Best Polish documentary movies

People of different age, profession and social status answer two simple questions: who they are and what they want from life.

The insane government bureaucracy at a state pension window.

What does it mean to be awake in a world that seems satisfied to be asleep? Kris and Michal push their experiences of life and love to a breaking point as they restlessly roam the city streets in search of answers, adrift in the euphoria and uncertainty of youth.

Composed from the conversations that the director holds with people passing by in the street under his Warsaw apartment, each story in 'The Balcony Movie' is unique and deals with the way we try to cope with life as individuals. All together, they create a self-portrait of contemporary human life, and the passers-by present a composite picture of today's world.

Polish documentary directed by Tomasz Sekielski about child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in Poland.

Margarita Mamun, an elite Russian rhythmic gymnast, is struggling to become an Olympic champion. It is the most important year of her career and her last chance to achieve the ultimate goal, the gold Olympic medal. The film creates a captivating portrait of a young woman who is desperately trying to handle her own ambitions and meet the expectations of the official Russian training system.

The world’s most talented young pianists compete in the International Chopin Piano Competition, held every five years in Warsaw, Poland. A rare behind the scenes look at the triumphant highs and crushing lows of competition, Pianoforte is both a testament to the remarkable power of music and an intimate coming-of-age portrait.

Since the fall of the Iron Curtain an estimated four million children have found themselves living on the streets in the former countries of the Soviet Union. In the streets of Moscow alone there are over 30,000 surviving in this manner at the present time. The makers of the documentary film concentrated on a community of homeless children living hand to mouth in the Moscow train station Leningradsky. Eight-year-old Sasha, eleven-year-old Kristina, thirteen-year-old Misha and ten-year-old Andrej all dream of living in a communal home. They spend winter nights trying to stay warm by huddling together on hot water pipes and most of their days are spent begging. Andrej has found himself here because of disagreements with his family. Kristina was driven into this way of life by the hatred of her stepmother and twelve-year-old Roma by the regular beatings he received from his constantly drunk father. "When it is worst, we try to make money for food by prostitution," admits ...

The documentary follows the story of two brothers who were sexually abused by the same priest of Polish Catholic Church.

A dynamic and emotional story of fighting, passion and sacrifice. From 2016 to 2018, the filmmakers accompanied Joanna Jedrzejczyk, a multiple UFC champion, who at her time conquered the world of female MMA. To stay on top, the Polish fighter has to constantly confront her opponents and her own body, which is forced to make superhuman efforts over and over again. "Invincible" reveals the behind-the-scenes fights of modern gladiators, bluntly showing the blood, sweat, tears and overwhelming loneliness that are the price of the road to success in sports on a global scale.

Docudrama tracing the life of Saint Faustina Kowalska, whose visions of Jesus Christ inspired the Roman Catholic devotion to the Divine Mercy and earned her the title of "Apostle of Divine Mercy".

An inspiring story about Ania Przybylska, a brave girl from Gdynia who loved life and dared to make her dreams come true. The documentary is built of interviews and never-before-seen footage from private archives portraying a woman who balanced her career and public appearance with family life.

Football is much more than a simple game. It is a passion that connects people from all over the world. The players themselves have the unique ability to capture the hearts of fans and create a deep emotional connection with them. One of these outstanding players, who impresses not only with his footballing brilliance, but also with his impressive personality and life story, is Jakub Blaszczykowski. In this documentary about Jakub, also affectionately known as "Kuba", Jan Dybus tells the inspiring story of a man who consciously decided to pursue a career in football.

The untold story about wild rabbits which lived between the Berlin Walls. For 28 years Death Zone was their safest home. Full of grass, no predators, guards protecting them from human disturbance. They were closed but happy. When their population grew up to thousands, guards started to remove them. But rabbits survived and stayed there. Unfortunately one day the wall fell down. Rabbits had to abandon comfortable system. They moved to West Berlin and have been living there in a few colonies since then. They are still learning how to live in the free world, same as we - the citizens of Eastern Europe.

