Heroic women
38 films
Agatha's Happiness (Szczęście Agaty)
dir. Krzysztof Rogulski
dok2024
Can disability set limits to happiness? Agata Roczniak – Poland’s first model in a wheelchair, an excellent swimmer, president of the Diversum Foundation, a wife and mother – proves that it cannot. An inspiring story about how living with an illness is more than just a fight against adversity.
Read more
Aicha
dir. Sanaa El Alaoui
fab2025
Three ceremonies dedicated to the bond between mother and daughter. The first - intimate, in the bathroom at home. The second - loud, musical, ritualised. The third - silent, full of sadness. Do you know what the secret of life is? To experience the past, the present and the future as if they were the same moment.
Read moreAmelia Starlight
dir. Laura Thomassaint
fab2024
Adored by the media and the public, French star Amélia Starlight (Emmanuelle Béart) is terminally ill. She withdrew from public life a long time ago, but one day a journalist running a popular talk show receives an electrifying message from her – Amélia wants to appear on television for the last time.
Read moreAny Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story
dir. Michael Mabbott, Lucah Rosenberg-Lee
dok2024
‘I was born but I never lived,’ says an African American R&B singer, who went into exile from the US to Canada in the late 1950s because of transphobia and racism. Using phone calls made just before Jackie Shane’s death, the filmmakers tell the story of her life in hiding and her coming out.
Read moreAwards:Golden Heynal
Aria di Bravura
dir. Małgorzata Goliszewska
dok
A candid and personal tale about the world of people who stutter. The film follows the story of an extraordinary therapist, Grażyna Malczyk, who believes she has discovered a new method of helping people to overcome stuttering.
Read moreAs Long As They Don't Find Us (Żeby tylko nas nie znaleźli)
dir. Maja Górczak
dok2025
A film tribute to one of the first women to study directing at the Łódź Film School, Stefania Świeca. She left behind only one film – a poignant film study in which she tried to tackle the trauma of the Holocaust. What happened with her later on?
Read moreAzza
dir. Stefanie Brockhaus
dok2025
The eponymous character is a driving instructor in a country where, until recently, women were not allowed to drive. At the same time, she is a victim of another Saudi law – after the divorce, it was her husband who took custody of their children. Azza decides to fend for herself and embarks on a journey into the desert.
Read moreA Frown Gone Mad (Fitnat Fi Alhajibayn)
dir. Omar Mismar
dok2024
The closer the war, the busier the business – these are the observations of the head of a Beirut beauty salon specialising in facial injections. The film, without any anaesthesia and operating mainly with close-ups, shows aesthetic medicine procedures which are performed in spite of exploding bombs.
Read moreBecoming a Film Director (Cheng Wei Dao Yan Zhi Qian)
dir. Rongfei Guo
dok2025
A story of two women for whom directing is more than art. The documentary follows their journey from an idea for a film to its making, asking questions about the meaning of creation and showing the difficulties of combining artistic activity with everyday struggles faced by the women.
Read moreBeyond Eden
dir. Al Johnstone
dok2025
In the 1970s, following the wave of radical social changes, a group of American lesbians decided to create a world without men, settling far away from big metropolises. After 50 years, some of them return to see what has remained of the place that was to become their new Eden.
Read moreCasting
dir. Rafał Łysak
dok2024
‘I’m looking for a person who wants a film to be made about them,’ – said the casting notice for a documentary. Director Rafał Łysak explores the motivation of people who want their stories to be filmed. What is the reason for their desire to appear in front of the camera?
Read moreFatmé
dir. Diala Al Hindaoui
dok2023
Fatmé, an 11-year-old from Lebanon, lives with her family in a tent by a village road. Her appearance and prowess arouse curiosity and questions about who she really is. When her mother wonders if she is a girl or boy, Fatmé replies with a smile, ‘I want to be the strongest!’. 12+
Read moreFear (Strach)
dir. Robert Zawadzki
fab2025
Jola lives in Podlasie, close to the border with Belarus. Her son Marek works in the Border Guard combing the forests in search of immigrants illegally crossing the border. Jola is a taxi driver and wants to stay out of it, but one day, when her car breaks down, she is forced to confront her own convictions.
Read moreFull Support (Tmicha Melea)
dir. Michal Cohen
dok2024
This place offers more than just a bra fitting. Customers who come to the Jaffa shop are young and old, Jewish and Arab, post-mastectomy and post-plastic surgery, cis and trans. For a moment, the bra fitter becomes their friend and confidante.
Read moreHeartbeat
dir. Jay Rosenblatt, Stephanie Rapp
dok2025
Jay Rosenblatt, a master of avant-garde cinema with two Oscar nominations, once again turns the camera on himself. The footage shot 25 years ago is a raw record of a couple’s dialogue as they experience the crisis of upcoming parenthood.
Read moreHousewife of the Year
dir. Ciaran Cassidy
dok2024
A warm dinner on the table, a tidy house, children who have been looked after and a content husband. Behind this ideal, traditional image of the Irish household, there were sometimes exhausted and lonely women. The national competition for the ‘Housewife of the Year’, a television show that was broadcast between 1969 and 1995, offered them an opportunity to get out of the house.
Read moreHunting (Qui part à la chasse)
dir. Lea Favre
anim2024
A young girl goes on a hunt - not for animals but for a perfect documentary shot. She learns how to be alert, invisible, ready to capture that one special moment, such as a romantic kiss, a unique gesture or a glint in the eye. Just when Lea thinks she has got her frame, she becomes a victim herself.
