Set in the 19th century Warsaw. The indolence of aristocrats who, secure with their pensions, are too lazy to undertake new business risks, frustrates Wokulski. His ability to make money is respected but his lack of family and social rank is condescended to. Because of his "help" (in secret) to...
The life of the great Bolshevik leader before the Russian revolution is chronicled in this bio-pic. Much of the tale centers on his exile in Poland where Lenin becomes friends with two peasants. The little girl has a strong belief in the nationalist cause. Later Lenin hears she was killed for...
Stach is a wayward teen living in squalor on the outskirts of Nazi-occupied Warsaw. Guided by an avuncular Communist organizer, he is introduced to the underground resistance—and to the beautiful Dorota. Soon he is engaged in dangerous efforts to fight oppression and indignity, maturing as he...
A family saga of Barbara Ostrzeńska-Niechcic and Bogumił Niechcic against the backdrop of the January Uprising of 1863 and World War I. The film is a rather straightforward and faithful adaptation of a novel by Maria Dabrowska with the same title. The plot is woven around the changing fortunes of...
Nikodem Dyzma is a poor dancer who comes to Warsaw to find a job. The problem is that nobody wants to hire him. One day he finds an invitation to the party with very important people and decides to attend. A small accident at the party makes him the hero of the night and becomes the beginning of...
In a bucolic Polish hamlet, the tense relationship between a father and son reaches a boiling point when the men lose their hearts to the same woman and vie for her affections. Based on Wladyslaw Reymont's Nobel Prize-winning book and helmed by Jan Rybkowski, this theatrical release (starring...
The miners of one of the mines in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie receive news about the planned layoffs. The miners decide to organize a strike. One of the local MPs is trying to prevent this from happening. The French mine owner makes a dangerous decision - he orders the miners to work in an area at risk...
All the ambiance of an old-fashioned circus comes across with great clarity in this otherwise routine psychological tale about a mean-spirited mime and his effects on his colleagues. The small, traveling circus has been sliding downhill for awhile, and unless some new life is infused into its acts,...
Freed Polish soldiers are trapped in a small town in Germany during the last days of World War II. After a doctor's daughter is raped by a concentration camp worker, the Poles allow her and her father to stay in the house that is their temporary quarters. While waiting to be repatriated, the...
Two fairies, Terencja and Felicja are in posession of the Lucky Rain Boots, which they intend to give to the most deserving person in the city of Kraków. However, they consistently fall into the wrong hands, creating a multitude of absurd and comedic situations.
A ruminative, understated drama on the nature of overwork versus an "unachieving" life away from the city, Pelnia examines the experience of one man. After leaving his high-pressured existence as a successful architect, the newly resolved dropout goes to live in a small community of cabins and...
Jan Winkler borrows 1,000 zł from a respected professor in exchange for introducing young women to dubious “scientific” experiments. He uses the money to buy a nightclub and falls for prosecutor Alicja Horn.
It was autumn 1939, shortly after the attack on Poland by the German army. The military component of the Slovak State are allies of the Nazis, and with them came on Polish territory. They're alongside the mighty army of Hitler's occupation force. In the decimated Polish town the Commander of the...
Bielecki (Gregori Chmara) becomes determined to become a famous writer, but the means he employs in achieving his goal are far from ethical. Bielecki discourages his friend Jerzy Gorski (Artur Socha) by telling him his new work is rather poor, driving him into despair. But Bielecki is such a good...
Three stories about life problems, each rooted in contemporary reality through newspaper reports and a “Polityka” magazine survey, crafted by documentarians Jerzy Hoffman and Edward Skórzewski.