At the time of the Polish social regime, a security officer is promoted to work at a prison yard. Introducing concurrently with the narrator; he speaks of himself, his thoughts, his point of view.

This documentary follows the feats of high-altitude climber Jerzy Kukuczka and his ascent to higher heights before his death in 1989.

24 hours in the life of a hospital from the point of view of the doctors and nurses.

Relationships with the people you love most are often the most complicated. This is the problem Hania and her mother Ewa face during their sessions with a psychotherapist, filmed intimately and with the utmost respect by director Paweł Łoziński. The camera always focuses on one person at a time, revealing every emotion hidden behind the words and silences. The empathetic therapist carefully but purposefully peels away the hard layers under which mother and daughter shield themselves. Little by little, the personal tragedies that hamper their communication rise to the surface, as well as the source of the longing for love and acknowledgement that they find so hard to fulfill.

Painter Zdzisław Beksiński, his wife Zofia and their son Tomasz, a well-known radio journalist and translator, were a typical and unconventional family, both at the same time. One of the father’s obsessions was filming himself and his family members. Using archival footage only, shot primarily by Zdzisław, as well many other materials, which have not been presented anywhere so far, the film tells a tragic story of the Beksińskis that has never ceased to fascinate Polish filmmakers.

A piece of Polish rap history that will take you to the times of rebellious youth, when buddies meant more than family.

Providing an unprecedented insight into his life on and off the pitch, this is the story of how a young player from Poland became one of the best footballers of all time. Robert's family, and close friends, including world-class footballers and coaches explain how he continues to define the game today.

An all-access documentary follows Dawid Podsiadło's epic Polish stadium tour with exclusive footage of the singer-songwriter's journey onstage and off.

Every third woman in the world will have an abortion. That’s a fact. But in Poland there's a near-total abortion law as the government treats the life of the fetus as more important than the life of a woman. Luckily, there is Abortion Dream Team - a group of four women who run a hotline supporting their sisters in need. They inform on how to perform self-managed abortions at home or direct them to clinics abroad. They work all around the clock and they brag on TikTok that they facilitate 100 abortions per day or shock people with the slogan "Abortion is OK!”.

A shocking investigation into the illegal rhino trade and the international crime syndicates pushing an endangered species toward extinction.

Tadeusz Rolke, an aged master of Polish photography, has more than just a typical teacher-student relationship with 15-year-old Michał. Together, they travel across Poland to take portrait photographs of the residents of small towns and villages while the dark room placed in their camper enables them to develop pictures on the spot and give them to the models whom they accidentally met. For the boy, this is an excellent opportunity to find out about the arcana of traditional photography. For both – an opportunity to experience a beautiful friendship.

In a series of letters to her young son, a mother, soldier and filmmaker documents her thoughts from the Ukrainian frontline.

"I achieved everything I wanted in life," says the outstanding Polish actor Andrzej Seweryn, and then he takes us on a dynamic journey through subsequent professional challenges, which he still takes up with youthful verve. This is not a biography summarizing his artistic achievements - hundreds of outstanding film and theater roles, political activities or many years as director of the Polish Theater.

Daria lives in Mexico with her five‑year‑old daughter Daphne and her husband Dave. Her peaceful life is shaken when she discovers that she is not the only child of her mother and that her biological siblings are located in Poland. Daria goes to her hometown of Toruń to explain the mystery.

The comic book culture in Poland, shown through the prism of an iconic store in Warsaw which brings together graphic novel enthusiasts. Kuba and his father run the oldest comic shop in Poland - "Centrum Komiksu" - that has long been recognized as a legendary address. Through their eyes, we invite you to experience stories about loyal customers, hardships of independent publishing and problems faced by comic book creators themselves.

A documentary project about what the filmmakers claim to be the greatest, unfulfilled dream of Polish cinema, the 1970s science fiction epic "On the Silver Globe".

