Category: films completed

Is the plane a symbol of modernity and freedom, or rather catastrophes, assassinations and deep political divisions? In the Polish pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale, the artist Roman Stańczak literally turns the luxury jet over to the other side, looking for a universal gesture. Registration of the creative process is the starting point for a story about the dramatic fate of the artist who, after many years of life exclusion and non-existence in the world of art, returned to activity, almost immediately realizing the sculpture on the most important artistic event in the world.

When protests broke out in Communist Poland in late 1970, a crisis team gathered in Warsaw. Soon after the militia made use of their batons. Shots were fired. Through archival recordings and animations, viewers are able to observe various power mechanisms. The film “1970” is a story about a rebellion but told from the perspective of the oppressors.

A polyphonic hymn to rural women. A celebration of mature women, who are physically and spiritually connected with the land and united in their singing. Traditional songs performed with passion are juxtaposed with untamed nature. Raw, authentic music expresses strength, a community of women, and an exchange of life experiences. A vibrant, living tradition that stems from mutual learning.

An artistic commune is working on a film about Rosa Luxemburg, but the mysterious Director disappears as they set out to start filming.

Although the crew are fascinated by the Director, they also loathe him. The question is – where has he gone and who really is the man, who has so strongly influenced the life of this community?

The dynamics of relationships between people living in an artistic and emotional symbiosis turns out to be equally explosive and toxic. The film was inspired by an artistic group led by Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Krystian Lupa – a controversial and probably the most outstanding living Polish theater director of internationally recognized plays. His accolades include the Europe Theater Prize, the Nestroy-Theaterpreis, he has also been awarded with the French Order of Arts and Letters.

“Let’s try to jump into the well” is a road movie that has only one location – the stage. Whether it presents a road to failure or success is irrelevant. The audience can watch the rehearsals for Kafka’s “The Trial”. They can observe the creative process – often ambiguous, sometimes incomprehensible. A process we have to judge for ourselves.

Lupa invites his actors to jump with him “into a well”, at the bottom of which no revelation awaits.

Controlled conversations, recording with hidden cameras, dirty records of interrogations and recruitment attempts – all of these materials are employed to portray the monitored life in Poland under communism. Sometimes grotesque, this picture is underpinned by horror, escalating intuitively with every minute. Before us, there is a terrifying communist panopticon which keeps spying on and recording itself.

A seemingly normal afternoon in the city gets disrupted as passers-by are temporarily unhinged from their daily business. A man lying on the pavement becomes a problem not only for the local tenants, but also medical services and the police.

Poland, 1982, the politically heated days of communist martial law. Two coal miner brothers react differently to the oppressive police state. While Tadek (Tomasz Schuchardt) prefers to retreat into neutrality, Janek (Stanisław Linowski) chooses active engagement in the democratic underground. When Janek asks Tadek to store some anti-government leaflets on the second anniversary of Solidarity’s 1980 strikes, he triggers a spiral of events that will have everyone’s allegiences and characters severely tested.

Dawid watches a new neighbour move to a house next door. The girl is wearing a Hawaiian hula skirt. Most probably, he also learns why Monika’s grandma has gone away to Hawaii. Most probably, he’s going to tell her that his sister is a cat now. For sure, the boy and the girl will be brought closer together by their strength in order to save their memories about the loved ones who departed this life. The mad Time Hopper will help them cross the gate in an old clock that leads to a place where time rules are completely different.

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. Enigmatic editing and black and white photographs reflect the dignified atmosphere of the holiday in which the sacred is combined with the profane in a bizarre chase. All this happens under the patronage of the figurine of Resurrected Christ. The holiday of Krzyżoki and its celebrations make a typical southern Polish tradition.