Animals and people
19 films
Bloodline
dir. Wojciech Węglarz
dok2024
The story of a bison, separated from its herd by the wall on the Polish-Belarusian border, which unintentionally becomes a witness to the dramatic events taking place on both sides. The drama of the animal symbolically resonates with the drama of the people separated from their loved ones.
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Awards:Golden Hobby-Horse
Dance with Me, Dad (Zatańcz ze mną, tato)
dir. Małgorzata Goździk
dok2025
An adult daughter tries to get closer to her emotionally unavailable father. Their relationship reflects a broader conflict between two generations – the older one, unable to speak honestly about their feelings, and the younger one, which needs open dialogue.
Read moreAwards:Special Mention
Inga
dir. Krzysztof Kopczyński
dok2025
On Inga’s fifth birthday, 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. Almost 6 million people left the country, including 2 million children. Together with her blind parents, five cats and a dog, Inga moved to Dedala Street in Warsaw. In the shadow of the conflict, experiencing the pain of losing her home, the girl becomes the family’s guide to their new reality.
Read moreJUMP! (Mój Konik)
dir. Michał Cysewski
dok2024
Magda’s passion is horse riding but due to high costs, she has to give up her lessons. She finds a new hobby – hobby horsing, an unusual sport that involves imitating horse riding. Behind this seemingly childish game lies serious competition and real emotions.
Read moreLife and Other Problems (Livet og andre problemer)
dir. Max Kestner
dok2024
In 2014, the Copenhagen Zoo authorities decided that a giraffe named Marius should be euthanised. The decision provoked an avalanche of global public reaction. With reference to this story, Max Kestner questions popular beliefs about the essence of life, consciousness, and the alleged uniqueness of the human species.
Read moreLiving Stones (Élő Kövek)
dir. Jakob Ladányi Jancsó
fab2025
A young woman is staying at a rehabilitation centre and delving deeper and deeper into the darkest parts of her past. Under the supervision of a therapist, she slowly uncovers layers of trauma. Trust and intimacy are an essential but very fragile part of this process.
Read moreMonk in Pieces
dir. Billy Shebar, David C Roberts
dok
She is an absolute artist whose vocal and performance work has never lent itself to easy classification. Meredith Monk’s music is said to come from another planet. The film is a collage of her extraordinary activities and personal reflections when confronted with the past and the inevitable passing of time.
Read moreMother's House (Dom matki)
dir. Changsoo Kim
anim2024
Young-soo leaves his mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s, at a nursing home. On the way back, the man hits a strange pair of sheep with his car – a son and a mother, who look like people. As he tries to help the female sheep, he begins to understand what he has really lost. Will it be too late to make amends?
Read morePeace to This House (Pokój temu domowi)
dir. Kinga Kociarz
anim2024
Cottage cheese, which drips rhythmically, the Virgin Mary in the background, clucking hens in cages, chicken skinning – all this creates the unsettling atmosphere of a house where repetitive, cyclical activities play the lead role. The realistic photographs of the characters contrast with the dreamlike aura of the film, and the perverse ending seems to pose the question of whether it is possible to move out of this house.
Read morePet Farm
dir. Finn Walther, Martin Walther
dok2024
Should domestication of wild animals be allowed? Joakim has loved foxes since childhood and, many years later, he fulfilled his dream by setting up a breeding farm. However, he has to face the regulations in force in Norway.
Read moreQaher
dir. Nada Khalifa
fab2025
‘Where is better? Here or there?’, are asking the people Jason meets when after many years he goes back to Palestine as a Canadian citizen. He tries to get to his native village, but the last mile will turn out to be most difficult part of the journey. It will make the protagonist aware of the power of eponymous quaher.
Read moreTaking Up Serpents
dir. Matthias Lawetzky
dok2025
Members of some evangelical communities in Virginia perform a peculiar ritual involving venomous snakes. They believe that this is how they can defeat Satan. A film for people with strong nerves and guts.
Read moreThe Granny & Fishes (Poorzal)
dir. Maria Mavati, Ehsan Farokhi Fard, Ehsan Farokhifard
dok2024
An elderly woman lives in a desolate area ravaged by droughts near Lake Hamun in Iran. She is the only inhabitant of one of the villages evacuated due to the lack of water. Every day, she walks on the sun-cracked ground, collects dried fish and waits for life to return to the area.
Read moreThe Passion of Agnieszka (Pasja według Agnieszki)
dir. Wojciech Staroń
dok2025
A record of the most recent collaboration between legendary film editors, Agnieszka Bojanowska and Bogdan Dziworski – a duo that created some of the most important films in the history of Polish documentary cinema. Wojciech Staroń’s camera captures the behind-the-scenes of their difficult but extremely creative relationship.
Read moreAwards:Golden Hobby-Horse
The Thief (Anngeerdardardor)
dir. Christoffer Rizvanovic Stenbakken
fab2025
Kaali notices that his beloved dog has disappeared and he is determined to find her. Has someone stolen or kidnapped her? A small town on the east coast of Greenland is an unremarkable setting for an odyssey - but it is here, while looking for his pet, that Kaali finds himself.
Read moreThe Town That Drove Away (Miasto, które wyjechało)
dir. Natalia Pietsch, Grzegorz Piekarski
dok2025
The Turkish town of Hasankeyf lies on the Tigris River and has an ancient history. The construction of a huge dam, which began in 2006, has led to its submersion and the displacement of thousands of people. Following the two protagonists, we watch the destruction of the city and the accompanying socioeconomic transformation process.
Read moreThe Whale Song (Pieśń wieloryba)
dir. Michał Hytroś
dok2025
The film is an impressionistic portrait of Krzysztof Globisz, a famous Polish actor. His post-stroke speech recovery becomes self-therapy and a creative process at the same time. Through his ‘whale haiku’, the protagonist communicates anew with his surroundings, while the viewers are provided with an opportunity to immerse themselves in his inner world.
Read moreWhose Woods Are These
dir. Kate Nartker
anim2024
Stepping barefoot on the grass, picking berries and, as dusk approaches, listening to the hooting of an owl and the steps of a wolf – the viewer gets to know a woman who went into the forest but never came back from it. Inspired by the true story of a missing great-grandmother, the film is a poetic tale based on scraps of memory, complemented by imagination.
Read moreZima
dir. Tomek Popakul, Kasumi Ozeki
anim2023
A cat lover, Jesus leaving the cross and Christmas carollers holding pitchforks in a snowy and icy scenery. ‘Zima’, a psychedelic journey to a small fishing village, collects as if in a lens the behaviour, customs and vices of the Polish provinces. A horror-like animation in the convention of magic realism.
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