Polonica at the 50^th PFF

Besides the Main Competition, Polonica is the oldest part of the Festival. For a film to qualify, it must meet the essential criterion of Polish contribution. Domestic filmmakers successfully collaborate on European and global co-productions, as evidenced by the Polonica programme, which is diverse in genre and subject matter.

“In the year of the festival’s 50^th anniversary, it is particularly important for me to highlight the international relations of Polish cinema. The co-operation between our filmmakers and colleagues from abroad has been a feature of the festival for years – Polonica is, after all, one of our oldest sections. We’re closing the fifth decade with a strong set of three distinctive films that will perfectly complement the Gdynia competitions” – emphasises Joanna Łapińska, the Artistic Director of the Festival.

And so in the section we will see the French-Polish film Her Will Be Done by Julia Kowalski, the herstory of twenty-year-old Nawojka who dreams about escaping the harsh life on the family farm. When rebellious Sandra enters her life, Nawojka starts to experience transcendent visions and mysterious powers — just like her deceased mother. The second film is Mama, an Israeli-Polish-Italian drama about the breakdown of family relationships and alienation. The heroine – 50-year-old Mila – returns from emigration after 15 years to a home where nothing is the same as before she left. Mila must redefine her own identity. The third film is an original adaptation of Bruno Schulz’s prose, Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass by Quay Brothers, a hybrid of puppet animation and live action that transports the viewer to a fantasy world on the border between life and death.

List of films in the Polonica section:

Her Will Be Done, directed by: Julia Kowalski. Polonica, cast: Maria Wróbel, Wojciech Skibiński, Kuba Dyniewicz, Przemysław Przetrzelski, producion: Magdalena Zimecka, Marta Krzeptowska, Karolina Panasiuk, music: Daniel Kowalski, effects: Wojtek Janiszewski. After the screening, a meeting with the filmmakers.

Mama, directed by: Or Sinai. Polonica, cast: Katarzyna Łubik, Arkadiusz Jakubik, Jowita Budnik, Dominika Bednarczyk-Krzyżowska, costume design: Aleksandra Mrozińska, production design: Aleksandra Klemens, production: Aneta Zagórska, Patrycja Strzyżewska, Kamil Janik. After the screening, a meeting with Arkadiusz Jakubik.

Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass, directed by: Stephen Quay, Timothy Quay. Polonica, cast: Tadeusz Janiszewski, Wioletta Kopańska, Andrzej Kłak, production: Izabela Kiszka-Hoflik

The 50^th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia will take place on 22^nd–27^th September 2025. The Producer of the Festival is the Pomeranian Film Foundation in Gdynia.