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© 2026 The Couch Critic
Browse 97 movies from Mazowiecki Instytut Kultury
Mismatched cousins David and Benji reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the pair's old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history.
Nov 2024
City of Warsaw, Poland, August 1st, 1944. Citizens have experienced inhuman acts of terror and violence during five long years of Nazi occupation. As the Soviet Army relentlessly approaches, the youngest and bravest among them rise up as one and face tyranny fighting street by street, but the price to pay will be high and hard the way to freedom…
Sep 2014
A seemingly ordinary girl finds her way into the eponymous Academy to explore the world of fairy tales, imagination and creativity. With the help of a crazy, talented teacher, she develops her unique abilities and also stumbles upon a clue that will help her unravel the biggest secret of the family...
Jan 2024
Peasant girl Jagna is forced to marry the much older, wealthy farmer Boryna, despite her love for his son Antek. With time, Jagna becomes the object of envy and disdain with the villagers and she must fight to preserve her independence.
Oct 2023
A man and a woman meet in the ruins of post-war Poland. With vastly different backgrounds and temperaments, they are fatally mismatched and yet drawn to each other.
Jun 2018
The history of the Warsaw Ghetto (1940-43) as seen from both sides of the wall, its legacy and its memory: new light on a tragic era of division, destruction and mass murder thanks to the testimony of survivors and the discovery of a ten-minute film shot by Polish amateur filmmaker Alfons Ziółkowski in 1941.
May 2019
This film is a double portrait, or rather a triple one, as the extraordinary story of Franciszka and Stefan Themerson is told by the painter’s niece.
May 2026
After his teenage son goes missing, Daniel scours the depths of the Vistula River, torn between the dread of a fatal leap and the hope that his son may still be alive.
Jan 2026
The world’s most talented young pianists compete in the International Chopin Piano Competition, held every five years in Warsaw, Poland. A rare behind the scenes look at the triumphant highs and crushing lows of competition, Pianoforte is both a testament to the remarkable power of music and an intimate coming-of-age portrait.
Dec 2023
A story of a man with a very dense eyes who sees all the surrounding reality only after seven years. The consequence of the eye defect translates into the mental immaturity of the man, lack of understanding of the present and belated reflections on long-gone facts. The man is never mature enough for his age and constantly lingers on the past.
Sep 2022
When the world around him is mysteriously erased, a little green dinosaur named Diplodocus must travel through the pages of a comic book and adventure through time to bring color back to his land. Alongside a wizard and two scientists, Diplo’s plans go awry as he learns that there may be a dimension to his world that he never considered.
Oct 2024
A group of teenage altar boys, frustrated by the indifferent attitude of adults and the Church towards social injustices, decides to implement their own unconventional plan for moral renewal of their neighbourhood. Armed with youthful rebellion and their personal interpretation of the Bible, they set up a wiretap… in the confessional.
Nov 2025
At the age of five, Chris, a young village boy meets his mother, Czesława, who is at the cusp of conquering entertainment industry by adopting a new persona - Violetta Villas. An unbelievably talented, ambitious mother and a sensitive child go on a decades long journey through Warsaw, Paris and Las Vegas.
Nov 2026
When Gośka meets Grzesiek online, she's sure he's her Mr. Right. Grzesiek is crazy about her, showers her with flowers, and proposes in Venice, but soon enough, the picture perfect romance starts to crumble, revealing a darker side.
At 82 years old, Lula is every inch the rebel. An openly gay man in communist Poland, he organized underground parties and after-curfew salons of men inside private apartments. He enthusiastically took up drag, despite a fiercely homophobic culture, to free himself from the stifling correctness of the 80s. But now, he's an old, single man in a youth-obsessed world. His friend was crushed by depression and killed himself, but somehow Lula, now Poland's oldest drag queen, remains buoyant. Is he escaping loneliness with his constant clubbing, looking for love yet again to insulate himself against what he knows is coming? Lula isn't waiting for approval. Filmmaker Bogna Kowalczyk's energetic portrait pairs with her subject's kinetic drive, right down to the stellar soundtrack and nimble camerawork. Whether it's meeting fans at Pride or selecting an artist to sculpt his specialty crematorium urn, try to keep up with a man who knows life is to be lived out loud.
Jun 2023
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.
Oct 2025
A young jockey Krzysiek dreams of competing in a prestigious race - the Great Warsaw Race. He enters the world of horse racing with the naivety of an enthusiastic newcomer. He quickly realizes though that the racetrack is a web of dependencies, powerful interests, and manipulated results. Krzysiek hopes he can change it. But in a world of corruption and dirty deals it's hard to remain unblemished.
Inspired by a political protest movement, the Teatr 21 – a theatre company of acting enthusiasts with Down’s syndrome – develops a play in which the participants articulate their wishes and demands and at the same time get to abandon themselves with great joy to creative development. Martyna Peszko attentively follows the creation process as it unfolds in a productively bustling rehearsal atmosphere, with musical accents provided by the improvisations of a free jazz trio.
Oct 2022
Warsaw, Poland. Kamil, a street rapper who spends his time going from party to party, begins a love affair with Iwona, a wealthy married woman.
Mar 2022