Polish immigrant Karol Karol finds himself out of a marriage, a job and a country when his French wife, Dominique, divorces him after six months due to his impotence. Forced to leave France after losing the business they jointly owned, Karol enlists fellow Polish expatriate Mikołaj to smuggle him back to their homeland.
Grzegorz, diagnosed as an autistic child, lives in his hermetic world, unable to establish contact with others. When he turns fourteen, it turns out that the cause of isolation is not autism, but hearing loss, which hides great musical talent.
An innocent cab driver is mistaken for a contract killer and imprisoned. Soon, he is sprung by a mob boss who needs a "killer" for a few more jobs.
I Will Not Starve tells the story of a fallen chef, formerly a Michelin star, who returns to Turin following the death of his ex-wife and after several years of absence. While trying to mend the broken bond with his teenage daughter, he meets a tramp who introduces him to a new way of life, living freely and taking advantage of grocery store food waste to feed himself. Together, they will transform unloved foods into true masterpieces.
Filip buys an 8mm movie camera when his first child is born. Because it's the first camera in town, he's named official photographer by the local Party boss. His horizons widen when he is sent to regional film festivals with his first works but his focus on movie making also leads to domestic strife and philosophical dilemmas.
One of Gabriela Zapolska's most famous comedies, it was written in 1907. A realistic story of a marital triangle, precisely constructed in terms of the psychology of the characters. In this classic production, director Tomasz Zygadło emphasizes above all the truth and universality of human characters and behaviors.
The story follows a young scientist in the contemporary world, who actually came from the world of dwarves, thanks to a magic potion, held by the Big Eater, ruler of the dwarves. The dwarf kingdom, Shuflandia, exists in a cellar of a library, and only the most obedient get the chance to grow to king size and inhabit the larger world. Once there, nobody wants to return to Shuflandia. Also, there are no women in Shuflandia.
A morality tale that starts from answering a mysterious passenger's mobile phone left on a train, and intertwines the lives of student Bartek, who leads an immoral life, and several strangers.
The film was inspired by one of the most important documentaries shot by Krzysztof Kieślowski, Talking Heads (1980). The director asked his interlocutors seemingly simple questions, such as “Who are you?” and “What do you want?”.
The newly elected Pope suffers a panic attack just as he is about to greet the faithful who have gathered to see him. His advisors, unable to convince him he is the right man for the job, call on a renowned therapist who also happens to be an atheist. But the Pope's fear of his newfound responsibility is one he must face alone. Winner Best Film at the Italian Golden Globes.
Programmer Prince Myshkin returns to his historical homeland from Switzerland, where he was undergoing treatment in a psychiatric clinic. On the bus, the prince meets businessman Parfen Rogozhin, who is suffering from lovesickness for Nastasya Filippovna.
Jurek Kiler has become a VIP - sponsoring the Polish government, playing tennis with the President, meeting world leaders. He must oversee a transfer of a substantial amount of gold. However, in his past activities, he has made enemies. Mighty ones. And thus Jurek Kiler's next adventure begins as he has to face attempts at kidnapping, assassinations and problems in his love life...
More documentary in its approach than dramatized history, this is a compelling story about a 1901 children's strike in Wrzesnia near the Polish border with Prussia. Poland was partitioned at this time, and a rigidly patriotic Prussian teacher in Wrzesnia follows the dictates of the Germans in parliament and insists that the children be taught their religion classes in German. When the children refuse to take part in the classes, they are supported by the local priest, but that does not save them from being beaten. They are also kept after school and tormented in other ways as well. Newspapers, parents, and the nation as a whole get involved, transforming a simple children's strike into a national incident.
When a political decision is made as to the location of a new large chemical factory, Stefan Bednarz is put in charge of it. This honest communist party man has to confront the local community opposing the construction.
Lazowski, an expelled university student, investigates the supposed suicide of the famous artist Witkacy and tries to prove that the artist is in fact still alive.
Two scientists are chosen as guinea pigs for a time experiment: they are placed in hibernation and should be brought back to life after three years. In the meantime, however, World War III breaks out and life has been wiped off the surface of Earth. When they wake up, it turns out that not only 50 years have passed but also that they are the only living specimens of the male sex in a new, underground society composed exclusively of women.
