Kijora Film

Poland, 1982, the politically heated days of communist martial law. Two coal miner brothers react differently to the oppressive police state. While Tadek prefers to retreat into neutrality, Janek chooses active engagement in the democratic underground. When Janek asks Tadek to store some anti-government leaflets on the second anniversary of Solidarity's 1980 strikes, he triggers a spiral of events that will have everyone's allegiances and characters severely tested.

Through the window, Dawid watches a new neighbour move into a house next door. The girl is more or less his age. She's wearing a strange skirt. Later on, Dawid finds out it's a Hawaiian hula skirt and the girl's name is Monika. Most probably, he also learns why Monika's grandma has gone away to Hawaii.

Beata Parkanová, the filmmaker behind Moments, returns to Karlovy Vary with an exceptionally vivid portrait of the family of notary Václav Vojíř, a small-town moral authority, and his selfless wife Věra. This masterfully told and highly original intimate drama, whose protagonists undergo a difficult ordeal in the summer of 1968, is reinforced by finely wrought, exquisite performances from Martin Finger and Gabriela Mikulková.

A seemingly normal afternoon in the city gets disrupted as passers-by are temporarily unhinged from their daily business. A man lying on the pavement becomes a problem not only for the local tenants but also medical services and the police.

The film is based on real events – in 2005 Viktor Kalivoda murdered 3 random strollers he chanced upon in the forests in Czechia. The case received much attention for its lack of motive. After his arrest, Kalivoda confessed, but did not reveal his motive. The film will closely observe one year in his life leading up to the murders and his arrest.

The story of what daily life was like in Poland under communism: private conversations, cruel interrogations, recruitment attempts, recorded and filmed with hidden devices; of how the secret services spied on every activity of ordinary citizens: nothing escaped the brutal system of control developed by the Soviets in the name of freedom.

A middle-class Polish make a trip across the Balkans, heading for a refugee camp on the Macedonian-Greek border.

Three separate stories – a mother, her teenage daughter, and a police officer – converge thanks to one event: the titular incident, wherein a dog is injured.

Poland, 1970. When popular protests erupt in the streets due to rising prices, the communist government organizes a crisis team. Soon after, the police use their truncheons and then their firearms. The story of a rebellion from the point of view of the oppressors.

A follow up to the 2009 sketch comedy referencing urban legends from the Ceausescu regime, the film is expected to expand to accommodate stories from different ex-communist Eastern European countries, including Poland.

Leopold Trepper, a former Red Army officer and hero of the anti-Nazi resistance, faces a Kafkaesque struggle in 1970s Poland as the demons of anti-Semitism resurface. Stripped of his job and under constant surveillance, Trepper leaves with no hope of return.

Bombed-out streets, destroyed Russian tanks, evening meals in an Underground repurposed into a shelter. Image by image, the directors push beyond easily reproducible images of war to enter the reality the country has experienced since February 24, 2022.

Empty shelves, trading cards and chickens sold in a shoe store. This is Polish everyday life from over four decades ago. Although the starting point is the moment of introduction of martial law, thanks to selected recordings we go back in time by 16 months and 12 days in order to better understand the mood at that time and the complexity of the processes that led to the decision of December 13, 1981.

An unusual couple, Leszek and Mikolaj, move into a stud farm that one of them inherited form his father. When Mikolaj discovers that someone has destroyed their wooden fence, he becomes obsessed with fixing it. Yet, can the fence really protect this relationship from a hostile environment?

“I'm waiting for mom and dad. The calendar ends today. Many of us will die, but not like Grandpa did two years ago, only worse.” This is the morning report of ten-year-old Daga. The girl is prepared for any threat. Unlike her parents…

A beautifully illustrated story of a contemporary village and its unconventional dwellers who are of different age but have one thing in common – their strong attachment to folk culture. In this film, music is as important as images, since it accompanies the protagonists during key events in their lives.

There is a classical music festival going on. The camera takes a look at the backstage, captures the last rehearsals, follows the work of the technical crew, costume preparations and the banter between the signer and the pianist. Backstage, fans are collecting autographs and take photographs with artists. This is the festival microcosm as seen from all possible perspectives. The stage seems to be somewhere far away as the process of music creation and the commotion that accompanies it is more important.

Simone, Francesca and Olivia are three young people from Bologna who are members of the Communist Renewal Party. Full of life, they take part in demonstrations and party meetings and believe that they can change the current world, dominated by ruthless capitalism and pressure for performance, for the better. At least until the moment when it turns out that it is almost impossible to change the minds of the older party members and the unsuccessful attempts to win new supporters intersect with the difficulties in their personal lives. Comrades is an empathetic time-lapse portrait that shows how the current young generation is losing its illusions, and how difficult it is to keep faith in what we believe makes sense.

A portrait of Roman Stanczak, legendary performer and sculptor of the 90s and source of inspiration for the alumni of the famed Kowalnia studio of Warsaw's Academy of Fine Arts.