor despite being only 11 years old. We follow Yassine through his time in office and his courageous campaign against prejudice.

dir. Bogdan Mureşanu

23′fab2018

Romanian realism in a perverse, tragicomic version, at the intersection of politics and Christmas. The stormy changes of December 1989 are presented from the perspective of a seemingly innocent letter to Santa Claus. What did one boy write in it, so that his father begins to panic and fears for his own life?

dir. Rûken Tekeş

14′fab2016

Zelal, a 7-year-old girl, is an ethnic Kurd and a member of the religious minority of the Yazidis. An ordinary school day turns into a life-changing event for Zelal and her introvert admirer, Zeki, after their Turkish teacher introduces the letter of the week, “O”. Drama Short Film Nominee.

dir. Steven Fletcher

131′dok2018

"The Commodore Story" is a nostalgic travel in time to the 1970s and the 1990s. Steven Fletcher, the film director, explores the phenomenon of the electronic industry of those decades focusing on famous Commodore computers.

dir. Tomasz Jurkiewicz

50′dok2018

A few days from the life of a school conservator from a small village near Wadowice. Krzysztof deals with technical problems on an everyday basis, but during the World Youth Days he becomes the chair of a local organisational committee.

dir. Roland Dubiel

30′dok2017

dir. Hogir Hirori, Shinwar Kamal

83′dok2017

Here, a human life is at stake every time. Colonel Fakhir Berwari is a Kurdish Peshmerga who clears the areas bombed by the so called Islamic State of mines. Video materials document his everyday work done over a number of years.

dir. Laura Ferrés

19′dok2017

Los Desheredados is a portrait of the director's father facing the end of his family business. Pere Ferrés is 53 years old and owns a small transportation company. Lack of money forces him to drive clients to bachelor parties, even though they destroy his vehicle on the way. But he is not prepared to lose his dignity. Vila do Conde Short Film Nominee.

dir. Yousef Kargar

25′fab2017

Psychological cinema with a social streak set in the severe winter landscape of Iran. Yashar comes from Georgia to see the parents of his friend. The joy of the meeting succumbs to the serious nature of the news he has to tell them. Or maybe, they will tell him something much more important?

dir. Pablo Aparo, Martín Benchimol

64′dok2017

In the 21st century, there are still places where residents can do very well without the achievements of contemporary medicine. In the village of El Dorado, there is Jorge, who enjoys special fame as he discovered a miraculous agent that fights existential fear called “espanto”. The film depicts the unique climate of Argentinian provinces.

dir. Randall Christopher

15′dok2017

In 1960, in Argentina, secret agent Zvi Aharoni meets Ricardo Klement on a bus. It was the false name under which Adolf Eichmann, one of the most notorious Nazi war criminals, was hiding. The film is an animated description of the course of events from the moment of tracking the criminal down to the preparation of the capture plan.

dir. Emer Reynolds

120′dok2016

In August 2017, NASA was celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Voyager mission. For Emer Reynolds, this event became an opportunity to tell an extraordinary story about the people and events that stood behind one of man’s greatest achievements in space exploration.

dir. Sebastian Weber

30′dok2018

An intimate story of Wojtek - a single farmer, Paweł – an alcoholic that Wojtek is taking care of - and Sebastian, a Swiss director who observes this peculiar closeness. With his camera, he accompanies the two men in ordinary and extraordinary situations at the same time becoming a member of the village community.

dir. Grzegorz Zariczny

53′dok2018

In the midst of intensive study for final exams, the camera follows secondary school students during classes and private conversations. They discuss their plans, dreams, views and feelings on the brink of adulthood, the moment when everything still seems to be possible.

dir. Sergei Loznitsa

20′dok2012

A dreamlike picture of a psychiatric hospital in the North-East of Russia. The facility is located among forests, in old wooden buildings. The mysterious atmosphere of this refuge is, once in a while, interrupted by the sound of an approaching storm and snippets of conversations, difficult to decipher.

dir. Apolena Rychlíková

70′dok2017

Below-minimum wages, several-hour-long shifts, no toilet breaks – the conditions of work at many companies are deplorable, but employees are afraid to talk about it openly. In order to show the truth, Saša Uhlová, a journalist, finds employment at such places using an alias and a hidden camera.

dir. Sergei Loznitsa

40′dok2012

In the middle of June, the village of Santo Antonio de Mixoes da Serra in Northern Portugal honours its patron saint. On this day, the local farmers bring their animals to the church, to be blessed. Sergei Loznitsa, with unique patience, observes the believers, telling the story of the miracle.

