Sebastian Pawlak

In 1983, communist Poland is shaken by the case of high school student Grzegorz Przemyk, who is beaten to death by police. The only witness of the beating becomes the number one enemy of the state.

Thirteen-year-old Antek is grieving over his Mum’s death and seeking a way to contact her. He comes across an internet advert for the GHOSTPHONE, a mysterious device resembling a 1980s TV set.

Tomasz Komenda was 23 years old when his normal life was brutally interrupted. Overnight he was arrested, thrown into prison and charged with murder. Subsequent expert opinions confirmed his participation in the crime, and any evidence was against him. For nearly two decades in prison, he was beaten, intimidated, humiliated and on his own. Finally, after 18 years of imprisonment, prosecutors and a policeman appeared on his way, who decided to discover the truth behind the mysterious case of the detainee.

According to researches made throughout 1990s by the Institute for Public Opinion Research (OBOP) approximately 95% of Poles identified themselves as a believers. At the same time unemployment rates reached record values. In times of crisis, when people sought spirituality, seemingly impossible events were possible...

Michael and Eve lead a steady life subordinated to a good job and a second pregnancy. Kasia and Bartek are facing serious financial problems. Unexpectedly for everyone, during an argument Kasia reveals to her husband that she spent the night with Michal. Friendship and love come into question in an instant. Emotional and financial dependencies and seemingly innocent lies spiral into misunderstandings. In an intimate atmosphere, emotions reach the highest registers. Absurdity accompanies emotion. On top of this, debt collectors, the police and a nosy neighbor get involved in the marital dispute. Chaos grows, multiplying funny situations, until the final tragedy, which will turn out to be an opportunity for both couples - a rescue for their love and friendship.

A year in the lives of Mateusz and Agata - a theatre director and an actress fascinated with New Age, respectively. Ideas of new spirituality and an experiment with open relationship confront the protagonists with a difficult emotional challenge.

Egocentric stage actor Marcin has to face the unexpected breakdown of a long-term relationship. During three different performances, fantasy mixes with the prose of the life of a separating couple.

In a series of linked stories, women navigate and challenge a dystopian future ruled by sexual duty, emotional repression, and patriarchal dominance.

A story about two sisters - Małgorzata, who is single by choice, and her younger sister, Łucja, a mother of two and an assistant in Małgorzata's law firm. The women embark on their first first trip in many years. It quickly turns out that one of them is terminally ill and her destination is Switzerland, where euthanasia is possible.

Marlena (62) and Tomasz (42), hidden away from the world in a small seaside town, have been in a happy relationship for many years. Their intricately woven everyday life slowly begins to crumble when, against Tomasz’s will, Marlena allows her son to move in with them. As the past comes back to them in full force they will have to redefine their love, choices and life.

When Aśka's child is born, she does not expect that she will have to face difficult challenges. She has to decide whether to raise a son or a daughter. At the time of birth, the titular newborn has biological features of both sexes, and the parents are to determine which of them will be surgically eliminated.

At their beloved grandfather’s funeral wake, the family learns his lifelong lottery numbers just won, but the winning ticket lies in his jacket buried three meters underground. Racing against time and grief, they and his friends desperately try to exhume him one last time to reclaim the fortune.

A collection of portraits presenting characters who try to face their own numbness in internal conversations.

The 1940s. Leon and his sons work on the Vistula River as sandblasters. One day the men fish a woman and her small daughter out of the river. It turns out that they are Jewish women who escaped from Warsaw, where they could not continue hiding. Leon undertakes a heroic struggle for their survival. He gives the women shelter in his home, risking the lives of his own family.

When, despite being in your thirties, you are still living with your parents. When you're short of cash, your girlfriends aren't getting along, and your life increasingly tastes of cheap discount beer - then you recognize that it's high time to finally change something. Such conclusions are reached in unison by Albert, Marcin and Jacek - three buddies from the housing estate, who, after a series of business disasters, finally come up with an idea on how to make a nice profit. Thus is born a plan for a daring plot that will lead the heroes into the middle of a big wedding, where not only money, but also a chance for a hot romance awaits them. Along the way, all they have to do is not to spoil anything. And with that, as we all know, things can vary. Sometimes it's easier said than done to do something yourself.

Julita and Stacy have parted ways, but now the girls meet again at the stud farm where Julita works with her mother. Stacy comes from abroad for an important competition. Infatuation returns, but is it worth tearing open old wounds for it?

A story about Janina Duszejko, an elderly woman, who lives alone in the Klodzko Valley where a series of mysterious crimes are committed. Duszejko is convinced that she knows who (or what) is the murderer, but nobody believes her.

