A documentary record shot on the 24th and 25th July 1944 of the concentration camp in Majdanek. Comparable to Resnais’ Nuit et bruillard, it’s filled with images of such staggering awfulness that they take on an almost abstract quality – one might regard the images of mountains of shoes, spectacles and hairbrushes as beautiful if one was unaware of the horrifying reality behind them.Read More »
Polish
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Aleksander Ford – Majdanek – cmentarzysko Europy aka Majdanek – Europe’s Cemetary (1945)
1941-1950Aleksander FordDocumentaryPolandShort Film -
Krzysztof Zanussi – Skarby ukryte z cyklu ‘Opowiesci weekendowe’ AKA Weekend Stories: Hidden Treasure AKA Hidden Treasures of the Weekend Stories Cycle (2000)
1991-2000DramaKrzysztof ZanussiPolandTVRose, an older woman living in Paris was born in Poland as a daughter of an aristocratic family. Her family house is now an impoverished home for the old people. Rose visited her property many times since the Berlin Wall collapsed and this time she arranged a meeting with an old palace employee, who earned big money having run a greenhouse business. Nevertheless, it remains a secret where the money to start this business came from. Not having a chance to speak to the employee, Rose meets his granddaughter – Jola – and enjoying her company, invites her to visit Paris. As Jola arrives in Paris, she gets acquainted with a young Arabian with whom she falls in love. Read More »
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Krzysztof Zanussi – Linia opózniajaca z cyklu ‘Opowiesci weekendowe’ AKA Weekend Stories: Dilatory Line (1998)
1991-2000DramaKrzysztof ZanussiPolandTVA young TV producer struggles with his conscience when he becomes convinced that his TV program is covering up a lie, but the more he tries to reveal the truth the more uncertainty he discovers.Read More »
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Krzysztof Zanussi – Dusza spiewa z cyklu ‘Opowiesci weekendowe’ AKA Weekend Stories: The Soul Sings (1997)
1991-2000DramaKrzysztof ZanussiPolandTVA classical singer who put his career on hold to raise a family gets a big break when a major company hires him for a televised New Year’s Eve concert, but his shot at fame is threatened when, against his better judgment, he goes out on a rainy night and gets a cold.Read More »
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Krzysztof Zanussi – Ostatni krag z cyklu ‘Opowiesci weekendowe’ AKA Weekend Stories: The Last Segment (1998)
1991-2000DramaKrzysztof ZanussiPolandTVAn aging ballet legend who defected to France years before returns home to Poland for the first time to appear in a charity performance, and he immediately clashes with his ex-wife, who stayed behind when he defected.Read More »
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Wojciech Staron – Syberyjska lekcja AKA Siberian Lesson (1998)
1991-2000ArthouseDocumentaryPolandWojciech StaronThe first documentary by Wojciech Staroń. He just finished film school, his wife Małgosia just became a teacher. The year is 1997. They decide to go for a year deep into Siberia: she’ll teach Polish, he’ll shoot a film. And this is that beautiful film, narrated in the first person by Małgosia as she meets all sorts of colorful characters and reflects upon reality with her beautiful, monotone voice, seeing the good in people individually and collectively. This is also about her transformation in this travel undertaken in the centuries-old fashion of the observer who, by observing others, observes herself.Read More »
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Krzysztof Zanussi – Niepisane prawa z cyklu ‘Opowiesci weekendowe’ AKA Weekend Stories: Unwritten Laws (1998)
1991-2000DramaKrzysztof ZanussiPolandTVA handsome young chauffeur hired by a powerful and charismatic businesswoman discovers he has been made an unwitting party to fraud, but his moral outrage is complicated: the married man allowed himself to be seduced by the woman, who threatens to tell the man’s wife.Read More »
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Krzysztof Zanussi – Urok wszeteczny z cyklu ‘Opowiesci weekendowe’ AKA Weekend Stories: Deceptive Charm (1998)
Drama1991-2000Krzysztof ZanussiPolandTVAn idealistic scientist is encouraged by his wife to use his good looks to get ahead, but his new job carries with it temptations and traps.Read More »
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Krzysztof Zanussi – Slaba wiara z cyklu ‘Opowiesci weekendowe’ AKA Weekend Stories: Little Faith (1997)
1991-2000DramaKrzysztof ZanussiPolandTVA rational young man and his devoutly Catholic wife believe their sickly son may have leukemia. As they await further tests over a weekend they both struggle with a crisis of faith in both science and Catholicism.Read More »