A seemingly ordinary girl finds her way into the eponymous Academy to explore the world of fairy tales, imagination and creativity. With the help of a crazy, talented teacher, she develops her unique abilities and also stumbles upon a clue that will help her unravel the biggest secret of the family...
Peasant girl Jagna is forced to marry the much older, wealthy farmer Boryna, despite her love for his son Antek. With time, Jagna becomes the object of envy and disdain with the villagers and she must fight to preserve her independence.
The world’s most talented young pianists compete in the International Chopin Piano Competition, held every five years in Warsaw, Poland. A rare behind the scenes look at the triumphant highs and crushing lows of competition, Pianoforte is both a testament to the remarkable power of music and an intimate coming-of-age portrait.
Simona Kossak - daughter of the painter Jerzy Kossak and granddaughter of Wojciech - deprived of the talent that has defined her family for generations, grows up without knowing the warmth of her despotic mother. When, after graduation, she leaves everything - home, tradition, social conventions - and takes up a job as a scientist in Białowieża, she starts life on her own terms.
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 true story of Wanda Rutkiewicz, the first woman in the world and the first person from Poland to climb the highest peaks on earth, told by herself.
In Waldek's life, filled mainly with computer games, there is a real earthquake. During her absence, mum stays under the care of a crazy and unpredictable aunt, who introduces discipline that has been alien to him so far and imposes new duties. But although an extraordinary relative gives Waldek a real survival camp, the boy also receives the most valuable life lesson from her.
Four woman, each with their own theory about love. Iga is married and lives in a happy relationship but deeply fantasies about extreme experiences. In her search she uncovers various shades of loves, like the modern femme fatale (Joanna) and a woman (Agata) who is being cheated on. An attractive 30 year old (Roma) is searching for a man who will turn her life upside and desperate for this life changing moment. Set in modern Warsaw, where one night can change anybodies life.
What does it mean to be awake in a world that seems satisfied to be asleep? Kris and Michal push their experiences of life and love to a breaking point as they restlessly roam the city streets in search of answers, adrift in the euphoria and uncertainty of youth.
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.
Ola sets off to Ireland to bring her father's body back to Poland after he dies in a building site accident. But never mind her dad, Ola wants to know if he had saved money for the car he had promised her. Dealing with foreign bureaucracy in her own streetwise way, Ola will get to know her father.
Composed from the conversations that the director holds with people passing by in the street under his Warsaw apartment, each story in 'The Balcony Movie' is unique and deals with the way we try to cope with life as individuals. All together, they create a self-portrait of contemporary human life, and the passers-by present a composite picture of today's world.
Warsaw, Poland. Kamil, a street rapper who spends his time going from party to party, begins a love affair with Iwona, a wealthy married woman.
Empty shelves, trading cards and chickens sold in a shoe store. This is Polish everyday life from over four decades ago. Although the starting point is the moment of introduction of martial law, thanks to selected recordings we go back in time by 16 months and 12 days in order to better understand the mood at that time and the complexity of the processes that led to the decision of December 13, 1981.
Relationships with the people you love most are often the most complicated. This is the problem Hania and her mother Ewa face during their sessions with a psychotherapist, filmed intimately and with the utmost respect by director Paweł Łoziński. The camera always focuses on one person at a time, revealing every emotion hidden behind the words and silences. The empathetic therapist carefully but purposefully peels away the hard layers under which mother and daughter shield themselves. Little by little, the personal tragedies that hamper their communication rise to the surface, as well as the source of the longing for love and acknowledgement that they find so hard to fulfill.
The history of the Warsaw Ghetto (1940-43) as seen from both sides of the wall, its legacy and its memory: new light on a tragic era of division, destruction and mass murder thanks to the testimony of survivors and the discovery of a ten-minute film shot by Polish amateur filmmaker Alfons Ziółkowski in 1941.
Fourteen-year-old Jeremi is a YouTuber. His father works in a space agency and promised to show him a rocket launch, but plans changed at the eleventh hour, and he called off the trip. Instead, the teenager is sent to his grandpa in the countryside. To drag Jeremi away from the Internet, his dad gives him a special mission.
Twelve-year-old Iwo lives in a small, post-communist town that is home to the old and destroyed Black Mill – once a place of work for many parents. Breaking the promise to not approach the old mill, the children accidentally unleash its evil powers. From that moment, nothing will ever be the same again as people and things start to disappear.
The key aim of every ZOO is to protect animal species from extinction. In times of war, the most endangered species was the man. Under the Nazis' noses, about 300 people, mainly Jews, found shelter at the Warsaw Zoo during the Second World War. With the help of reenacted scenes with animals, interviews with the survivors, and archive footage, we are going to revive the surreal atmosphere of those events.
At 82 years old, Lula is every inch the rebel. An openly gay man in communist Poland, he organized underground parties and after-curfew salons of men inside private apartments. He enthusiastically took up drag, despite a fiercely homophobic culture, to free himself from the stifling correctness of the 80s. But now, he's an old, single man in a youth-obsessed world. His friend was crushed by depression and killed himself, but somehow Lula, now Poland's oldest drag queen, remains buoyant. Is he escaping loneliness with his constant clubbing, looking for love yet again to insulate himself against what he knows is coming? Lula isn't waiting for approval. Filmmaker Bogna Kowalczyk's energetic portrait pairs with her subject's kinetic drive, right down to the stellar soundtrack and nimble camerawork. Whether it's meeting fans at Pride or selecting an artist to sculpt his specialty crematorium urn, try to keep up with a man who knows life is to be lived out loud.
