In the Main Competition 23 movies compete for the most important film award in Poland - the Golden Lions. It will be presented to director and producer of the best movie. The Silver Lions and the Special Jury Award prizes, as well as individual prizes for the best directing, screenplay, directing debut, leading performance by an actress, leading performance by an actor, cinematography, music, art direction, supporting performance by an actress, supporting performance by an actor, sound, film editing and costume design will also be awarded. The chairman of the jury is going to be Krzysztof Krauze.
Panorama of Polish Cinema is a unique review of the most interesting releases in Polish cinema from the last 12 months. This year the audience will have an opportunity to watch films made by the most appreciated artists, like Andrzej Wajda or Krzysztof Zanussi.
Independent Competition will have its eighth edition this year. It has become an integral part of the Festival. Since the first edition it has been a great chance for young filmmakers to present themselves to the public. The competition of short films and film schools' diploma movies, the Young Cinema Competition, has played a similar role. For the third time film schools put up their students and graduates as candidates for the competition. Choosing the best ones in both Independent and Young Cinema Competitions will be a task for the jury with Janusz Zaorski as its chairman.
Main Competition
In the Main Competition 23 movies compete for the most important film award in Poland - the Golden Lions. It will be presented to director and producer of the best movie. The Silver Lions and the Special Jury Award prizes, as well as individual prizes for the best directing, screenplay, directing debut, leading performance by an actress, leading performance by an actor, cinematography, music, art direction, supporting performance by an actress, supporting performance by an actor, sound, film editing and costume design will also be awarded. The chairman of the jury is going to be Krzysztof Krauze
Films
Happy Aphonya (Afonia i pszczoły)
Year 1953, Western Poland. Aphonya and her crippled husband, former famous wrestler, live in closed train station...
An author's statement of three young women on present-day topics. Three novels were created as a part of the "30 Minutes" Programme.
On a cold autumn night in 1978 Środoń accidentally lands up in Dziabas' farm located in remote part of Bieszczady Mountains. Initial distrust disappear over the bottle of moonshine. A plan of joint venture originates. But later a passion and lust arises...
Konstanty, a doctor in a mental hospital, discovers that personal details and a case history of one of the inmates are missing. The patient does not communicate nor respond to attempts of reaching him...
Shopping malls - temples of consumption - lure with their shop-windows filled with trendy clothes, expensive jewellery and brand name cosmetics. Milena and her friends - schoolgirls from junior high school - come here willingly...
An attempt to reconstruct the last days of legendary Kedyw (Directorate of Sabotage and Diversion) AK leader, General August Fieldorf "Nil".
Miracle Seller (Handlarz cudów)
A story of friendship between siblings - Urika and Hasim, teenage refugees from Caucasus - and Stefan, former alcoholic who lives in a small town in Eastern Poland...
Piotr, a psychiatrist, is in a relationship with young woman who knows very little about his past. One day Piotr's long unseen son turns up as a patient in the hospital where Piotr works...
Janosik. The True Story (Janosik. Prawdziwa historia)
Janosik served in the insurgent army of Rakoczy and in Austrian armed forces. After returning from war he lands up in the highwaymen gang. He soon becomes famous as a good highwayman who observes the law of honour - anyone robbed cannot be killed. Janosik's success awakes jealousy in Huncaga - greedy and haughty gang member...
Marta, thirty-years old doctor, looses control over her life. Her marriage with a kind-hearted businessman does not stand the test of time. She accidentally meets Artur, a young criminal who falls head over heels in love with her...
Dark and symbolic story of relations between father and son. Feature film debut of Piotr Dumała, one of the most talented animation directors in the world.
The Magic Tree (Magiczne drzewo)
A storm has knocked down a seemingly ordinary huge oak, yet it was a magic tree... Unknowingly the tree was used to make many objects that were sent to shops. From that day on strange things have begun to occur...
