dir. Agnieszka Holland / Poland, Ukraine, UK / 119’ / 2019 / Drama
Academy Award®nominee Agnieszka Holland (Europa Europa, In Darkness) brings to the screen the extraordinary and powerful story of the real-life Welsh journalist who uncovered Stalin’s genocidal famine in Ukraine, which killed almost 10 million during The Holodomor of 1932 and 1933.
Gareth Jones (James Norton,Little Women,Happy Valley,McMafia) is an ambitious Welsh journalist who gained fame after his report on being the first foreign journalist to fly with Hitler. On leaving a government role, Jones decides to travel to Moscow in an attempt to get an interview with Stalin himself. Hearing murmurs of government-induced famine, Jones travel clandestinely to Ukraine, where he witnesses the atrocities of man-made starvation. Deported back to London, Jones publishes an article revealing the horrors he witnessed but is accused of being a liar by those who have an interest in silencing him. As the death count mounts, Jones has to fight for the truth.Mr Jones also stars BAFTA Award winner Vanessa Kirby (The Crown, Mission Impossible-Fallout)as journalist Ada Brooks,Golden Globe® Nominee Peter Sarsgaard (Jarhead) as Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist Walter Duranty,Joseph Mawle (Red Riding, Game of Thrones)cast as George Orwell & Kenneth Craham who plays David Lloyd George (War and Peace, Film Stars Don’t Diein Liverpool).
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Series 1, Episodes 1 -4
Short episodes about people who met
the Blob and how it changed their life.
Wenus from Willendorf
dir. Zuzanna Grajcewicz / Poland / 28’ / 2020 / Fiction
Kamila is an ambitious girl who lives in a world where overweight sets the ideal of beauty and social status. The more you weigh, the more you mean. When Kamila's thinness is exposed, everything changes for her. Will Kamila be able to adapt to the world around her?
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In a kinda ordinary system
dir. Mikołaj Piszczan / Poland / 13’ / 2021 / Documentary
Made entirely from the archival materials of the Lodz Film School, the film shows a cross-section of the life of an average citizen during the times of the Communist Regime, strongly marked by a political situation.
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I’m here
dir. Julia Orlik / Poland / 15’ / 2020 / Animation
An elderly man is looking after his paralyzed wife. Despite his old age and health problems, she is doing his best to relieve her suffering, which is getting worse day by day. His daughter helps him, trying to balance care with her work in the hospital and family life. Everyone has different view on how to properly care for the sick.
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The case of Jan Pampuch
dir. Mikołaj Piszczan / Poland / 18’ / 2020 / Fiction, Comedy
An absurd comedy about a modest toy salesman who displays an advertising banner for his
company. Unexpectedly, the banner becomes the subject of a worldview conflict that Jan has to solve in order to keep his company.
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Just hold on thick branches
dir. Marcin Kluczykowski / Poland / 21' / 2021 / Documentary
Pawel is a Warsaw-based environmental activist, father of Kuba and Marek. The film focuses on his private life, which is intertwined with activism. Pawel has to face the end of his family. He also prepares his sons for the end of the world as they know it by making them aware of the impending climate catastrophe.
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The Wildwood Diptych
dir. Szymon Ruczyński / Polska / 9’ / 2021 / Animation
The Wildwood Diptych is a tale about an ancient forest told in two ways – from the perspective of nature and that of a man. The film was inspired by the ongoing conflict over one of the most valuable forests in Europe – the Białowieża Primeval Forest.
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First Last Summer
dir. Nastazja Gonera / Poland / 25’ / 2020 / Fiction
The World as we know it is coming to an end. In a secret military center, somewhere by the Polish sea, a strange experiment is being carried out - a group of scientists and military men transform repeat offenders into animals.
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Lodz Film School
The Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School in Lodz is considered as one of the oldest and most prestigious film schools in the world. Emphasizing practical classes, it produces directors, photographers, editors, screenwriters, lighting designers, producers and actors. Among the graduates of the School are such legendary artists as Andrzej Wajda, Roman Polański, Jerzym Skolimowski, Zbigniew Rybczyński, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Dariusz Wolski and Sławomir Idziak.
Every year shorts of Lodz Film School students take part and win awards at prestigious film festivals all around the globe.
MOR
dir. Nikita Tanadzhy / Poland / 20’ / 2021 / Fiction
An office clerk, aimlessly going through the motions of his work, happens upon a hidden passport, leading him on a secret investigation.
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My brother a Fisherman
dir. Alicja Sokół / Poland / 20’ / 2021 / Fiction
Somewhere at the end of the world, in the middle of nowhere, there are two brothers who live in a small fishing village. Not being alike makes them unable to find common ground. The unexpected disappearance of their father force the brothers closer together while they take over his duties at the fishing port.
