Documentaries in Gdynia at the 50^th PFF

Polish Film Festival offers more than just feature films! Presentation of important, renowned and awarded documentaries has become a tradition of the Polish Film Festival. As part of the 50th anniversary edition of the Festival we are going to screen as many as seven films in the Documentaries in Gdynia section – including two held in cooperation with the Krakow Film Festival and one with the Millenium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival. This year’s films in the Documentaries in Gdynia section are portraits of filmmakers, but also shocking images of the world.

Joanna Łapińska, the Artistic Director of the Festival, comments: “After the very well-received first edition of the Documentaries in Gdynia section last year, we are returning with an equally strong programme. We will show moving stories about fundamental values. We will recall the profiles of filmmakers who understood the power of cinema perfectly. Polish documentaries are expressive and bold, which will resonate perfectly in this part of the festival.”

Winner of the IDFA Grand Prize, Maciej Drygas’s Trains is a poetic essay that shows that there is something beautiful and magical about train travel, but also often very painful. In the film The Guest (directed by Zuzanna Solakiewicz, Zvika Gregory Portnoy) we meet a Syrian refugee, Alhyder, who is stuck in the limbo of the Polish-Belarusian border. Silver (directed by Natalia Koniarz) tells the story of the hardships in the silver mines in Potosí, Bolivia. Kinga Michalska’s Bedrock is is a psychological journey through contemporary Poland, intertwining the stories of Poles living in Holocaust territories.

Portraites
Documentary portrait The Passenger Andrzej Munk, by Michał Bielawski showcases the artistic achievements of a leading figure of the Polish Film School, combining unique archival materials, film fragments, newsreels, and photographs – some never-before-seen. In Description Found Years Later (directed by Sławomir Rogowski, Stanisław Zawiśliński) we will find a multidimensional portrait of one of the most distinctive artists in the history of Polish cinema – Wojciech Jerzy Has. Passion According to Agnieszka (directed by Wojciech Staroń) tells the story of one of the most outstanding editors in Polish cinema, Agnieszka Bojanowska, and the master of imagery, cinematographer Bogdan Dziworski – the subject of the documentary is their relationship and the passion for creating together.

Documentaries in Gdynia:
The Guest, directed by: Zuzanna Solakiewicz, Zvika Gregory Portnoy. After the film, meeting with the director
Trains, directed by: Maciej Drygas. After the film, meeting with the director
MDAG in Gdynia: Bedrock, directed by: Kinga Michalska
Krakow Film Festival Catching Waves: Silver, directed by: Natalia Koniarz. After the film, meeting with the director and the director of photography

Documentaries in Gdynia: Portraits
The Passenger Andrzej Munk, directed by: Michał Bielawski. After the film, meeting with the director
Krakow Film Festival Catching Waves: Passion According to Agnieszka, directed by: Wojciech Staroń
Description Found Years Later, directed by: Sławomir Rogowski, Stanisław Zawiśliński. After the film, meeting with the director

The 50^thPolish Film Festival will take place from 22^nd to 27^th September 2025 in Gdynia. The Festival is produced by the Pomeranian Film Foundation in Gdynia.