City of The Sea (Miasto z morza)
The plot narrates three years: since Spring 1923 until February 1926, when Gdynia was granted city rights. Story about building the port, about life, friendship and love of the people who participated in the building: members of local population as well as authentic persons connected with the nascent city...
The Lesser Evil (Mniejsze zło)
Year 1980. Kamil, a student of Polish philology, publishes his experimental poem in a prestigious periodical. Thrilled by his success he doesn't pay much attention to what is going on around him. Yet around him a Solidarity revolution is happening and reality demands to take sides...
Igor, a professional boxer, sustains severe injuries during the boxing fight. He must terminate his sporting career. Woeful and lonely he seeks consolation in a night life. After some time it occurs to him to leave his mark...
Never Say Never (Nigdy nie mów nigdy)
Ama Bilska is a very successful headhunter working for international corporations. Her life resembles well written business plan. Yet under the mask of unapproachable single woman she hides the need of having a child.
Operation Danube (Operacja Dunaj)
August 1968. The Division of Peoples' Army of Poland under command of Major Grążlowa sets off with a "fraternal help" to Czechoslovakia. A tattered tank Ladybird goes last and gets lost after crossing the border...
A young man loses his job in a night club owned by prominent gangster. When the man demands his back pay, he is severely beaten up and he reports it to the police. The investigation is lead by an officer who is related with mafia...
Freedom Is Within Us. Popiełuszko (Popiełuszko. Wolność jest w nas.)
An epic tale about life and martyr death of priest Jerzy Popiełuszko, the hero of Solidarity murdered by the communist security service.
Year 1952. In the middle of the capital foundations of Palace of Culture are being raised. Sabina has turned thirty and her mother tries to find her a husband. Grandmother rates the candidates yet the girl isn't interested in any of them...
Piggies are teenagers from towns of Polish western border, who prostitute for anything: electronic gadgets, cosmetics, clothes...
Snow White and Russian Red (Wojna polsko-ruska)
Silny doesn't get alone well with Magda. Their love is a constant fight. Silny is full of anger and like a racing car he will go through a couple days of his life with the speed of the lightening, meeting extraordinary women.
All That I Love (Wszystko, co kocham)
Spring 1981. Poland faces wave of strikes. Communist authorities are thinking how to destroy "Solidarity"... In a small seaside town four teenage boys start a rock band.
Big, present day city. 24 hours from the lives of Broad-Shouldered Businessman, Sloppy Fatty, Some Mental, Skinny News-Vendor, Sweaty Cabdriver, Tired Guy, Delicate Blonde, Elegant Female Doctor and others...
Jury
Jury of the Main Competition:
Krzysztof Krauze (the Chairman)
Director and screenwriter
Interior designer, set decorator, production and costume designer
Cinematographer, photographer, short film director
Musician
Director, screenwriter, producer
Actress
Art historian and critic, art exhibitions' curator
Panorama of Polish Cinema
Panorama of Polish Cinema is a unique review of the most interesting releases in Polish cinema from the last 12 months. This year the audience will have an opportunity to watch films made by the most appreciated artists, like Andrzej Wajda or Krzysztof Zanussi.
Films
Decalogue 89 + vol. 1 (Dekalog 89 + vol. 1)
On the 20th anniversary of „Decalogue" series by Krzysztof Kieślowski ten young directors took the challenge of directing films presenting the influence of Ten Commandments on a present-day man.
God's Little Village (U Pana Boga za miedzą)
Sequel of the comedies and "As Snug as a Bug in a Rug" and "God's Little Garden". In Królowy Most elections for the mayor are approaching.
How Much Does the Trojan Horse Weigh? (Ile waży koń trojański?)
New Year's Eve 1999. A 40-year-old Zosia is a happy wife and mother. Her second marriage with Jakub is very successful and her daughter from the first marriage adores her stepfather. Yet Zosia complains about the fate that she hasn't met Jakub 13 years earlier.