When adults are ineffectual, children have to grow up quickly. Ola is 14 and she takes care of her dysfunctional father, autistic brother and a mother who lives apart from them and is mainly heard the phone. Most of all she wants to reunite a family that simply doesn’t work — like a defective TV set. She lives in the hope of bringing her mother back home. Her 13 year old brother Nikodem’s Holy Communion is a pretext for the family to meet up. Ola is entirely responsible for preparing the perfect family celebration. “Communion” reveals the beauty of the rejected, the strength of the weak and the need for change when change seems impossible. This crash course in growing up teaches us that failure is not final. Especially when love is in question.

This is the story of a young nobleman and knight Błażeja Wronowski set in 17th-century Poland. Błażej begins military education with Jan Jerlicz, a veteran of the Moscow War. Jerlicz returns to his homeland to at the urging of his former companion, Jerzy Wronowski, to train the young Błażej. It is a story of honor, bravery and combat seen through the eyes of a young knight growing up in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The true story of Wanda Rutkiewicz, the first woman in the world and the first person from Poland to climb the highest peaks on earth, told by herself.

Documentary about polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski

It is hard to imagine Polish science fiction without Maciej Parowski. He was the editor-in-chief of the Polish iconic monthly Fantastyka who stood behind the success of several generations of authors. People from across Poland were sending their texts to him. If it had not been for him, no one knows what would have happened to "The Witcher" or "The Cathedral", an Oscar-nominated film by Tomasz Bagiński.

Each day of the week is represented by a ballerina beginning with a young child and ending with an older ballet teacher.

Empty shelves, trading cards and chickens sold in a shoe store. This is Polish everyday life from over four decades ago. Although the starting point is the moment of introduction of martial law, thanks to selected recordings we go back in time by 16 months and 12 days in order to better understand the mood at that time and the complexity of the processes that led to the decision of December 13, 1981.

Henryk Greenberg is a Polish-born American who lost much of his family in the Holocaust. Certain of the location where his father and younger brother were murdered, Greenberg returns to find most of his former neighbors predictably claiming foggy memories at first; but soon their recollections come more easily.

A story of two boys caught up in the turmoil of the dramatic events of 1956 in Central Europe. At 13, Romek Strzalkowski was the youngest victim of the first workers' rebellion against Communist authorities in Poland. During "Black Thursday" on June 26, he was killed protesting near the UB political police headquarters. Peter Mansfeld was the youngest victim of post-revolt Communist reprisals in Hungary. As a 15-year-old he took part in the Budapest fighting. After the revolution had been quelled by the Soviet army in 1956, he did not give up; he was arrested in 1959 and sentenced to death. Because of the Communists' cruelty, it took as long as 13 minutes for Peter to die, "like Jesus Christ on the cross," said his Hungarian biographer. The filmmakers analyze the importance of the legend about the two boys who fought against Communism in Poland and Hungary.

The documentary depicts a community of stadium hooligans who arrange brawls, or so-called "setups," among themselves.

The history of a legendary Polish pole-vaulter, Władysław Kozakiewicz. At the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games, he competed in a passionate showdown with the Soviet Union representatives in front of millions of viewers. In the final, he won the gold medal and broke the world record. Upset by the Soviet public, he also made an unsportsmanlike, derogatory gesture interpreted as a political provocation. That moment changed the athlete’s life in the blink of an eye.

Zosia, Kinga and Oskar start their first year at school for blind and visually impaired children.

The key aim of every ZOO is to protect animal species from extinction. In times of war, the most endangered species was the man. Under the Nazis' noses, about 300 people, mainly Jews, found shelter at the Warsaw Zoo during the Second World War. With the help of reenacted scenes with animals, interviews with the survivors, and archive footage, we are going to revive the surreal atmosphere of those events.