A parliament member's sixteen year old daughter Agatha falls in love and runs away with a convicted young tramp, while her father uses his friends in the government and police to brutally break their happiness.
A drama about a doctor Arje who discovers his illness and decides to go to Israel in order to meet Sonya - the love of his life.
The world has been ravaged by nuclear war. The planet is frozen and radiation kills anyone or anything that ventures outside of 'The Dome'. Soft is a shepherd for the last remnants of humanity who have gathered together as they await rescue from a mysterious craft known only as 'The Ark.' He wanders among the masses, performing his regular daily tasks; keeping morale from plummeting, wooing prostitutes, squashing rebellions, and sometimes feeding the hungry. But as the true and sinister nature of 'The Dome' comes to light, Soft must ask himself if humanity is worth saving...
The Prohibition years. Chicago bootleggers suffer losses due to their betrayal by one Mick Nich - Mikita Nichiporuk. The mob decides to execute the traitor, who escaped to Odesa, USSR, and organized his own bootleg business there. The hitman, Pollack, arrives in Odesa, and realizes how hard it is to make the hit here, as compared to a civilized country like USA.
The conspiracy story takes place in Poland, at the beginning of the 21st century. in 2003, Poles decide in a referendum not to join the EU, and in 2007 Bartlomiej Czop, a demagogue and primitive, devoid of education and personal culture, is elected president of Poland. He begins his tenure in office by brutally ejecting ex-president Kazimierz Czechmeszynski from the Belvedere when the latter wants to hand over the insignia of power to him. He then insults the Russian and German ambassadors. He also puts his crime-fighting program into practice, liquidating several hundred convicted criminals on high sentences in a faked accident at a military training ground.
An old film director, unhappy with the movie he's shooting about a Hungarian circus stranded in Rome during the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising, faces divorce from his producer wife and other problems.
Scope is a prisoner on a behemoth space station and is chosen, like all his fellow prisoners, to 'volunteer' for the exploration of far-away planets. Landing on planet Australia 458, he is given a hero's welcome with all the sex, booze, and violence that any one man can stomach. But as his new caretakers push him towards even more heinous and deplorable acts, Scope finds that his freedom comes with a high price; his own violent demise, broadcast live for the viewing pleasure of Australia 458's inhabitants.
This heroic story follows the life of Karol Wojtyla, a Polish Roman catholic who ascends the throne of St. Peter as Pope John Paul II. As a young boy, Karol is a bright and talented student. Archbishop Sapieha recognizes the very special, moving qualities Karol possesses and encourages him to consider the priesthood. Although determined to study Polish literature, Karol turns to the church; he is ordained and studies in Italy, France, and Belgium. Torn by fear and repression in post-Stalin Eastern Europe, Karol becomes a poisonous thorn in the communists' side. His deer reverence and commitment return him to Poland as Pope John Paul II.
Mary is a young girl, daughter of shepherds, promised in marriage to Joseph, a widower with two children, living in the nearby village of Nazareth, in the Galilee of two thousand years ago. Grown up in love and respect for the little ones, Mary, after leaving her home, soon sees the distortions of the patriarchal world surrounding her, starting with her husband's family. Here he reads the oldest brother of Joseph, Mordecai. The sunny and determined attitude of the girl, protective of children, arouses the indignation of the head of the family and those who are convinced of the need to give them punishment, discipline and submission.
When the circus leaves town, Zygmunt and Marysia unwittingly adopt a camel into their home. The couple quickly forms a close bond with the nameless camel, but as the bond grows stronger, their neighbors slowly begin to ostracize them.
Set during the Nazi occupation of Poland, the story follows Michał, who witnesses the murder of his mother, wife and child and then is hurled into a life that literally is not his own; a surreal world littered with trapdoors, doppelgängers and wormholes.