It's Not What You Think, Honey (To nie tak jak myślisz, kotku)
A farce. Handsome and wealthy neurosurgeon Filip decides to mix business with pleasure. For a doctors congress at the exclusive seaside hotel he takes along an attractive nurse Dominika. Unfortunately his wife chooses the same hotel for her wild date with a lover.
Kowalskis' Story (Historia Kowalskich)
Autumn 1942. Adam and Bronisława Kowalscy from Ciepielowo hid their Jewish neighbours, even though in Poland during the World War II hiding Jews was punished with death. In 6th of December 1942 at dawn a division of gendarmerie surrounded the house of Kowalscy as well as Obuchiewicz, Kosior and Skoczylas...
A wicked tale about present-day Poland that is heading for the absurd comedy. The protagonists of "Piksels", flesh and blood people, find themselves in unusual situations forcing them to take actions which are surprising even for themselves.
What were the subsequent lots of characters from Krzysztof Zanussis' films from the 70s: "Family Life", "Camouflage" and "Constancy"? What happened to them? Where are they? How did they live during decades that passed from those times?
Director starts shooting a film which tells the story of an ageing woman from a small town, feeling lonely with her workaholic husband, a doctor. Mrs. Marta doesn't know yet that she is terminally ill. For many years she has been grieving the death of her sons who died in the Warsaw Uprising. Her acquaintance with a young man makes Marta feel like a woman again.
It is summertime, nice and warm. Two friends spend a lot of time together walking and talking. One of them meets with the aliens, she can also slow down or speed up the time. She is looking for a job in the City Transport Services, takes care of her grandmother, helps her mother and has a lot of adventures. For uninitiated she is extremely annoying.
The North of Calabria (Na północ od Kalabrii)
The film is an attempt to create a place - a town, where living is easy. Where people know each other, tolerate their faults, meet each other to talk and just be together. Making of this film was a kind of a happening. Actors and outside people moved into a small Silesian town and along with its inhabitants they were organizing a big fest.
Independent Competition
Independent Cinema Competition will have its eighth edition this year. It has become an integral part of the Festival. Since the first edition it has been a great chance for young filmmakers to present themselves to the public. Choosing the best movie in the Independent Competition will be a task for the jury with Janusz Zaorski as its chairman.
Films
Poland in the not-too-distant future. Small, remote town. In the hotel room number 224 a guy with amnesia is waking up. He has a suitcase full of money and a gun with him. One of the notes flies out of the window. It is changing its owners discovering a puzzle of life they are in.
Czarny [Black] comes back to his home village after long absence. He wants to rest from his tiring work and big city life. He left his village a long time ago in dramatic circumstances - after the mysterious suicide of his father.
Young people, Anna Leoniak and Fiann Paul, have come to Iceland to carry out a big photo project. They graduated from architecture. They come from Suwałki in north-eastern Poland. While traveling through Iceland they reached 50 the smallest and the most remote villages and photographed thousands of Icelandic children aged from 3 to 6 years old.
Michał has very few reasons to worry about. He is starting a new life, he is young and handsome. He has just moved in with his girlfriend. He graduates. He quits his boring job. Soon... he will kill a man.
Eleventh Don't Escape (Jedenaste nie uciekaj)
He takes her on a journey. Yet not to see the mountains nor to spend a couple of days alone with her. He has specific plans... In a mountain hut their stay turns into a wandering which is leading them to the crossroads.
On the Paulina's party her grandfather dies. Before he died, he had managed to write a non conventional testament including the party's guest, Michał. The boy is in trouble: because of sex-toy he split up with his girlfriend, moreover he was accused by her of causing the grandfather's death.
Long Live the Funeral!!! (Niech żyje pogrzeb!!!)
A tragicomedy. The film begins with... the death of the heroine. Yet to organize her funeral, two parts of the family - Polish and German - need to contact each other, but none of them speaks the language of the other. Of course this leads to funny and conflict situations and surprising solutions.
