Agata Szymańska

Simona Kossak

Simona Kossak - daughter of the painter Jerzy Kossak and granddaughter of Wojciech - deprived of the talent that has defined her family for generations, grows up without knowing the warmth of her despotic mother. When, after graduation, she leaves everything - home, tradition, social conventions - and takes up a job as a scientist in Białowieża, she starts life on her own terms.

White Courage

The film tells the story of two Highlander brothers – Maciek and Andrzej. After the death of their father, which Andrzej contributed to, and the loss of his beloved Bronka, Andrzej leaves the family home. On his way, he meets the mysterious Wolfram, an anthropologist and climber. He shares with him his mountaineering technique and knowledge about the Prague origins of the highlanders. Andrzej returns to Zakopane, war breaks out. To protect the Highlanders from wartime destruction, he wants to persuade them to cooperate with the Germans. Andrzej and Maciek are standing on opposite sides of the barricade. The brothers' confrontation is bloody and painful.

The Hamlet Syndrome

Five young Ukrainians discuss life following the Maidan Revolution of 2014. Not all fought in the Russian-Ukrainian war, but it, regardless, shattered their life plans. Representing 'Generation Maidan', they face the question of how to cope with experiences of violence, how to go on. A local theatre director produces Hamlet, wherein they can use Shakespeare’s tragic character as a mirror and face their traumas onstage. For them, 'to be or not to be' is not simply text but an existential dilemma with no clear answer.

Synthol

Vlogger Eryk documents his preparations for his bodybuilding debut. He is helped by the woman of his life: his overprotective mother, Teresa. Before the competition, Eryk meets Mona. As they go out on a date, the online world clashes with reality. But it is still less painful than Eryk's debut.

Werewolf

Summer of 1945. A temporary orphanage is established in an abandoned palace surrounded by forests for the eight children liberated from the Gross-Rosen camp. Hanka, also a former inmate, becomes their guardian. After the atrocities of the camp, the protagonists slowly begin to regain what is left of their childhood but the horror returns quickly. Camp Alsatians roam the forests around. Released by the SS earlier on, they have gone feral and are starving. Looking for food they besiege the palace. The children are terrified and their camp survival instinct is triggered.

The Erlprince

An exceptionally gifted teenage boy is about to start studying physics at university. He is working on the theory of parallel worlds, which are linked, he initially believes, by light. He has an extraordinary mind and a wounded soul, which his mother, who steers his life, is incapable of healing.

The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills

This experimental documentary contrasts the daily life of a nanny in buzzing Berlin with the tranquil existence of a group of pensioners in provincial Poland. A reflection on female biographies that draws a line between the beginning of life and its end.