In recent years, Polish documentaries have experienced overwhelming success like never before, raking in a number of film award nominations and frequently stealing the show at many major world festivals. But perhaps most impressive is how they manage to stay true to reality and capture the changes occurring not just in Poland but all around the world; and what’s more, all in unprecedented artistic quality. Get your blood pumping with our latest curated selection of contemporary Polish documentaries.
Director Piotr Stasik is one contemporary filmmaker who resonates strongly with fans of Polish documentary film. In 2016, his film portrait 21 x New York earned him the award for Best Documentary at the European Film Awards. Whether it's his portrait of an American metropolis or a documentary look at his homeland in his next film, Opera about Poland, Stasik always manages to point out current societal problems and depict the identities of people living in these places with surprising accuracy.
The films Call Me Tony by Klaudiusz Chrostowski and First Pole on Mars by Agnieszka Elbanowska testify to the fact that our life dreams know no bounds. The former follows the personal journey of an 18-year-old bodybuilder name Konrad, who makes it his life ambition to be more like his role models Al Pacino and Robert de Niro. Meanwhile, First Pole on Mars introduces us to 68-year-old Kazimierz, who does everything he can to prepare himself for a trip to the Red Planet. Both short films by talented Polish directors enjoyed great success at international film festivals, and Chrostowski even took home the award for Best Student Film at the prestigious IDFA Festival.
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