The early 1980s. A former entertainment industry star is now selling leather goods. One day, he watches a TV interview with a department store employee who smelled gas leaking and prevented a tragedy in time. This gives him an idea. With the support of his journalist friend Lutek Danielak, he begins to organize a series of meetings with the "hero of the year" across the country. He hopes that this will help him make a comeback in the industry. The meetings gain momentum. Lutek accepts the offer to host the final "Miss Polonia" contest.
This is psychological drama by Tomasz Zygadlo begins as a straightforward story. Jan is the host of a nightly talk show in which he counsels people who call in with their problems. He is dedicated to helping these lonely souls but becomes increasingly disturbed when his co-workers and supervisors at the radio station do not appreciate his program; they seem unable to grasp the importance of what he is doing. Aside from that, Jan's private life is frayed around the edges. His wife is a heavy drinker and his mistress has no comprehension about who he is or what he is doing. Jan's frustration over this lack of recognition builds to an explosive level, threatening to upset the balance of his daily life.
Lavish romantic melodrama, obsessively concerned with sex. Maryska's husband is off to war. He soon is reported missing, and she does not protest much when is seduced by the husband's friend, a seedy professor with sickly wife and other mistresses on the side. However, the love of Maryska's life turns out to be a shy 17-year old, son of friends with whom she goes to stay.
Jerzy and Artur’s father dies, leaving behind a valuable stamp collection, which, they discover, is coveted by dealers of varying degrees of shadiness. The more involved the brothers get in their father’s world, the more dire and comical their situation becomes.
A man, after having abandoned his family to live in a monastery, goes back into the world after 17 years.
Story of four people in Sopot in 1933, mysteriously brought together to an old villa to reenact a murder ritual that took place 36 years earlier.
An ironic look at a climber who decides to do anything to get a job he thinks will launch him into a better career.
This film is a sequel to Munk's Zezowate Szczescie and it's much the same, only more so. The film begins in a cinema, where the last scenes of Zezowate Szczescie are being shown. Born unlucky, a victim of the errors and distortions of Stalinism, he is released in 1956. He meets a politically feverish woman, her influential parents, and finally becomes the father of her child. But bad luck, or perhaps an unlucky era, will not let him forget.
Nicolaus Copernicus, the son of a Toruń merchant, is a bright and curious child. When he is ten years old, the Dutch astrologer Paul van de Volder predicts a great future for him, which develops in the boy an interest in the stars. Paul van de Volder reappears in Nikolai's life when he is already a student at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. A battle for the student's soul begins between the charlatan astrologer and Wojciech of Brudzew and other university professors. Astrology fights with astronomy. From the doubts and questions that hound Nicholas, a discovery is born that will change the world.
A Polish ambassador finds his life falling into ruin following the death of his wife.
Jerzy Stuhr scripted, directed and plays four roles in this Polish comedy about four men -- an army officer, a college instructor, a priest, and a drug dealer -- and their relationships with four females. An attractive student puts the teacher in an awkward spot when she reveals her love for him. An 11-year-old informs the priest that she's his daughter. The army officer is pleased when confronted by a past lover. The drug dealer, taken prisoner, must decide whether or not to trust his wife with his hidden loot. In the wrap-up, the elderly accountant passes judgment on all four men. Stuhr acted in films by the late Krzysztof Kieslowski, who had some input here by offering advice to Stuhr on this screenplay.
The film is set in a small town near Warsaw, to which a young and coming director comes to produce a classic play (Wyspianski "Wyzwolenie") with a modern vein. Everyone in the production gets his usual stereotypical role, but the aging idol of the ensemble senses opportunity to give the performance of his life. For young director everything is already set. The leading man, however, is not giving up and is trying to restore the role according to his view. His wife listens to his fears, complaints and frustrations, while resigning herself to a fading career in a puppet theatre.
An attempt at depicting the life of a generation born and raised in communist Poland; a generation that lived through all the stages of that system and made it to democracy. Throughout his life, the film's protagonist has always tried to be active, but something always got in his way, either through an absurd coincidence, as a result of his own lack of ability, or due to the unpredictable nature of certain events in our recent history.
A TV adaptation of Sławomir Mrożek's play, about a family whose rejection of traditional values leads to erosion of their daily lives and Artur's, the youngest one's efforts to reinstate rules in the house.
