In nineteenth-century Łódź, Poland, three friends want to make a lot of money by building and investing in a textile factory. An exceptional portrait of rapid industrial expansion is shown through the eyes of one Polish town.
Four stories showing the various facets of love.
Two boys set out by train from Kraków to the seaside but lose their travel money and decide to continue their journey “for a smile,” hitchhiking and using every transport they can find.
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.
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.
A taxi driver decides to take part in a robbery to earn money for the treatment of his sick wife.
A moral story about two people who have completely different attitudes to life and people. The duel of the heroes ends tragically.
Raised by the monks, Stanisław gets involved in a scheme to murder the king.
Set before the first World War in part of Poland under Austrian occupation, the story of a young boy in primary school who later grows up to become a rebellious, poetic-minded teen in the same school when the national movement toward liberation is under way. The story of a country where church and state work together to suppress the human spirit.
The last days in the life of Edward Dembowski (1822-1846), the organizer of the Kraków Uprising in 1846. The informal leader of the uprising, determined to fight for the unification of Polish lands and the liberation of the peasants, negotiates with other politicians.
Two artists conduct philosophical disputes about practicing art.
A young designer is tormented by remorse after a viaduct of his design collapses.
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...
A woman just out of prison gets a job in a nursing home and tries, unsuccessfully, to put her life back together.
A mysterious magnetic spool found during a construction project is discovered to have originated from Venus. A rocket expedition to Venus is launched to discover the origin of the spool and the race that created it.
During a pogrom in Poland on the eve of World War I, a group of Jews seek refuge from the Cossacks. The fugitives hide out in a rural inn, terrified that they may be given away at any moment.
Set in a small Polish town just after the war, the story of an unruly teenager who constantly taunts the old priest. One day the youth has a horrible accident, which the villagers call divine punishment.
After years of working in the city, Róża returns to the countryside. The property she has accumulated draws the attention of local bachelors.
Engineer Ijon Tichy is called in to help with a malfunctioning electronic brain.
A short making-of from the set of Kieslowski's feature film "Blizna", which uses a lot the word "Action!" and the slate.
Post clerk's young daughter runs away from home with a tsarist officer.
The Home Army's battles against the communist authorities in the Żywiec region.
Three separate short stories about young athletes who lose their chances of success. Young swimmer - because of unhappy love. Boxer because of a fight with hooligans, for which the judges will disqualify him. But the cyclist must decide for himself what is more important for him: victory or friendship.
A young teacher and a conservative mayor fight over influence in a village in Western Poland, all while falling in love with each other.
A German man and a Polish woman fall in love in the days preceding World War II.
A factory foreman discovers (to his discontent) that his housewife secretly takes driving lessons in order to get a job and send their son to kindergarten.
During the Napoleonic wars, a Spanish officer and an opposing officer find a book written by the former's grandfather.