Legs Up, Head Down (Nogami w górę, głową w dół(
The film consists of three unrelated stories happening during 60 years. Seemingly Anna, Irena and Robert have nothing in common, yet their fates are connected with the old pensioner of the nursing home, a former gynecologist who is now suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
From Sunrise to Sunset (Od wschodu do zachodu słońca)
The film tells a story of an ambitious film director, who is sent away after the colaudation with producer. He spends some time in the open outdoors where he meets strange characters. He comes into dialog with them, discussing his dreams and frailties.
Weronika is a young and beautiful married woman. Marek is her mysterious neighbour, who is peeping at her. Their meeting is a beginning of a dark intrigue.
Oli and Bal are friends for good and for worse, but mostly for worse because their life situation is not to be envied.
Paweł is having a mid-life crisis. He feels more and more tired of his life. His family is falling apart. He tries to prevent it by taking wife and her daughter for a vacation in Croatia.
Continuation of Marcin STiUDENT's adventures. After expelling from the university Marcin has to go to the Military Recruitment Headquarters.
Albert's Mystery (Tajemnica Alberta)
Three friends are planning a robbery. What are they going to rob? They don't know exactly, yet it is not the most important thing.
A novel project of an artistic group "Defekt Masy". Four directors, four etudes, one motto: "The Street".
Since Wacek saw Magda he hasn't been able to write any horrors. The sight of the girl living vis-a-vis causes every of his thrillers is like a bed-time story. Is Wacek able to conquer Magda's heart in the world without chainsaws and sharp scalpels?
Deadly Recording (Zabójcze nagranie)
An independent film director gets into financial trouble while trying to finish his new film. To repair his budget he takes a part time job in a pharmaceutical company, where accidentally he gets involved in a murder...
Jury
Director, producer, screenwriter
Independent film director, actor, screenwriter, improviser, performer
Editor, publisher, cultural studies scholar
Actor
Actress
Young Cinema Competition
The Young Cinema Competition is a competition of short films and film schools' diploma movies. This year for the third time film schools put up their students and graduates as candidates. Choosing the best movie in the Young Cinema Competition will be a task for the jury with Janusz Zaorski as its chairman.
Films
Dark Room Shouldn't Be Afraid Of (Ciemnego pokoju nie trzeba się bać)
A tale about all-embracing love of an 11-years-old girl for his father. Preparing a song for the school ceremony of the Father's Day the girl is carefully watching her father. She wants to describe her feelings as precisely as it's possible and slowly she's staring to discover his secrets...
What the Doctors Say (Co mówią lekarze)
"18 years old, healthy, no addictions" - says doctor Ewa Glik before getting down to announce the brain death of the girl, who several hour earlier had an accident. A perfect organs' donor.
On Christmas Eve a young boy Darek decides to visit his father who now has a new family.
Decalogue 89+ the seventh: Street Feeling (Dekalog 89+ siódme: Street Feeling)
A present-day story referring to the 7th Commandment "You shall not steal". Two young graffiti artists are stealing paints from a supermarket. They paint on the wall, under the window of Tomasz, a 45 years old graphic designer.
The film is made in a classical documentary style referring to the tradition of Polish documentary film.
The Day After Tomorrow (Dzień po jutrze)
A lecturer traveling alone, cynical and bitter, meets a female hitch-hiker on his way. A journey with the stranger makes him to dwell upon his life.
Two teenagers murdered their friend. Accompanied by a police psychologist, they recreate past events step by step. Gradually they begin to realize the horror and the consequences of what they did...
On July 1995 in a small health-resort town of Srebrenica on the southern border of Bosnia and Herzegovina the biggest genocide in Europe since the World War 2 took place. "The Grave Diggers" is the author's reflection upon the darkest chapter in the history of former Yugoslavia.
Hanoi - Warsaw (Hanoi - Warszawa)
A young Vietnamese girl comes to Poland through the green border. She has to get to Warsaw where her fiancé and a better life are waiting for her...