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The Howling
dir. Bartosz Brzeziński / Poland / 30’ / 2021 / Fiction
Kuba is growing up in a small village where nothing ever happens. He’s being raised by an alcoholic father, a ship breeder. One day, an old friend from a big city appears in the village. The protagonist begins discovering his sexuality and is soon faced with a tough choice.
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First
dir. Adam Hartwiński / Poland / 27’ / 2021 / Fiction
40-year-old Marysia finds out that the baby she is expecting has an incurable genetic defect and probably will die soon after birth. A desperate woman makes a difficult decision to give birth to a child and donate its kidney to the sick little girl.
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Dismay
dir. Joanna Szymańska / Poland / 4’ / 2019 / Animation
Set in a Masurian village, „Dismay” is a magical and brutal story about the unusual bond between a father and his eight-year-old daughter and the terrible consequences of trying to take the oversensitive girl away from an alcohol-addicted musician.
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The Cracks
dir. Magdalena Gajewska / Poland / 30’ / 2021 / Fiction
Teresa falls into postpartum depression. She and her husband decide to temporarily move to her family home in a small town. On the spot, the protagonist meets her old flame from years ago – Anna. Feelings between the two women are rekindled, which soon confronts Teresa with an extremely difficult choice. . .
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Nuclear Shadows
dir. Marek Leszczewski / Poland / 15’ / 2018 / Fiction
A lone boy wanders the desolate wastes that once were his homeland. A catastrophic event scorched the surface of Earth and took everything from him, everything except his dignity. He wants to find a place for a proper burial of his younger brother he carries on his back.
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Warsaw Film School
Warsaw Film School was founded in 2004 by Polish film director, producer and screenwriter Maciej Ślesicki and one of the country's most popular actors, Bogusław Linda. The School offers undergraduate and postgraduate studies, various courses and two high schools (one with focus on film, the other one on video game creation). It produces film experts, screenwriters, directors, actors, photographers, editors, producers, sound specialists and video game creators. In 2021 alone, School’s students’ films qualified over 200 times for film festivals and won over 80 prestigious awards.
20 years of Wajda School
Wajda Studio promo film
Wajda School and Studio, one of Play Poland Film Festival partners since the first edition, celebrates the 20 Years of Wajda School this year. Watch some of the films included in our programme: 'Andrzej Wajda: Let's Shoot!', awarded on many festivals 'Bucolic' by Karol Pałka and others.
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Bucolic
dir. Karol Pałka / Poland / 2021 / 70’ / Documentary
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. Their enclave brings peace and a sense of security, but also builds within them a longing for contact with other people. Bucolic is a parable about people living in a different way, an affectionate observation that invites curiosity about their world and a desire for a closer look.
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The Love Equation of Henry Fast
dir. Agnieszka Elbanowska / Poland / 2013 / 41’ / Documentary
The film shows a lonely life of a retired professor of mathematics. Henryk is a hopeless romantic, a hostage of love, Don Juan ready to sacrifice everything, which he has done more than once, in order to find reciprocated love. When, towards the end of the film, the protagonist's daughter asks him, 'So what are you going to do now?,' he says, 'I would like to find a woman, but if it was that simple, there would not be so many unhappy, lonely people'.
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Down to Earth
dir. Paulina Sikora / Poland / 2020 / 29’ / Documentary
The documentary movie "Down to earth" tells the story of co-dependent relationship of Małgorzata and Mariusz, directors' parents.
The presented relationship is far from perfect but apart from many accusations and disappointments, it is also full of unexpected examples of care and subtle gestures of love.
Over the years of their marriage, both of them developed many behavioral patterns, unknown and probably inconceivable to people not familiar with the issue of alcoholism, but recognized and well known to professionals who deal with the issue.
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Andrzej Wajda: Let’s shoot!
dir. Marcin Sauter, Maciej Cuske, Thierry Paladino, Piotr Stasik / Poland / 2008 / 54’ / Documentary
This documentary portrait of the most famous founder of the Polish cinema was made by four students of the Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing. Their observations, captured on the filming location of Katyń at the turn of 2006 and 2007, combined with the fragments of the director's monologue make an original picture, different from the familiar and popular image of Andrzej Wajda promoted by the media.
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View to the wall
dir. Kobas Laksa / Poland / 2019 / 29’ / Fiction
Ukrainian emigrants Larysa and Borys raise their son Mitia struggling to balance private and professional life. Larysa plays the flute and applies for a post in a local philharmonic orchestra. Borys works as a street mime. A tragic accident forces them to rethink their plans for the future.