dir. Władysław Ślesicki

14′dok1964

dir. Ilia Povolotskiy

29′dok2017

The majestic beauty of mighty and ice-cold Russia as seen from three perspectives. The characters of this film essay are three men, the inhabitants of the Kola Peninsula. Each of them, through his own profession, represents a different kind of space inherent to this land, immersed in eternal winter.

dir. Sergei Loznitsa

20′dok2014

Employing the unhurried rhythm of editing and austere aesthetics of images, Loznitsa portrays a city park in Riga. His camera is contemplating what is missing from the frames as the park is a remnant of a former cemetery, the only trace of which is a fragment of its fence thrust into the root of a tree.

dir. Piotr Adamski

30′fab2016

dir. Marta Magnuska

5′anim2018

They say he is tall, has strong hands and long, agile fingers. They say he can grab a victim by the throat and hold until the victim dies. No one knows him but everyone is talking about him. An animated thriller about the spiral of hatred that winds up the fear of otherness.

dir. Andrea Harkin

14′fab2016

Belfast, 1972. Laurence welcomes his cousin and man-on-the-run Mickey to a party of drinking and dancing. By the morning, the reality catches up with them. Cork Short Film Nominee

dir. Teemu Hotti

11′anim2015

All the letters came to a party. They talk to each other, laugh and flirt. They get into pairs and groups at the same time making words, expressions and visual representations of sounds. The secret life of letters has never been more fascinating, in particular when Ö meets ä.

dir. Elwira Niewiera, Piotr Rosołowski

82′dok2017

Life is like a film. It is fascinating, mysterious, full of understatement and turns of actions. Without a doubt, Michał Waszyński is one of the most interesting figures in the world’s cinematography. A popular film director in the pre-war Poland, he later became an influential man in the world of cinema who stood behind the careers of many stars of the screen.

dir. Władysław Ślesicki

19′dok1962

dir. Nancy Buirski

91′dok2017

In 1944, a 24-year-old Afro-American woman from Alabama was raped by six white men. Her case was defended by Rosa Parks, a legendary human rights activist. In the era of #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, the story of Recy Taylor takes on particular importance.

dir. Maïlys Audouze

34′dok2017

A false accusation once broke the life of 12-year-old Pascal. Today, his grown-up daughter who is the film director tries to find out about the story of her father, including the years of torment he spent at a juvenile detention centre. Pascal stands face to face with one of the men who caused his suffering.

dir. Michał Hytroś

19′dok2017

The residents of the Benedictine cloister in Staniątki near Krakow, the oldest one in Poland, are cheerful old ladies who do not shy away from jokes or mild sarcasm. The camera captures them during their everyday work and prayer because everything here follows the one-thousand-year-old tradition of “ora et labora”.

dir. Gad Abittan

58′dok2018

For a few years, the director has been filming the residents of his apartment building in Jerusalem. Immigrants from across the world created a multicultural community, but Orthodox Jews, who have been settling here, have begun to impose their habits upon the neighbours. The director may only record the disappearing world with his camera.

dir. Sergei Loznitsa

25′dok2000

Waiting is one of the characteristic motifs in Sergei Loznitsa’s films. In The Waiting Room, the director presents a poetic vision of time suspended in waiting by observing a trivial situation – passengers gathered at the train station.

dir. Juanjo Giménez

15′fab2016

Luna and Diego are security guards at a parking lot. She works during a day, he comes for a night shift. They know little about each other, they never talk to each other, when she comes to work, he leaves. Up to a point. By chance, Luna discovers her colleague's secret and from then on, they come up with their own way of communicating. Ghent Short Film Nominee, winner of the EFA for the best short film 2017.

dir. Sergei Loznitsa, Marat Magambetow

28′dok1996

In the most literal sense, the film is an observation of a construction site somewhere in Russia. However, its power of expression is determined by the details that let us gain a deeper insight, which include the subtle emphasis of humorous scenes and a perceptive, satirical take on the mess at the site around which a stray dog is roaming.

dir. Esther Niemeier

30′dok2018

One day, Addai disappears without a trace. Soon, he will contact his mother by e-mail from Syria, engulfed in war. The film was made after his mysterious death. This unique animated documentary is an attempt to find an answer to the question about what really happened.

dir. Dawid Bodzak

21′fab2018

Imagine, you are in the forest, it is dark, quiet and you cannot remember at all why you got there. You want to leave very much and suddenly, you can hear howling next to you. Something is running towards you and looking for something while you are sitting in one place. You are not moving because you do not want it to notice you.