At the Cultural Center, a young scientist gives a lecture that evokes spontaneous reactions from the audience.
Witek runs after a train. Three variations follow on how such a seemingly banal incident could influence the rest of Witek's life.
A short making-of from the set of Kieslowski's feature film "Blizna", which uses a lot the word "Action!" and the slate.
Zbigniew Gąsior, a thirty year old singer, is a youth idol. Despite fame, money and success with women he can't neglect the emptiness in his life.
Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz directed this insightful TV documentary (2005) tracing the Polish filmmaker's career. Former classmates reminisce about Kieslowski's happy beginnings at the Lodz film school and how his dissatisfaction with some of his early documentaries prompted the dramatic work and stylistic experimentation that led to his monumental series of films The Decalogue (1989). Wim Wenders, Agnieszka Holland, and Juliette Binoche are among the many admirers weighing in on his hard-driving work methods and preoccupation with the ephemeral. In Polish, French, and German with subtitles.
Mikolaj, 22, together with his girlfriend Anna and partner Krzysiek, manage a literary publishing house in the center of Gliwice. Soon the young couple are to be married, unfortunately they have too little time to prepare for the wedding. The failure of their first book has meant that they must now focus primarily on the publishing house. At the same time, her ex-husband Andrzej arrives in Warsaw to visit his mother Maria. He has been invited to his son's wedding. For this celebration he is going to go just with Maria.
Petty thief Czarek takes part in a TV reality show to escape from the mafia. He is sent to a house on a desert island with 9 other contestants. Even the death of one of them does not stop the show.
A young man in his twenties leaves prison after a three-year sentence. He wants to start a new life in a place where he is not known and dreams only of a job, a wife and a family. He succeeds partially in fulfilling these dreams, but then runs into a conflict on a construction job between the corrupt boss and fellow workers secretly planning a strike. He becomes a pawn in one camp while remaining true to his ideals in the other. Filmed in 1976 and shelved for five years.
A bunch of unemployed and unqualified workers are hired to unload a few railway wagons. Because of the low wages, the manager needs to encourage the workers in some other way.
An antique guitar brings upon a series of increasingly fantastical encounters.
Jerzy Stuhr plays a high school teacher with a sensitive outlook on life and a soft spot for students who like art and literature as passionately as he does. His adversary is a possessed sports instructor, gaining growing control over the students and authorities. His methods are questionable and his influence dangerous, but the handball team's prospects look good and the school needs success...
Jerzy Stuhr Poland s most beloved actor wrote and directed this charming comedy that caters to his image as an innocent caught in a cynical world. Stuhr stars as Gustav, a Krakow professor who is roped into showing a visiting Swedish professor around town. The randy Swede soon tires of Gustav s dull dissertations on Polish heroes and suggests looking for female companionship, but the task proves beyond the skills of the shy academic. Eventually, Gustav calls Isa, an old girlfriend from his distant past who was writing a dissertation on the mating habits of geese the last time they spoke. While Isa is not what the Swede had in mind, Gustav sees his old flame through the rose-colored glasses of time.
Jerzy Stuhr wrote, directed, and starred in this drama about a man sworn to uphold the law who applies a very different moral code to himself than he does to others. As Adam Borowski, Stuhr plays a government lawyer prosecuting a variety of cases, including smuggling, theft, child abandonment, and racially motivated assault. However, Adam's own life is hardly a model by which to live. He's overextended himself financially and is trying to figure out how to avoid paying the hospital bills for his terminally ill mother. Adam is married, but he's been having an affair for some time, and, while he breaks off his relationship with his mistress, he's easily tempted into other liaisons. His wife wants to adopt a handicapped child; Adam would prefer not to have another child in the house, and he uses his influence to slow up the paperwork. And in order to reduce his tax bill, Adam has involved himself in a charitable donation scheme of dubious legality.
Poland, Christmastime. A band of hyperintelligent, bloodthirsty Martians take over the country and enlist hapless television newscaster Iron Ide as the voice of their propaganda machine. But when Iron dares to go off message, he makes an enemy even greater than the aliens—the state itself.