Based on a script by Andrzej Żuławski, this is a fascinating on-screen dialogue between father and son that combines nostalgia and fury, the sublime with humor, and old-school style with a sharp, penetrating look at Polish reality. The eponymous bird talk is the language used by those excluded from the aggressive majority: a history teacher tormented by children, a teacher of Polish studies fired from his job, a girl who cleans a banker’s villa, a florist with a club foot and a student with a fascination for cinema. Pushed to the margins by the extreme right, they defend themselves with irony, songs and quotes from the classics.

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...

The fate of three Catholic priests were linked together through tragic events a few years back. Every year, on the anniversary of the catastrophe, they gather to celebrate their survival of the tragedy. Lisowski works at a curia in a big city, building his career while dreaming of the Vatican. Standing in his way, Mordowicz, the archbishop, a luxurious church dignitary who is making use of his political connections to build the largest sanctuary in Poland. Trybus, is a parish priest and often submits to human weaknesses. Kukuła also is not doing well. Despite his passion for faith, he is losing the trust of his flock. Soon, through new tragic events, the paths of the three priests will cross again.

At the end of the 19th century, somewhere in the outskirts of the Russian Empire, a doctor administers a lethal overdose of ether to a young woman – the object of his desire. After getting away with his crime, he finds employment in a fortress, where he continues his experiments with ether to manage pain and manipulate human behaviour. Despite his evilness, it is not too late for his soul to be saved from eternal damnation…

The year 1901, a psychiatric hospital in the Russian partition. One of the patients is a political prisoner - Józef Piłsudski. The Polish underground independence movement is preparing their mission to rescue the famous activist. Piłsudski is freed, but he will not get back his idyll family life that he once knew. Uncertain years are coming, marked by revolutionary events, violence and betrayal. Pilsudski must find a way to man oeuvre on the boggy ground - between the conservative passivity of the Polish Socialist Party and the aggression against the invaders, resulting in retaliation. The year 1914 is coming, and the chance for restoring an independent country, independent Poland, is now or never.

A 40-year old actress (single and strong, yet lonely), her sister (an emotionally unstable schoolteacher whose married-with-kids life appears more orderly) and their domineering father, who gradually loses control over his family due to his wife's sudden illness and his own health troubles; these are the three individuals at the heart of this film, a touching story about the strength of family ties in a situation of imminent danger.

Father and son on a journey in the forest. Their trip through nature is an act of initiation for them both. What looks innocent and safe turns out to be dangerous and vicious. A beautifully shot meditation on first encounters with the world as it is.

The story of nineteen-year-old Tomasz, a first-year environmental engineering student. He recently moved to a large city and is struggling to find his place in a completely new environment. He's gifted, recognized from the start by his professors. One day, while riding a tram, he witnesses a theft that he is unable to prevent—an event that shatters the boy's already shattered peace of mind...

Based on a true story. Two brothers, Artur (22) and Marcin (12), murder their own mother. The film starts with the boys' arrest and then takes us through the last 12 months in a series of flashbacks.

Piotr is a psychiatrist. He is on night duty when a boy is brought to his ward. It is Kamil, the son he hasn't seen in years. The boy disappears from the hospital as quickly as he appeared. However, Piotr decides to get in touch with him. He invites him to his place and introduces him to his beautiful young fiancée. After Kamil's visit, the woman realizes that Piotr is a mystery to her and that she really knows nothing about him. And Piotr does indeed hide a dark secret...

Stories of three women struggling with alcohol. Dorota is a great prosecutor. Using her immunity, she tries to avoid responsibility for her offenses committed under the influence of alcohol. Her husband, a famous politician, helps her keep the problem secret and rescues her from many troubles but he slowly loses patience. A respected children surgeon Teresa has lost her family due to drinking problem, all she is left with is her job at the hospital where she is the main doctor. The situation goes out of control when the woman comes drunk to the hospital. A student, Magda, likes to party hard and because she is a good student and has a great job, no-one opposes that. At one moment, the girl loses control. A tragedy happens.

An aged tailor recalls his life as the schoolteacher of a small village in Northern Germany that was struck by a series of strange events in the year leading up to WWI.

The emotional inertia and chaos affecting a narcoleptic woman, a fatally ill writer and a gay doctor, and their attempts to escape from their dead-end situations.

The film shows the gray reality of a Polish unemployed slacker still living (despite 30 on the neck) "on mommy's pot". Just what to do when one day she runs out? Where to get money for living?

The distinction between sanctioned killing and plain murder gets blurred for a War-on-Terror veteran.