The 49th Polish Film Festival

The 49th Polish Film Festival

Gdynia 23-28.09.2024

Challenge of the Bow

After many years, Marta returns to the island of Thassos with a film crew to uncover the mystery of her husband’s disappearance. The camera follows her in recreating the events. The crew reconstructs certain situations Marta cannot recount. It is a story about repressed truth and the limits of memory, imagination and lies. The way to free oneself from the past is to say goodbye to it consciously.
Challenge of the Bow

It’s Not My Film

Wanda and Janek have been together ‘forever’. But after a decade, their relationship resembles a charger cable bitten by a dog. It charges, but it has no right to work. After another pointless fight, they decide to go on a trip of last resort. They buy a sledge, pack only the essentials and set off along the shores of the wintry Baltic Sea. If they don’t leave the beach and...
It’s Not My Film

My Side of the River

The story of the community ‘multigenerational house’ and its founder. There are only two such official establishments in Poland. However, DOM WISŁA is more of a squat, it is an enclave of normality, values and local folklore, a lonely and wild island on the map of a hostile neighborhood of a big city. And so is its founder - Kuba. This house is his whole world, his only family, and...
My Side of the River

Night Silence

After the death of his beloved wife, Lucjan, a retired theatre actor, moves into a nursing home. In his new place, he feels lonely and unreconciled to the ever-present atmosphere of waiting for death. One night, he discovers that the basement hides a mysterious entrance to what looks like an old, abandoned theatre. It turns out to be a passage to a parallel world full of secrets. Shortly after, Lucjan...
Night Silence

Seasons

Marcin, an egocentric actor, must face the unexpected break-up of his long-stand- ing relationship. The action unfolds over three different performances. Onstage fantasy mixes with the mundane life of the separating couple, and intelligent hu- mour accompanies difficult emotions. On the verge of fiction and reality, Marcin struggles with his weaknesses and gets the chance to mature into a new stage in life. Set in the absurd world of theatre,...
Seasons

The Dog

After the mysterious disappearance of their beloved dog, two teenagers confront their parents, who install cameras in the house and introduce a new set of rules to solve the mystery. Everyone is a suspect. The situation exposes the sick bonds of a seemingly peaceful and ordinary next-door family. The domestic investigation spirals out of control, leading to madness and violence. A mysterious enemy hidden in their own home ensnares them...
The Dog

Travel Essentials

Ada, a respected journalist, receives a parcel with an autobiographical book dedicated to her and describing her childhood trauma. The book was written by Roksana, her friend from school years. The two women embark on a journey to the town where they grew up to confront their past and bring closure to the unresolved issues that cast a shadow over their lives. The film is a full-length directing debut.
Travel Essentials

Where Do We Begin

Three siblings and their mother try to put their lives back together after the unexpected death of their father. Among belongings packed for the move, Ola finds family video tapes. With her younger brother Pipek and youngest sister Ajka, they decide to recreate their childhood photos. Ola discovers that each of them is experiencing the trauma in their own way, alone and unable to deal with it. By confronting her...
Where Do We Begin