"It's Okay to Panic" is a nostalgic portrait of Professor Szymon Malinowski, a 62-year-old atmospheric physicist at the University of Warsaw who worries that climate change may cause human civilisation to collapse in the coming decades. A career educator, Prof. Malinowski studies phenomena leading to climate changes and for years he has been raising the alarm about the threats we face. The film visits him at a moment when he must deal with a personal tragedy which prompts him to evaluate the way his country has changed during his lifetime, for better and for worse.

The documentary depicts the birth of eugenics - a pseudo-science created in the 19th century that propounded the theory of perfecting the human race. According to the views of eugenicists, only healthy and creative individuals should reproduce. The film shows how these controversial ideas influenced the intellectual and political elite of the West in the 20th century, including the dictator of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler. Eugenics is a pseudoscience created in the 19th century and treating the improvement of the human race. According to eugenicists, only healthy and creative individuals could procreate, and the procreation of the sick or disabled and racially unworthy (prostitutes, the poor, beggars) should be forbidden. The author of the film posits that modern genetics, the killing of unborn children and euthanasia have their roots in this infamous pseudoscience.

A bold uncompromising look at the hell of the director's real-life family life. He still shares the apartment with his dysfunctional parents who use verbal violence towards him on a daily basis.

After the doctor's refusal to perform abortion on a 17-year old girl, she and her boyfriend have to cope with the new situation. They both need to learn to take responsibility for their decisions, in spite of numerous hardships facing them.

The film is a personal statement of the director and his wife, who have to deal with a very rare and incurable disease of their newborn child – the Ondine’s Curse (also known as CCHS, congenital central hypoventilation syndrome). People affected with this disease stop breathing during sleep and require a lifetime mechanical ventilation on a ventilator. The film shows the process of taming fear associated with the disease.

Her ex-wife won’t meet her. Her daughter rejects her. Her mother still calls her “son.” As Marianna transitions from male to female, she is abandoned by her loved ones, alone in a world unwilling to accept her true self. This multi-award-winning documentary is an intensely sympathetic and powerful account of one individual’s struggle to gain acceptance—even in the midst of profound physical hardship.

200 years after Chopin's birth, the Space Shuttle Endeavour, like a giant piano, took the music of Chopin into orbit.

Documentary about the phenomenon of Polish video game magazines in the 90s. Times when magazine pages were put together with glue and scissors and original games were a scarcity. A unique journey to the classic Amiga and PC titles accompanied by an extraordinary soundtrack.

Joanna is famous because of her blog on confronting a terminal disease. The movie shows her everyday life.

A group of veterans recount a horrifying experience when trapped in a minefield, resulting in each losing their sight.

The 2018 Polish winter expedition to K2, led by the legendary Krzysztof Wielicki, lives and undergoes all kinds of experiences during two intense months.

The film is a summary of the series of the same title. It talks about the war between Pruszkow and Wołomin during the last dozen years. It recalls the most interesting figures of the two gangs: "Masa" - Poland's witness number one, "Pershing", "nightingale", "Kiełbasa", "Słowik", "Kiełbasa", "Dziad" and "Wariat".

A story of life and death, featuring Lozinski's six-year-old son Tomaszek and elderly people spending time on the benches of a Warsaw park. Riding his scooter, Tomaszek asks the elderly very adult, though basic, questions, which they are happy to answer. The boy's ideas of future and life are confronted with those of men at the end of their lives.

A film on the world's most bizarre charity: based on the idea that sex can change the world, the NGO raises money for their environmental cause by selling home-made erotic films on the internet.

Exploring the underground world of trafficking, where children are used for prostitution and organ harvesting. Patryk Vega interviews a mother who intends on selling her unborn child to traffickers.

A documentary film containing unique and unpublished backstage materials from the life of the legendary Kult band and Kazik Staszewski himself. A real, exciting and anticipated film about people without whom the Polish music scene could not exist. The camera accompanied the musicians during the concert tour and in everyday life, showing the phenomenon and the group and its unprecedented relationship with fans.