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Wajda School and Studio
Backed by Polish Film Institute and Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Wajda School and Studio is an education establishment founded in 2002, offering programmes for professionals, combining education with film production. It focuses on teamwork and cooperation between generations. It promotes smart, ambitious auteur cinema.
Wajda School’s programs produced a number of feature films, documentaries and shorts that participated in world’s biggest festivals and won numerous awards.
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Breakdown Motel
dir. Katarzyna Hordowicz / Poland / 15’ / 2021 / Fiction
After the wedding feast, Tomasz takes his newly married wife Anna to the Motel where they will both have to face the demons of the past. The beginning of the life together of Anna and Tomasz is coming to an end at the rate of a comet falling to Earth.
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Group Theory
dir. Zuzanna Karpińska / Poland / 25’ / 2021 / Fiction
Polish People’s Republic, 1977. To fulfill a dream of an foreign study trip, a young, gifted mathematician, Marcin, has to take care of an overdue, obligatory military service. He checks in to the psychiatric ward, pretending to be ill. Fascinated by Marcin’s intellect doctor, decides to cure him.
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The Delivery
dir. Katarzyna Sikorska / Poland / 20’ / 2021 / Fiction
Alicja is counting weeks to the birth of her daughter. She’s looking forward not only to her child but also to her husband, who works abroad. Oksana, a young Ukrainian, arrives to help her bring the long-awaited daughter to the world, but their life under the same roof is becoming harder than they expected. The tension grows.
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Forever
dir. Aleksandra Kamińska / Poland / 3’ / 2021 / Fiction
A magical story based on a painting by the German painter Michael Sowa "The Stormy Weather". During a hot summer day, unusual phenomena take place in the apartment of a long-term married couple.
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Liberty
dir. Joanna Różniak / Poland / 14’ / 2021 / Fiction
In a near-future dystopia, citizens are rising against their increasingly oppressive nationalist government. Despite his clear political involvement, he receives a lighter treatment than he expects. As it becomes apparent that there is a personal dimension to his rebellion, he has to make a choice that will determine the shape of his future.
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The Nest
dir. Gracjana Piechula / Poland / 21’ / 2021 / Fiction
It is 1968. Jacob, studying in Czechoslovakia, unexpectedly visits his family home in Poland. The seemingly idyllic atmosphere of the meeting after a long separation is gradually disturbed by the real reason for Jacob's visit. The boy, torn by doubts after hearing rumours about his father, tries to find out what the truth is.
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The Hero
dir. Milena Dutkowska / Poland / 24’ / 2021 / Fiction
Cyprian, 10 years old orphan, raised by his beloved grandmother, dreams to become a real hero. Suddenly his grandmother dies and a threat of an orphanage hangs over Cyprian. Now he has to confront with the real loss and realize what it means to be a hero in the face of suffering.
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Pure Cinema
dir. Piotr Trzęsowski / Poland / 9’ / 2021 / Fiction
A new cinema employee awakens the dream of film love in a lonely cleaner.
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Slave
dir. Grzegorz Piekarski / Poland / 29’ / 2021 / Fiction
Nikodem serves his sentence under a new penitentiary programme involving work at the house of Maja and Łukasz who have full power over him. The household members are surprised when Nikodem’s appeal is successful and he regains his freedom. Despite the fact that they could have parted ways and never met again, they stay together for one more day.
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Lockdown
dir. Maciej Idczak / Poland / 13’ / 2021 / Fiction
Michael returns to Poland from abroad. As a result, he finds himself in a forced quarantine in his friend's apartment. Isolation makes him feel lonely and longs for closeness. During his stay there, he meets a neighbour. Unfortunately, this meeting pushes Michael to dangerous behaviour.
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When The Night Comes
dir. Katarzyna Sikorska / Poland / 23’ / 2021 / Fiction
During The First World War Maria finds out her husband Jan is in the hospital. It turns out the man does not recognize her. Maria has doubts whether Jan has actually lost his memory, or is he lying to avoid punishment for potential desertion. The many understatements and secrets cause confusion. Is any of this real? Maybe it's all a dream, maybe a figment of a traumatized mind.
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The Cabin
dir. Bartosz Toboła / Poland / 20’ / 2021 / Fiction
Julka and Marek visit a mountain cabin to rest, but at the beginning of their journey things get complicated as the violin, the forest, Venus and Schrodinger's Cat come to the fore. The cabin has its secrets and so do the characters as the tension grows the deeper they walk into the forest.
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Limits of Control
dir. Piotr Michalak / Poland / 11’ / 2021 / Fiction
Two strangers meets in Table mountains. The terrain is difficult and they're far away from civilization. They'll need to team up to survive in harsh environment.
