January Brunov

A story about two childhood friends who are reunited by fate. This reunion after many years becomes an opportunity for a melancholy journey into the past, to recall memories of an irrevocable time gone by, as well as to reflect on true happiness, new values and the meaning of life. The plot of the film takes place as if on two time planes: on the screen, contemporary events are intertwined with images from years ago, when the heroines were still very young and the adult world seemed so distant.

The residents of a grim 1970s apartment building - the owner of a neighborhood bar and his daughter, who works at the post office, a stockman of fairground junk, a maiden who dreams of becoming a model and winning the affections of the local handsome man, a lonely woman living among rubber dolls, a computer geek, five tracksuiters who spend their time between the gym and aggression towards the weak - try to reconcile in their daily lives the remnants of the People's Republic of Poland with new behavior patterns, gadgets and devices.

Two estranged brothers reunite in an isolated villa inherited from their late parents. Paweł, a successful businessman hiding from trouble, arrives with his fiancée, while his younger brother Piotr, a runaway from a juvenile detention centre, seeks refuge there. Their attempt to rebuild their relationship turns violent when a group of desperate criminals arrive, forcing the brothers into a fight for survival.

Janusz starts working as an inspector in a department store. One day he notices on the monitor a woman who is stealing a bottle of perfume. He resolves to let her go. Intrigued by the woman, Janek finds out that she is Monika Małecka, a leader of an influential political party, who is going to run as a party candidate in the parliamentary elections. The two develop a difficult relationship in which lack of trust together with neglect lead inevitably to its end.

This sumptuously photographed period drama is set in 1791 Vienna. Maximilian Bardo, an opportunistic 18-year old Viennese man with aspirations to rise above his bourgeois upbringing, looks for a chance to shoehorn himself into the nobility. His hopes lead him to the castle of a wealthy inventor, Alexander Plant. It is here that a strange story is played out, as Maximilian, full of naive illusions and innocent ideals of what it means to be wealthy and noble, quickly loses his innocence. Falling prey to the jaded aristocrats in residence, he is cruelly initiated into their decadent games.

A forty-year-old pregnant woman working scientifically as a biologist conducts unusual experiments in her home laboratory. The plants she grows feel physical pain and fear. One day a falling tree kills a man. The incident repeats itself and people begin to say that trees want to kill. The heroine's husband, driven by resentful ambition, directs all his envy at the object of his wife's research. He prompts the city authorities to cut down all the "decayed trees" in the area in order to guard against future mishaps. The execution triggers a reaction from the forces of nature....

Polish businessman Jarek Branicki organizes a beauty pageant. As the man in charge, he expects his girlfriend to win it and suggests this outcome to the judges. At the same time, however, he is on the verge of bankruptcy and tries to escape the country after being cornered by his creditors. Recognized by a passenger on the train, he flees and finds refuge in the underground passages of Warsaw’s central railway station.

A young Varsovian runs away from the Nazi’s attack on the East. He falls into the hands of the NKVD. Suspected of espionage, he ends up in a camp in Siberia. He will spend the war in a psychiatric hospital.

The year is 1989, and the country's first free elections in a long time are approaching. A man in a cycling cap organizes a chain of clean hands, using it as a tool in his election campaign. In the queue outside the passport office, people chat, make plans, and ponder what's worth selling abroad. Writers observe the world around them. One of them is applying for a passport. In Dzierżyński Square, the monument to Feliks Edmundowicz is being dismantled. Two drunk men sleep on a bench, and behind them is a sign reading: "All is well." The two writers observe the ongoing transformation of the political system.

One of the passengers on a ship carrying Poles on a cruise in December 1981 is a dissident high school teacher sent abroad by Solidarity. He is under surveillance of the secret police, anxious to get their hands on the info that he is carrying. When the ship is in the middle of the Baltic sea, martial law is declared and the ship is militarized. The captain announces he will turn and return the home port. Many anguished passengers put the life vests on and jump into the sea, where they are picked up by two German ships. The teacher, however, decides to return to Poland and continue the struggle for freedom.