Friday, September 12, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Under The Grey Sky directed by Mara Tamkovich (2024)
With Aliaksandra Vaitsekhovich, Valentin Novopolskij, Dzianis Tarasenka
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+ Join us for a post-screening Q&A with director Mara Tamkovich

A pair of journalists fight to remain true to themselves despite suffocating repression in Belarus after one of them leaks footage of a government crackdown on peaceful protesters. Mara Tamkovich’s chilling portrait of contemporary authoritarianism is inspired by the real life of a young journalist named Katsiaryna Andreyeva who is currently serving an 8-year sentence in a Belarusian prison.

Saturday, September 13, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Under the Volcano directed by Damian Kocur (2024)
With Sofia Berezovska, Anastasiia Karpenko, Roman Lutskyi
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A blended Ukrainian family spends the last day of their vacation in Tenerife, Spain. But when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine leaves them stranded on an island, they must come face to face with isolation, duty, fear, and perhaps the scariest thing of all—each other. Damian Kocur’s sophomore feature screened at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival and explores the banal horror of biding time while war unfolds at a distance.

“It’s a notion that Kocur extends to current humanitarian crises in which we all have a stake, and the urge to do something is felt on screen and off.” — Variety

Saturday, September 13, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Green Border directed by Agnieszka Holland (2023)
With Jalal Altawil, Maja Ostaszewska, Behi Djanati Atai
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In the swampy forests along the Belarus-Poland border, refugees from the Middle East and Africa are lured by false promises of safe passage into Europe, only to become trapped in a brutal geopolitical standoff. Shot in stark black-and-white, Green Border presents the migrant crisis via multiple angles: a Syrian family fleeing ISIS, the border guards tasked with enforcing cruel policies, and the activists who risk everything to help the migrants. Legendary and prolific Polish director Agnieszka Holland (Europa Europa) returns with this raw, compassionate call to conscience and winner of the Special Jury Prize at the 2023 Venice Film Festival.

“The fury that radiates off Agnieszka Holland’s “Green Border” is so intense that you can almost feel it encasing you in its heat.” — New York Times

Saturday, September 13, 2025 at 7:20 PM
The Girl with the Needle directed by Magnus von Horn (2024)
With Vic Carmen Sonne, Trine Dyrholm, Besir Zeciri
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Based on a chilling true story, writer-director Magnus von Horn’s latest follows young factory worker Karoline (Sonne) as she struggles to survive in post-WWI Copenhagen. When she ends up unemployed, abandoned, and pregnant, the charismatic Dagmar (Dyrholm) takes her in to help run an underground adoption agency for unwanted children. The two form an unexpected bond, but a sudden revelation changes everything. Gorgeously shot in striking black and white, The Girl with the Needle was nominated for both the Oscar and Golden Globe for Best International Feature and competed at Cannes for the coveted Palme d’Or.

“These events scandalize, yet The Girl With the Needle is most intriguing when it lingers in its disturbing fictions, which come to life with exceptional style.” — New York Times

Sunday, September 14, 2025 at 4:45 PM
The Noose directed by Wojciech Has (1958)
With Gustaw Holoubek, Aleksandra Śląska, Teresa Szmigielówna
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+ Featuring an introduction by Annette Insdorf, Columbia University Film Professor and author of “Intimations: The Cinema of Wojciech Has”

A tormented alcoholic drifts through a single day in Kraków in Polish director Wojciech Has’ haunting portrait of postwar alienation. Shot in black-and-white, The Noose captures a city and a man caught between memory and oblivion—both a psychological character study and a chilling reflection on personal and collective trauma. This debut masterpiece foreshadows the surreal and existential style that would come to define Has’ directorial career. Frequently compared to Billy Wilder’s The Lost Weekend (1945), the film similarly chronicles the devastating grip of alcoholism, while transposing it into the uniquely Polish landscape of postwar disillusionment

Sunday, September 14, 2025 at 1:00 PM
The Saragossa Manuscript directed by Wojciech Has (1965)
With Zbigniew Cybulski, Iga Cembrzyńska, Elżbieta Czyżewska
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+ Preceded by a 10-minute short featuring Martin Scorsese and others, highlighting the significant recent restoration work done on Has’ films

One of the most legendary 60s European cult films—and Has’ best-known work—is this trancey, baroque acid-trip that follows a military officer (Cybulski) on a dreamlike odyssey through Andalusia. A proclaimed favorite of both Luis Buñuel and Jerry Garcia, The Saragossa Manuscript boasts gothic visuals, a trippy story-within-a-story structure, and an experimental score by renowned composer Krzysztof Penderecki. Based on Jan Potocki’s sprawling 19th-century novel.

“Poland’s greatest cult film” —The Village Voice

Sunday, September 14, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Woman Of… dir. by Michał Englert & Małgorzata Szumowska (2023)
With Małgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik, Joanna Kulig, Mateusz Więcławek
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Set against the backdrop of Poland’s transformation from communism to capitalism, Michał Englert and Małgorzata Szumowska’s Woman Of… spans 45 years in the life of Aniela Wesoly, a woman who spent more than half of her life as a man in a small provincial town. On her journey toward self-actualization, Aniela faces profound challenges—in marriage, parenthood, and within a society that stigmatizes trans identity. As family ties strain and everyday life poses a new challenge, Aniela must reckon with what she’s willing to sacrifice to truly become herself. Woman Of… earned a nomination for the top prize at Venice in 2023.

