Political extremes

dir. Marek Jagielski

75′dok2023

Boxing was an iconic sport discipline at the time of Poland’s first post-war world championship in boxing. In ruined Warsaw, a legendary coach, Feliks Stamm, must rebuild the Polish boxing squad to face the most powerful team in the world – that of the USSR.

dir. Tomasz Wolski

85′dok2024

Martial law, which was imposed in Poland on 13 December 1981, targeted the Solidarity movement, but it had other faces, too. On the basis of exclusively archival footage, the film explores the backstage of the past events. It undermines the mythicised image of Polish society as a victim of the system.

dir. Diana Nicolae

97′dok2024

Can poetry pose a threat to a dictatorship? The poems written by Ana Blandiana outraged Nicolae Ceaușescu and his entourage, but they enchanted and touched her readers and literature afficionados, also from outside of communist Romania. The poetry of the legendary author crossed national boundaries, volumes of her poems were published in the West – yet despite many opportunities, she decided to stay in her country.

dir. Lika Nadir

15′fab2023

Russia. On the monitors of a nightclub, beautiful girls dance in front of an uninterested clientele. From the radio and television come recruitment announcements for a ‘special military operation’. In the drawer of Savvy's young bodyguard lies a gun. Would he be able to use it to kill someone? In the name of what? Love? Propaganda?

dir. Cris Arana

26′dok2024

In Paraguay under the Stroessner regime, almost 400 people vanished without any trace and several hundred thousand ended up in prison, where they were tortured. The film tells the story of Emilio Barreto, who was detained for 13 years, although never convicted of any crime.

dir. Giovanni Merlini, Francesco Bovara

20′dok2023

Sambenedettese, a football club from a small town, is celebrating its centenary. In the 1970s, its team was a step away from promotion to Serie A. The story of the team is enlaced with a political narrative recounting the bloodiest and most brutal years from Italy’s history from a unique perspective.

dir. Lidia Duda

88′dok2024

Asia and Marek live with their three children in the Bialowieza Forest, right on the border with Belarus. The cameras installed in the forest have so far served them to observe the animals. But the night-time recordings show that people have appeared in the forest. The whole family is committed to helping the refugees, even though they have no support from the state.

dir. Katherine Bisquet

28′dok2023

In 2020, rapper Denis Solís was abducted by the Cuban police and sentenced to 8 months of imprisonment for alleged contempt of court. In protest, a group of activists barricaded themselves inside the seat of the San Isidro organisation demanding the liberation of Solís and other wrongly convicted Cubans.

dir. Oksana Karpovych

93′dok2024

What are Russian soldiers talking about when they call their families from the front? The phone conversations recorded by the Ukrainian secret service in the first six months of the war reveal a completely different picture than the one created by the Kremlin propaganda. When set against post-apocalyptic views, they make a paralysing study of enslavement and conformism.

dir. Askold Kurov, Anonymous 1

89′dok2024

In Russia, those who hail the truth are considered foreign intelligence agents. One example is journalists of Novaya Gazeta, which received the Nobel Peace Prize six months before the invasion of Ukraine. How to maintain independence when the screws are being put on even harder?

dir. Grzegorz Brzozowski

64′dok2024

In the pandemic, during the strict lockdown period, human contacts were limited. Online conversations became the most common way of communication. The director employed them to talk to people stuck alone at home, just like him. What were they afraid of? How were they doing?

dir. Gintarė Valevičiūtė Brazauskienė, Antanas Skučas

13′anim2023

Winter, 1942. Beyond the Arctic Circle, on the uninhabited island of Trofimovsk in the Laptev Sea, deported peoples struggle to survive. In this harsh, alien landscape, man is a mere speck.

dir. Konrad Szołajski

91′dok2024

Russia has been trying to rebuild its empire for years. Its invasion of Ukraine deprived us of our sense of security. A couple of documentary filmmakers from Poland embark on a journey to look for answers about threats for Central and Eastern Europe.

dir. Eirini Vianelli

11′anim2023

When distinguished representatives of the country look at you from paintings on the walls, you had better behave decently. Meanwhile, employees of the Greek parliament kill time with meaningless activities and behave like little children. Where are those who made great Greek history?

dir. Macha Ovtchinnikova

14′fab2023

This miniature, set in two time realities, presents a biography and philosophy of an activist Emma Goldman (1869-1940). ‘The right to vote, or equal civil rights, may be good demands’ says the protagonist, ‘but true emancipation begins in a woman's soul.’ Has this idea become outdated or perhaps it resonates nowadays stronger than ever?

dir. Gleb Osatinski

30′fab2023

17-year-old Yasha is rebelling against authority, but in 1990's Soviet Ukraine some of the opposing forces are more dangerous than others. When Yasha hits his breaking point, raw impulses propel him to the precipice of irreparable harm.

dir. Agnieszka Zwiefka

84′dok2024

Runa, a 16-year-old Kurdish girl, had escaped from Iraq to avoid the attacks of ISIS and, together with her family, became stuck on the Polish-Belorussian border. Eventually, she managed to reach Poland, where she needed to grow up at an accelerated speed. Thanks to her animated drawings, the audience can discover more about her.

dir. Luka Beradze

62′dok2023

Elderly population of village No Name is left teethless after a failed 2012 pre-election campaign "Smiling Georgia". Will their lives change as new promises and guarantees are made to them in sight of 2020 elections?

dir. Nahid Persson

100′dok2023

Ruhollah Zam, a persecuted journalist from Teheran, was forced to leave for France with his family, but even there he needs to live in conspiracy. The director accompanies him during remote work and in his everyday fear. It turns out that the international network of activists is infiltrated by the Iranian regime.

dir. Jadwiga Kowalska

11′anim2023

Poland, 1981. A group of young people have a dream: to have a car, be free and go on a trip to the seaside. They are not really into politics, even though shelves in shops are empty and it is impossible to get a passport. An animated road movie, in a comic book style, documenting Poland during the communist era.

dir. Elżbieta Benkowska

30′fab2024

Olga’s political idealism and hopes for a better future are put to the hardest of tests. The authoritarian, omniscient communist authorities are determined to break down the actress when her father is in hospital fighting for his life, while her husband is in prison. Olga needs to make a choice.

dir. Andrzej Fidyk

70′dok2015

dir. Oleksiy Radynski

25′dok2024

In 2022, during Russia’s on-going invasion of Ukraine, unknown film footage was discovered in Kiev. It is a testimony to the erased history of numerous imperialistic wars waged by Russia against its later colonies.