Polish

Set against the landscape of the Polish transformation from communism to capitalism, “Woman Of” spans 45 years of the life of Aniela Wesoły and her journey to find personal liberty as a trans woman.Read More »

When the student of Warsaw Academy of Music returns to his hometown for summer holidays, he gets involved in the conflict between the local youths and a group of foreigners.

8 wins, 11 nominationsRead More »

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Kazimierz Kutz realized with great attention to details a pathetic fresco about those dramatic events. His film, of unquestionable artistic value, is also a tribute to the courage and determination of miners who did not hesitate to give their lives for the ideals of August Uprising. Katowice, the night of December 12-13, 1981. Military units occupy strategic points in the city. General Jaruzelski is about to announce martial law on television. A group of henchmen, breaking union security, drag the chairman of the works committee of the Solidarity trade union in the “Wujek” mine out of his apartment. The news of this quickly spreads to the miners. Initially surprised, they soon react with a spontaneous protest. On December 14th a strike breaks out in the plant. The workers demand the lifting of martial law and the release of the chairman. Negotiations with the authorities end in a fiasco. The army, ZOMO and the militia prepare to storm the mine.Read More »

A bridegroom is possessed by an unquiet spirit in the midst of his own wedding celebration, in this clever take on the Jewish legend of the dybbuk.Read More »

A tale of medieval quest for a golden harp called “The Knight”.

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THE KNIGHT (RYCERZ), 1980. Poland.
With Piotr Skarga, Daniel Olbrychski. A haunting, austere ballad about a knight’s quest for a gold-stringed harp whose sound is said to bring peace and harmony. The film’s imagery is inspired by medieval icons. 81 min.Read More »

A happily-married woman wishes she had met her second husband earlier, so that she could avoid many mistakes of the past. When suddenly moved back in time to 1980s she realizes she has one goal: find her future love.Read More »

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Adam is a Catholic priest who discovered his calling as a servant of God at the relatively late age of 21. He now lives in a village in rural Poland where he works with teenagers with behavioural problems who fight and yell abuse. He declines the advances of a young blonde named Ewa, saying he is already spoken for. However, celibacy is not the only reason for his rejection. Adam knows that he desires men and that his embrace of the priesthood has been a flight from his own sexuality. When he meets Łukasz, the strange and taciturn son of a simple rural family, Adam’s self-imposed abstinence becomes a heavy burden.Read More »

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Made after THE DAMNED, but before 1900, this operatic-style melodrama, about the industrial revolution in Lodz ca. 1895, is far better than either. Like the other two films, it takes an extreme situation in history and makes it more extreme, piling on the excess. Two examples here: a garden party that’s like a Roman orgy, with naked women, tigers in cages, etc., and a scene where a worker grapples with his boss and they fall into a giant machine which instantly spews out their bodies as huge chunks of raw meat. But whereas Visconti, and, particularly, Bertolucci, ultimately drown under their excesses, Wajda maintains total control over his narrative. Read More »

A small town hospital worker who witnessed a brutal rape becomes obsessed with the victim after she lands a job as a nurse at the same hospital where he works, but how far will he go before he finally loses control? Leon Okrasa was there when a young woman named Anna was viciously violated. He works at a hospital in Poland, and when Anna is hired in as a nurse Leon soon finds his fixation taking over every aspect of his life. One night, after climbing into Anna’s apartment though an open window, Leon sits on the edge of her bed, watching silently as she sleeps. What happens next only Leon can say.Read More »