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© 2026 The Couch Critic
Browse 98 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
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
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 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
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
Composed from the conversations that the director holds with people passing by in the street under his Warsaw apartment, each story in 'The Balcony Movie' is unique and deals with the way we try to cope with life as individuals. All together, they create a self-portrait of contemporary human life, and the passers-by present a composite picture of today's world.
Aug 2021
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.
Sep 2026
Kasia earns her living by breaking into other people's homes. One day on the job she finds a dead body of a man and decides to move into his apartment and find out who he was.
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
In the treacherous and swampy forests that make up the so called “green border” between Belarus and Poland, refugees from the Middle East and Africa trying to reach the European Union are trapped in a geopolitical crisis cynically engineered by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. In an attempt to provoke Europe, refugees are lured to the border by propaganda promising easy passage to the EU. Pawns in this hidden war, the lives of Julia, a newly minted activist who has given up her comfortable life, Jan, a young border guard, and a Syrian family intertwine.
Sep 2023
He is exuberant, loud, and charismatic. She is courageous, delicate, and warm. Jacek and Grażyna Kuroń are utterly in love and convinced that together they can change the world. They give up their privacy to dedicate their lives to the fight for freedom. Their apartment becomes the "headquarters" of the opposition; a meeting place for people willing to risk everything in the name of a better tomorrow.
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
Thirty year old Benek experiences a crisis mainly manifested by compulsive suicidal thoughts and dreams about death. Accidentally he meets a beautiful, magnetic and mouthy Lena. He is dazzled from the first moment and his admiration grows when Lena not only understands his suicidal preoccupation but shares a similar one. They embark on a crazy journey during which Benek realizes he is not the only man in Lena's life - in addition, the girl has cancer, and she is not attempting to treat it. Admiration mixes with fear - finally Benek promises to accompany her to the end...
Oct 2015
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
Alicja suffers from memory loss and has rebuilt her own free spirited way of life. Two years later, she returns to her former family to assume against her will her role as wife, mother and daughter.
Oct 2018
Cosmogonic is a 10 minute interactive science fiction animated short. It is the first VR experience inspired by the famous Polish science-fiction writer Stanisław Lem — a futurist, well acquainted with how fictional worlds can often encroach upon reality. This adaptation of a 1964 novel speaks perfectly to today’s world, where populism and disinformation threaten democracy. This experience is a testament to the importance of knowledge and community in the universal drive to freedom.
Jun 2023
He is the talk of the town, the most romantic figure of decadent Parisian nights. When his lungs start bleeding, Chopin knows his days are numbered. Composing becomes his only obsession. The ticking clock rushes him to revolutionize music.
Oct 2025
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
Julia Polniuk is ten years old. She trains figure skating – and there is not much time left for her to succeed in sports and to meet the expectations of her family, which has moved to Poland from Ukraine. The girl has the opportunity to take part in the Polish Figure Skating Championships. This could bring her fame and success, and maybe even help the whole family to obtain Polish citizenship. But can a child spread its wings and fly with such a burden on its shoulders?
Nov 2018