“Woman of is a subtle film with revolutionary potential. Not only is it a deeply empathetic portrait of a woman who grows in a world that consistently denies her that very growth, but it is also a stance against reductionism and the rigidity of representation tropes.” — Cineuropa

Monday, September 15, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Trains directed by Maciej J. Drygas (2024)
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This hypnotic documentary fresco, woven from archival footage and sound, offers a stunning portrait of life in the 20th century as embodied by the sprawling, history-changing impact of railroad development. Here, director Maciej J. Drygas brilliantly captures the collective hopes, desires, dramas and tragedies of our recent past set against a minimalist electronic score. 

“The camera is not just a silent witness; it can be an accomplice, too.” — Cineuropa

Monday, September 15, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Filip directed by Michał Kwieciński (2022)
With Eryk Kulm, Victor Meutelet, Caroline Hartig
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Based on Leopold Tyrmand’s 1961 autobiographical novel of the same name, Filip follows a Polish Jew (Kulm) who has escaped the Warsaw ghetto and is living and working at an upscale hotel in Frankfurt. Disguised as a gentile, Filip lives a life of debauchery and hedonistic pleasure. But as the war progresses and continues taking its bloody toll on those closest to him, Filip’s carefully constructed facade begins crumbling like a house of cards. Michał Kwieciński writes, directs, and produces this fascinating portrait of wartime resistance and the lengths to which we go to protect ourselves.

Tuesday, September 16, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Next to Nothing directed by Grzegorz Dębowski (2023)
With Artur Paczesny, Monika Kwiatkowska, Agnieszka Kwietniewska
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+ Featuring a post-screening Q&A with director Grzegorz Dębowski and production manager Agnieszka Skalska

Jarek (Paczesny) is a farmer who isn’t afraid to work hard, get his hands dirty, or confront the authorities. When a local MP betrays the interests of the locals, Jarek becomes a protest leader and organizes a picket outside the politician’s home. Little does he know, he’ll soon find himself at the center of a dark intrigue that will threaten his loved ones and jeopardize his dream future. This gripping, slow-burn thriller, with its raw, almost documentary-style aesthetic, reminiscent of the Dogme 95 movement, will linger in your mind long after the credits roll

Tuesday, September 16, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Pianoforte directed by Jakub Piątek (2023)
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Every five years, the world’s most gifted young pianists gather in Warsaw for the legendary International Chopin Piano Competition. Jakub Piątek’s documentary takes us behind the curtain to reveal the triumphant highs and crushing lows of this once-in-a-lifetime event, which many have spent their entire lives preparing for. Following an eclectic group of contestants from 160 hopefuls down to just 12 finalists, Pianoforte brilliantly captures the intensity, exhaustion, and exhilaration of high-stakes performance, delivering both a celebration of extraordinary music and an intimate coming-of-age story.

Wednesday, September 17, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Wanda Rutkiewicz: The Last Expedition dir. by Eliza Kubarska (2024)
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Filmmaker and climber Eliza Kubarska retraces the extraordinary life and mysterious disappearance of legendary mountaineer Wanda Rutkiewicz in this breathtaking documentary. The first Polish person to summit Everest and the first woman to conquer K2, Wanda defied the male-dominated world of mountain climbing with unwavering ambition. Here, via haunting audio diaries recorded just months before she vanished, Rutkiewicz reflects on love, motherhood, and the meaning of the climb. Featuring voices from the global mountaineering community, this stunning documentary looks for answers in the jagged peaks of the Himalayas—the last place Wanda Rutkiewicz was seen.

“Rutkiewicz’s state of being torn between her goal-driven personality and the inevitable influence of Eastern philosophies that negate the ego is well documented in her diaries and letters, and is conveyed in the film with clarity.” — Cineuropa

Wednesday, September 17, 2025 at 9:00 PM
The Peasants directed by DK Welchman & Hugh Welchman (2023)
With Kamila Urzędowska, Robert Gulaczyk, Mirosław Baka
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From the creators of Loving Vincent comes this film about a young woman who is determined to forge her own path within the confines of a late 19th century Polish village. The community is a hotbed of gossip and ongoing feuds, held together, rich and poor, by pride for their land, colorful tradition, and a deep-rooted patriarchy. When Jagna finds herself caught between the conflicting desires of the village’s richest farmer, his eldest son, and other leading men of the community, her resistance puts her on a tragic collision course with the community she grew up in. This hand-painted animated historical drama is based on Władysław Reymont’s Nobel Prize-winning novel from 1904.

“Backgrounds are impressionistic impasto, while faces are pin-sharp and almost photo-real.” — Variety

Thursday, September 18 at 7:00 PM
It’s Not My Film directed by Maria Zbąska (2024)
With Zofia Chabiera, Marcin Sztabiński, Mariusz Saniternik
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+ Featuring a post-screening Q&A with director Maria Zbąska and camera operator Krzysztof Piotr Wiśniewski

“This relationship resembles a charging cable that has been chewed by a dog… It supposedly charges, but there’s no way it can work” is how Wanda succinctly describes the essence of her long-term relationship with Janek. Despite their challenges, the couple embark on a final attempt to salvage their love, journeying along the wintry coast of the Baltic Sea. As Wanda and Janek navigate their relationship, they confront the reality that maybe not all is lost. Maria Zbąska’s debut feature is a contemporary tale about the struggle for love in a disposable world.