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Imprisoned
dir. Piotr Bieliński / Poland / 20’ / 2021 / Documentary
Batory is a boy in a girl's body. We meet him when he is serving a prison sentence in the Warszawa-Grochów Detention Centre for frequent travel by city train without a valid ticket and beating his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend. Batory shows us around the world - a world made up of bars and closed rooms.
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Dream Yourself to Safety
dir. Joanna Różniak, Martyna Ludwig / Poland / 7’ / 2021 / Documentary
In the uncertain time of the global health crisis, dreams became the space where we tried to tackle the increasingly odd reality. Comprising a collection of dreams dreamt by different people during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, this film attempts to recreate the eerie character of our lives as we tried to adjust to the new situation.
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Eternal Return
dir. Karolina Biedrowska / Poland / 6’ / 2021 / Documentary
In 2020, the World was overrun by the Coronavirus pandemic. People wonder if this is the end of the world they live in. What if it’s only a part of the continuous cycle that has always accompanied all mankind?
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Holding Your Breath
dir. Katarzyna Sikorska / Poland / 14’ / 2021 / Documentary
Wojtek is an S11 class swimmer, a Paralympic silver medallist, and European and World Champion. He was meant to be the first blind free diver in Poland. However the pandemic prevents him from finishing his course in single breath diving, and competing in the Olympics and other championships. This causes him to reconsider his carrier in sports.
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Joanna d'Arc (2022)
dir. Aleksander Szamałek / Poland/ 30’ / 2022 / Documentary
Aneta is the manager of an erotic massage parlour in France. She left Poland to find her own path but nothing goes as she would like it to. Pressing problems with her partner and growing up children motivate her to take her life in her hands. Will she succeed to get back on track and find the peace she's been looking for so long?
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Windows
dir. Julia Dziworska / Poland / 3’43’’ / 2022 / Documentary
The film is a chronicle made during a strict lockdown. A documentary record time of the pandemic. Lives of the inhabitants of a certain Warsaw bloc from perspective balconies and windows.
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Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School
Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School is a prestigious faculty of a University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland, with an impressive list of graduates and lecturers - Krzysztof Zanussi, Bartosz Konopka (Academy Award nomination in 2010), Maciej Pieprzyca, Jan P. Matuszyński… These are just a few of creative individuals associated with KFS who are of great importance for Polish and European cinematography.
Cooperating with other regional universities: the Academy of Music in Katowice and the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, it makes a firm core for creative education in South Poland.
The Dwarfs go to Ukraine
Production: Studio Everest
dir. Mirosław Dembinski / Poland / 55’ / 2005 / Documentary
Dwarfs first appeared in Poland in the 80’s. After the introduction of Martial Law, walls in
Poland bore anti-government slogans such as: “There’s no freedom without Solidarity”. The
authorities were painting over them and all of Poland was suddenly covered with white spots. It was then that Major Fydrych had an ingenious idea to paint dwarfs on them. Next, the Dwarfs left the walls…
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Shadows of the Empire
Production: Kadr Film Studio
dir. Karol Starnawski / Poland / 78’ / 2018 / Documentary / Subtitles ENG, POL
How to live in a shadow of an empire? How can you think about the future if all that you see through the window are barbed wires, armored vehicles and tanks? Aleksey from Nagorno-Karabakh, Timur from Ukraine, and Alexander from Georgia are facing these questions every day.
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Compulsory figures
Production: Square Film Studio
dir. Ewa Kochańska / Poland / 72’ / 2018 / Documentary
Julia Polniuk (10) trains figure skating - and there is not much time left for her to succeed
in sports and to meet her family’s expectations...After the Euromaidan Revolution, the Polniuk family moved from Ukraine to Poland. Now they begin a brand new life in Warsaw without good jobs or money. Julia‘s mother Marina (37) has only one goal in mind: to offer her children a better life.
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Ukrainian Prayer
dir. Barbara Włodarczyk / Poland / 50’ /2020 / Documentary
The documentary aims to show the impact of religion on the everyday life of Ukrainian people. It also tries to answer the question when it will be possible to talk about the liberation of Ukraine from the sizable influence of the Russian Orthodox Church, highly influenced by Kremlin media.
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View to the wall
dir. Kobas Laksa / Poland / 2019 / 29’ / Fiction
Ukrainian emigrants Larysa and Borys raise their son Mitia struggling to balance private and professional life. Larysa plays the flute and applies for a post in a local philharmonic orchestra. Borys works as a street mime. A tragic accident forces them to rethink their plans for the future.
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Ukraine in Focus
Play Poland Film Festival implements the Ukrainian focus programme which covers films and an art exhibition dealing with the ongoing war reality. Films created by Polish directors and reporters present the reality of Ukrainians in their country before war and also tell a story about Ukrainian emigrants who decide to start a new life abroad.
Art