Read moreAwards:Silver Dragon / Special Award
It’s All Because of Her (To wszystko przez nią)
dir. Daria Kopiec
fab2025
Maria raises her introverted son alone. Kostek ignores her attempts at contact and their relationship seems frozen. Resorting to mystification and lies, Maria finds a way to reach him, but it will cost her dearly. 18+
Read moreAwards:Wyróżnienia
Last Song from Kabul
dir. Kevin Macdonald, Ruhi Hamid
dok2023
A gripping story about talented, orphaned girls from Afghanistan, whose music school was closed down by the Taliban. Forced to flee the country, they find refuge in Portugal, where they try to rebuild their lives and reinvent themselves in music. 12+
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 moreMama Micra
dir. Rebecca Blöcher
dok2024
Before she got married, the director’s mother had lived an unconventional life on the road. After returning to Germany and starting a family, she set off again. For 10 years she lived in her car, which meant she hardly ever saw her daughter. Freedom was everything to her, but it came at a high price.
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 moreNice Girls Don't Ask
dir. Jan Krawitz
dok2025
The 1950s in America were the time when schools were flooded with educational films aiming to shape exemplary female behaviour. This story, composed of excerpts from such films, is not only a look at the past ideals of femininity but also a bitter reflection on their contemporary echoes.
Read moreNotes from Sheepland
dir. Cara Holmes
dok2023
The film’s protagonist combines, with some difficulty, her artistic career with sheep farming she took up when she inherited the family farm. She is a committed breeder that proudly wears lipstick but juxtaposes it with the work overalls in which she takes her animals to graze in the field. She eludes the gender stereotypes that have been attributed to Irish women over the years.
Read morePeople & Things (Ludzie i rzeczy)
dir. Damian Kosowski
fab2024
Ukraine, 2028. The war is over and difficult issues need to be sorted out. Olena, with her daughter Kira and new partner Timur, arrives to collect the results of the DNA test confirming the death of her husband who went missing. During the procedure, the woman is overwhelmed by doubts.
Read moreAwards:Special Mention
Pray for Our Sinners
dir. Sinead O'Shead
dok
Sinead O’Shea, an Irish film director and journalist, returns to her hometown, Navan, to expose the abuse that took place in Catholic institutions there. In her confrontational documentary, she talks to people who experienced bullying and cruelty from teachers and nuns in the 1960s and 1970s.
Read moreReenactment (Rekonstrukcja)
dir. Marcin Strauchold
fab2025
Anka ends up at a historical re-enactment camp because of her boyfriend. She tries to find her own place in the community, however, it turns out that historical prejudice against women is surprisingly valid. The participants with dedication perform roles from the past, but at the same time, there is a contemporary social game going on between them.
Read moreShadowland
dir. Otso Tiainen
dok2024
This was supposed to be a documentary about an esoteric community living today in the French Pyrenees. While it was being filmed, serious accusations were made against one of the sect’s members, Hollywood director Richard Stanley. Consequently, the documentary seems stretched between a utopian fantasy and a brutal clash with reality.
Read moreStill Moving
dir. Rui Ting-JI
anim2025
A moving animation about a mother and daughter who travel in a removal van and try to make a fresh start after the divorce. However, the journey becomes more and more difficult: the rain becomes more intense, the windscreen wipers stop working, the windows steam up and the tension rises, not just on the road but also between the protagonists.
Read moreTata
dir. Lina Vdovîi, Radu Ciorniciuc
dok2024
In this film, the global problem of invisible slavery meets a family story of violence. When a Moldovan journalist learns that her father, who works in Italy, is being abused and beaten by his employer, she arrives on the scene and tries to record the abuse using a hidden camera.
Read moreAwards:Silver Horn
The 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 Pool or Death of a Goldfish (Basen albo śmierć złotej rybki)
dir. Daria Kopiec
anim2025
A metaphorical animation about growing up and the right to have one’s own opinion. The protagonist is like a goldfish – she fulfils her parents’ wishes and does not express her own needs. However, accumulated emotions begin to overwhelm her like water in a swimming pool. Should she drown in her own tears and unexpressed feelings or fight for freedom?
Read moreAwards:Golden Hobby-Horse
The Queen and the Smokehouse (Bałtyk)
dir. Iga Lis
dok2025
Miecia is called the Queen of Łeba. She runs an iconic fish smokehouse, which is more than just a business for her. Influenced by her family and co-workers, she will have to take care of herself, too. This warm portrayal of a woman bursting with energy does not shy away from bitter undertones, and its backdrop is made of Baltic folklore.
Read moreThe True Story of Tamara de Lempicka & The Art of Survival
dir. Julie Rubio
dok2024
Today, her paintings are experiencing a worldwide renaissance and remain an inspiration for artists in various fields. And the biography of the Warsaw-born artist is not less fascinating than the paintings themselves. The film pays tribute to Lempicka, who courageously crossed the boundaries set for women in art.
Read moreWassupkaylee
dir. Pepi Ginsberg
fab2025
First content, then lunch. Kaylee, a teenage prankster, ends up in a house of influencers, where the only things that matter are likes and advertising contracts. She finds it hard to fit in with a group of TikTokers, but unexpectedly, a chance for friendship presents itself. How far will Kaylee go to create the viral content she craves?
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 moreZlata
dir. Mattias Bavré
dok2023
Zlata is 12 years old. After Russia’s full-scale invasion on Ukraine, she flees with her family to Belgium. She finds it difficult to find herself in a new place, which is made worse by her intense longing for her father, who stayed behind to fight. This simple, moving film about growing up is a reminder that adult conflicts also affect younger people. 12+
Read more
