Zauberhaftes Polen - Eine Reise durch die Jahreszeiten

How to Remember(tr)

The story of a young Kurdish man who tries to remember his past traumatic experiences. A young migrant struggles to remember the memories of post-2015 Turkey while faced with the commemoration practices of the Holocaust. The film takes place in present-day Krakow, Poland, particularly in the former Nazi concentration camp in Plaszow.

Half the Town(de)

What connects a photograph, the Second World War and a young couple? Set in the town of Kozienice, which was divided between the Polish and the Germans, the film follows Jewish photographer, Chaim Berman, through his family history, political persecution and work.

Tell No One(pl)

Polish documentary directed by Tomasz Sekielski about child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Poland.

Once My Mother(en)

Australian filmmaker Sophia Turkiewicz investigates why her Polish mother abandoned her and uncovers the truth behind her mother's wartime escape from a Siberian gulag, leaving Sophia to confront her own capacity for forgiveness.

Simona(pl)

Ida, the grandniece of Simona Kossak, travels to the Bialowieza Forest at the Polish-Belarussian border. Sorting through the photos left by Lech Wilczek, Ida uncovers the life he had with Simona, captured in the photographs, footage and memories. A moving and powerful documentary about the life of Simona Kossak, a biologist, ecologist and activist known for her efforts to preserve the remnants of natural ecosystems in Poland and for living among the animals in the Białowieża Forest for over 30 years.

Auf der Oder(de)

The Godmother(fr)

Talking Heads(pl)

People of different age, profession and social status answer two simple questions: who they are and what they want from life.

Wolves Return(de)

Wolves divide and fascinate us. 150 years after they were driven to extinction in Central Europe, they are returning slowly but inexorably. Are they dangerous to humans? Is it possible to coexist? Using Switzerland as a point of departure, where wolves have returned in the very recent past, this documentary sheds light on the wolf situation in Austria, eastern Germany, Poland, Bulgaria, and even Minnesota, where freely roaming packs of wolves are more common sight.

Across the Rails(be)

2021 was a turning point for Belarus and 6 Belarusian students - as well as for the city of Łódź, Poland, in which they found themselves. Across the rails of change and transformation, documenting a time that has not been before and will not repeat again. Heroes of the film have very different fates and experiences, but they are all connected by the place they found themselves in - the post-industrial and post-apocalyptic city, which becomes a part of their story and a hero of its own. Students, transport, quaters, youth, revolution, local apocalypse, changes and turns - they all mix in a documentary kaleidoscope 'Across the Rails'.

29 years of impunity. The phenomenon of Father Tadeusz(pl)

A monk who got away with everything. Although much of his behavior aroused public outrage, or at least controversy, he never suffered any real consequences for it.

Gdzie rosną poziomki?(pl)

Witnesses(pl)

On July 4th, 1946, the crowd in Kielce, Poland, slaughtered forty-two Jews and wounded many others. Forty years later, in 1987, Marcel Łoziński visited those places and met some witnesses of the carnage.

Impreza(pl)

The whole family is helping with preparations for Danuta and Maciej’s golden wedding anniversary party. Danuta knows exactly what she wants and delegates her wishes to those around her. Her German niece Alexandra, the maker of this film, has travelled to Warsaw to take part. Barely has she sat down at the kitchen table when a heated discussion ensues. Be it abortion or migration, it soon dawns on Alexandra that her view of the world could not be more different from that of her right-wing conservative relatives in Poland. Alone in her ‘liberal’ view Alexandra is mocked as a victim of western propaganda… Filmmaker Alexandra Wesolowski uses a family gathering as an opportunity to portray her own family and allows us intimate insight into Polish society and the populist national-conservative Europe of today.

The Deal(en)

Stop-motion animation on the arranging of marriages in 1950/60s set in the Eastern-Polish borderland. The script is based on a part of Mikołaj Smyk's diary, the director's grandfather. The biographical objects used in the animation, such as an authentic headscarf, Polish and Russian books, the copy of Mikołaj Smyk's diary and photographs help situate the story in its original environment.

Bucolic(pl)

Danusia and her daughter Basia live far away from the modern world, in tune with the rhythm and laws of nature, among animals and the spirits of the dead. The peace and sense of security offered by their enclave come at a price - the women increasingly long for contact with other people. Bucolic is an affectionate observation of people who live in a different way. It evokes a curiosity about their world and a desire to take a closer look.

The Balcony Movie(pl)

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.

1979: Big Bang of the Present(de)

Deng Xiaoping's economic and political opening in China. Margaret Thatcher's extreme economic measures in the United Kingdom. Ayatollah Khomeini's Islamic Revolution in Iran. Pope John Paul II's visit to Poland. Saddam Hussein's rise to power in Iraq. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The nuclear accident at the Harrisburg power plant and the birth of ecological activism. The year 1979, the beginning of the future.

Le Bison d'Europe, colosse de la forêt(fr)

Polonia: ¿zona libre de LGTBI?(es)

Jon Sistiaga takes an immersive trip to Poland, a country divided into two zones: on the one hand, the urban and pro-European, and on the other, the rural and ultra-Catholic, still anchored in the traumas of the war and the post-war period. Is Poland a homophobic country or does it have a homophobic government? How does the European Union allow this situation?