The apparently quiet lives of four milanese bourgeois couples become intertwined
Jan and Maria become a couple in 1930s Kraków. Jan tries to get a job as an architect but fails. They struggle with poverty and extreme humiliation. Their attempt to survive leads to a desperate crime.
A young woman is bitten by the acting bug after seeing Marilyn Monroe in "Some Like It Hot". She patterns herself after MM and after finishing high school goes for screen tests to the Film Academy. Rejected because of her crooked teeth she takes a job of selling beer on a train and starts writing to Billy Wilder, trying to be casted in his next movie. At the trains station she meets a would-be cinematographer who is color blind. They become friends sharing their dreams of going to Hollywood. One day she finds a goldfish trapped in a beer bottle: she sets her free and makes three wishes, not for herself but for her friends. To her surprise all of them come true. As a reward she gets a long awaited call from Billy Wilder. Written by Polish Cinema Database
Threatened by creditors, a newly unemployed man agrees to work for a debt collector, but soon discovers his deal with the devil has unexpected costs.
The story of catholic saint Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941), who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz.
Barbara leads a stable life, is fulfilled professionally and has a loving family. Her foster daughter Alicja, who learns that she is adopted, decides to find her biological mother. When Alicja finds the real mother, the life of the main characters changes, and the positive relationships that linked them become blurred.
Made in 1982, shelved for five years. Story opens with Lucja Krol's husband under the tram. She gives birth to her fourth son on the floor of their new apartment. Neighbor Wiktor, a communist intellectual, befriends the poverty-stricken family but is soon arrested and sent to jail. During the war Lucja narrowly escapes a Nazi roundup at the black market. Her sons hold ardent Communist meetings in their apartment, with her blessing. Lucja works hard, but without complaint. After the war, Klemens is inexplicably arrested, accused by the new regime of being a collaborator. Wiktor, now a high-ranking party member, trying to defend him, himself falls into disgrace. Klemens is tortured to "confess" and dies in jail, a Communist to the end. Lucja is never told about his fate.
Shortly after World War II an American soldier (Norman) and a Polish refugee (Emilia) fall in love. Eventually he will return to the U.S. and both expect that she will soon follow him with her mother. Emilia's mother is sick, but will recover with the right medicine. But the mother, and not Emilia, knows that there will only be one ticket...
Teenager pretends to be mentally ill to get away from a reformatory.
A famous Polish journalist presents a problem for the powers-that-be when he displays his full political skill and knowledge on a television show featuring questions and answers on a world conference by a panel of journalists. His enemies take away his privileges when he is away. The shock of being "unwanted" parallels a deeper disappointment in his private life: his wife has an affair with a jealous young rival, and after 15 years of marriage and two daughters wants a divorce. She offers no explanations as he tries to untie these problems himself. All the moves he makes are the wrong ones. He takes on drinking heavily with students eager to attend his seminar after discovering the class has been canceled. The journalist, once suave and commanding, is reduced to silence.
Bruno Bonomo was a famous producer of B-movies in the ‘70s. After a long hiatus, Bonomo offers a screenplay to RAI centered on the figure of Italy’s prime minister and media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, a subject so controversial that even the public television broadcaster refuses to produce it
Polish television play adaptation of the first of Fyodor Dostoevsky's great novels, in which reflections on the commandment "thou shalt not kill" are shown through the fate of a poor student Raskolnikov. Giving himself the right to commit a justified crime, he kills with an ax an old usurer, whom he despises and considers to be the cause of all human evil.
Television play adaptation of Wajda's stage play of Stanisław Wyspiański's November Night. The drama takes place on two levels - historical and metaphorical. The first one is almost a chronicle of several hours of the uprising - it shows the drama of the attitudes of Poles at the beginning of the armed struggle, in confrontation with the attitude of Grand Duke Constantine, the Tsar's deputy in Poland. The second one presents the world of gods playing out their arguments. Man becomes a plaything in their hands, but it is he who experiences his fear, heroism and hope.
An anthology film following different stories around the theme of invisibility in the modern world.