dir. Robin Lipo

30′fab2018

They wanted to go on a pleasant and lucrative holiday. Bruno and Gina went to Norway to make the money they needed for further travels. But the plan soon started to disintegrate and the relationship between the two Poles underwent a severe test. A film about maturation, love, holiday jobs and a secret amulet.

dir. Rishi Chandna

14′dok2017

Pets can be a source of problems. A family from Mumbai knows it very well as they have fallen victim to a rooster. The bird terrorised their entire life: it pecks them, crows, flies around the flat and eats the meals of the family members. No one is safe. They have to get rid of it.

dir. Rafał Łysak

40′dok2018

The self-referential nature of Rafał Łysak’s documentary enables the viewer to gain a better understanding of the unique relationship between a twenty-something-old grandson and his grandma. The woman is unable to accept the boy’s homosexuality although he is someone very important for her.

dir. Anna Konik

92′dok2018

Unhurried in its rhythm, this impressionistic film portrays the director’s hometown. Her camera lens captures Dobrodzień (or Guttentag, which is its pre-war name) as a place marked with the memory of its former residents – Poles, Germans and Jews – and their complicated coexistence.

dir. Tomasz Knittel

39′dok2018

The starting point of this humorous and bitter story about the changing landscape of Warsaw is the dismantling of the famous department store, Universam. The film shows history, which, when removed, leaves emptiness, in particular for seniors, unable to find themselves in the modern metropolis.

dir. Jakub Piątek

29′fab2018

A man and a woman were joined into a couple by a video chat algorithm. It is a one to several thousand chance. They say that the Internet is the last sphere of freedom. If everything is allowed, what shall we start with? How much can you experience in one night? How much can you truly feel?

dir. Sander Joon

7′anim2015

Ready, steady? Go! The stakes at this cycling competition are not the Olympic gold but a packet of cigarettes. In a perverse way, this animation uses a sports competition to show the habit that ruins lives. What price will there be for the victory?

dir. Sergei Loznitsa

94′dok2018

In the Treptower Park in Berlin, there is a monument dedicated to Soviet soldiers. Each year, on the 9th of May, people gather here to celebrate the Victory Day. Who are they? What makes them bring Soviet flags and Stalin’s portraits? The camera captures this peculiar festival from a distance.

dir. Jannis Lenz

30′fab2017

In his cross-media project, combining film with online videos, Jannis Lenz tells the story of a young YouTuber who builds her own fictitious world online. Coco is 17 and desperate to become famous, even though she seems to lack talent. She is willing to do anything for recognition. Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Nominee.

dir. Krzysztof Glondys

37′dok2017

dir. Władysław Ślesicki, Kazimierz Karabasz

10′dok1956

dir. Zosya Rodkevich, Evgeniya Ostanina

97′dok2018

Alina, who has six black-skinned children, decides to adopt a white boy with mental health problems. Will the characters have enough good will and child-raising skills to tame – and love – the little tyrant? A film for those who have nerves of steel as it takes viewers to the very centre of the family hell.

dir. Kacper Lisowski

65′dok2018

The protagonist of this documentary is Jerzy Górski, a triathlete with a history whose motto is “I have always wanted to be the best, no matter what I do”. His story, which was already the subject of the feature film by Łukasz Palkowski „The Fastest”, acquires the virtue of a personal testimony of a sportsman and former drug addict.

dir. Adrian Silisteanu

20′fab2017

At a maternity ward, a Roma family is told that their underage daughter has just had a baby girl. Pardică is very displeased with his daughter’s early motherhood. The situation becomes even more tense when a hospital employee discovers that there is an issue with their IDs. Tampere Short Film Nominee.

dir. Loukianos Moshonas

18′fab2017

Two graphic designers, while closing a project, notice some opportunities offered by an empty scanner. A scanned hair inspires them to share personal stories, memories and reflections on life. Locarno Short Film Nominee.

dir. Leszek Dawid

123′fab2012

A film about Polish hip-hop, music industry and high-rise housing estates of the late 1990s. It is not just a story of the Paktofonika band based on facts but also a study of coping with the reality that starts to overwhelm you. And it does not help even if you are God, please realise it.

dir. Céline Devaux

15′fab2017

Give it time. You'll get over it. Jean celebrates his birthday, gets drunk and recalls the dreadful weekend that led to his break-up with Mathilde. Venice Short Film Nominee.

dir. Wiesław Zięba

40′anim2017

Somewhere in a wild green forest there lives a bison named Pompik. In fact, it is a little bison because, as compared with other animals, it is small, not as strong or fast as them and it does not have the same ability to jump. Pompik is not a good companion for traditional bison games, such as shoving each other with horns or the game of tag, but it has other interests.