A Story of a Missing Car (Historia o braku samochodu)
At first it's loud. Then it's really quiet. A film about a strange family.
Dead Man's Coughing (Kaszel umarlaka)
Is it likely that in a godforsaken small town you can still meet a witch? Does a pig bring good luck and can deliver a man from diseases?
A man is leading his ordinary life filled with predictable, routine actions. One day, on his way to work something happens that might change his life forever...
A businessman, bored with his wife and work, finds at the hotel room, an unusual lost object belonging to the previous guest. A conference like any others is turning into the last one.
A fifty years old man visits his mother who lives alone. Soon she realizes that this is not just an ordinary son's visit. Yet the protagonist isn't able to tell her the true reasons of his arrival. A film about how difficult is to be sincere in relations with the ones we love.
A documentary portrait of Ryszard Czubak, a transvestite who is well known in the artistic society of Warsaw. He is the man of a strong character allowing him to remain himself and not to give up his own truth in the world branding him as a pervert and a freak.
Rafał doesn't accept breaking up his relationship with overworked Kama. One day in Rafał's haidresser's saloon Majka appears who will turn his world upside down.
Significant Others (Małżonkowie)
A young woman, lost in her dysfunctional dreams, fights with an inflatable alligator and her own husband.
30-year-olds Piotr and Alina are trying to realize their life plans in a big city. Alina earns money in a casino to be able to work as a film director. Piotr is organizing help for Belarusian opposition in a small, alternative radio station.
A journey to „Houston" near Kraków turns out to be the return to the past for Jakub Meus. The memory of the most painful causes fear but also - unexpectedly - a feeling of relief and hope.
A contemporary version of a medieval legend about a couple of lovers who couldn't meet because they were cursed.
A nostalgic and comical story with a touch of absurd humor, inspired by the writings of Piotr Kofta. Stefan, a 30-year old, gives up his academic career and gets a job as a delivery man at a 24/7 pizza restaurant.
The Brand New Pole (Polska nowela filmowa)
To the parents of teenage twin girls unexpectedly a son is born. Impressed by the miracle of this birth the parents want to give him a name of a special, religious meaning. In the family of such morals the twins are entering adulthood and discover their womanhood.
A history of a certain washing machine, which is a nightmare for an untypical graduate from a huge housing estate. Father, subjected to mother-teacher, lives in his Solidarity past.
Asia, a young Polish girl from Byelorussia, comes to Poland to live with her boyfriend, Piotr. When she discovers that Piotr's new girlfriend is living in his apartment, she becomes homeless.
Masuria off season. Father and son on a sailing boat. A short film about love.
Three teenagers set off on a journey to experience freedom. An unexpected event turns their dream holidays into a distress. An investigation led by lonely and frustrated policeman ceases to be formal. It turns into an obsessive search for a mystery, which is apparently carried by each of characters.
This time Richard is not in the Christmas shopping fever. He leaves for Vienna. It will be the exceptional journey. The trip ends as soon as the New Year surprise comes.
All Anna's Little Lies (Wszystkie małe kłamstwa Anny)
A 36 years old Anna is going through a crisis in her well organized and, as she thinks - two-faced life. One evening she drinks too much wine, tries to commit suicide and lands up at the detoxication ward. There she meets Ada, an unloved friend from childhood. This meeting changes the lives of both women.
A 20-year-old from a small town comes to Łódź. For the first time he is so far away from home. With a flower and a mysterious package he sets off searching for his girlfriend, who recently started photographic studies at film school and suddenly stopped contacting him. His searching is interrupted by hoodlums and students of acting department.
A story of a 19-year-old who gets beaten up on the street by skinheads and fights for his life in the hospital. The film is based of a true story from author's own life.
Jury
Director, producer, screenwriter
Independent film director, actor, screenwriter, improviser, performer
Editor, publisher, cultural studies scholar
Actor
Actress
