Wytwórnia Filmów Dokumentalnych

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

An experimental short film by Walerian Borowczyk and Jan Lenica.

Polish schoolboy Janek, and Russian girl Tanya are traveling by a plane which ended up in the hands of a gang of drug dealers headed by ex Nazi criminal Henrich Scharf.

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

The confession of a man who was the director of a factory in Lower Silesia. "He was a Party member but opposed to the Mafia-like organization of Party members which was active in that factory and region. Those people were stealing and debiting the factory account. He didn’t realize that people higher up were involved in the affair. And they finished him off.’ (Krzysztof Kieslowski)

Kieslowski’s later film Dworzec (Station, 1980) portrays the atmosphere at Central Station in Warsaw after the rush hour.

Warsaw Central Station, 1958. A place of greetings and farewells, an intersection of people from different parts of Poland and Europe. A girl waits in vain, she goes away. Soon the station would belong to the past too.

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.

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

Partly thriller, partly dark comedy, the tagline of this film announce that any resemblance to real-life characters and situations were completely intentional. This had the audience guessing who the main characters were supposed to represent: those biznismeni and post-socialist yuppies who after 1989 teamed up with their former enemies to exploit Poland ruthlessly.

Robotnicy - Nic o nas bez nas tells a story about Gdańsk Shipyard and its workers after so called Grudzień 1970 (1970 protests). After those events Edward Gierek replaced Władysław Gomułka as party first secretary and promised redical change in style and methods of ruling. Kieślowski shows the skepticism of workers and their attitude to party members. He also pictures conflicts inside the party (PZPR) and usual work in shipyard. The political criticism of this movie made it a target of censorship – it was suspended and cut against the will of director.

A documentary impression from the capital of the Tatra Mountains. All the winter attractions of Zakopane rhythmically presented by the camera: sleigh rides, skis, dances, sunbathes, bonfires. Visit Zakopane!

The final film produced by Warsaw’s Documentary Film Studio is an epic re-enactment of a treacherous mission by the Voluntary Tatra Mountain Rescue Service to aid colleagues stranded behind enemy lines at the close of World War II (several real participants feature in the film). Based on a short story about the rescue by Adam Liberak, Munk’s final “documentary” is also arguably his first major exercise in the craft of narrative filmmaking.

Patients with serious lung diseases, who are now in a sanatorium, tell us about their thoughts and feelings.

Shots from Hamlet's rehearsals at the National Theatre in 1970, directed by Adam Hanuszkiewicz, performed by Daniel Olbrychski. The film presents various stages of the preparations – from trying on the costumes and memorizing lines to the final staging.

A documentary revolving around the Polish situation on an industrial level at the tail-end of the 1960s: it alternates between stark images at a metallurgic foundry and a board-room meeting among the various executives involved in its management.

An official falls victim to hooligans. He recognizes one of the attackers at a party organized by his director.

A new employee has to deal with the horrors of bureaucracy in this satirical short poking fun at the insititutions of the Polish People's Republic.