Jan Radlicz

The title character is a professor looking to replace humans with cyborgs. His supremely creepy assistant Traumer, strikingly played by Majewski regular Andrzej Rausz, is one such creation. Professor H. intends to transpose Traumer’s brain with that of a renowned scientist, but is in for a surprise. A dark film in every sense, DOCENT H. is particularly noteworthy for its soundtrack, consisting of eerie whirs and beeps interspaced with snatches of Bach’s immortal “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.” (from: http://www.fright.com/edge/JanuszMajewski.htm)

An allegory of the hopeless relationship between a prisoner and his jailer, representing the dependence of mankind upon authoritarianism.

Enacting the story of a hunt with wild but precise gestures, the Polish animator Witold Giersz’s The Horse (award-winning at the Krakow Film Festival for “its exceptionally interesting animation technique”) explodes with color and brings to life the physical strokes of paint of which it is made. The film never lets you forget that what you’re seeing is simply paint being rearranged into recognizable shapes, yet the pumping musical score and expressiveness of its titular character provide a simultaneous emotional experience. The abstract backgrounds render the narrative world beautiful and strange yet entirely comprehensible, as the film depicts an epic chase from humanity’s past.

A lonely bachelor blushes at a look from a woman spotted on the street. He is really randy when he sees other women on the street. The more confident he is, the more attractive he is.

Animation short by Alina Maliszewska.

A self-consciously Kafkaesque tale of a winged lonely man literally devoured by totalitarian rule.

Polish police is investigating the series of a taxi drivers murders.

1962’s SZPITAL (HOSPITAL) is set entirely in a claustrophobic hospital room where a male patient is confined. Throughout the film the room is invaded by a variety of strange people

In the modern village of the future, everything is mechanized, but the dreams of the village musician remain the same. He wants to become an artist. Thanks to the fact that an Art Nouveau goddess gave him a helping hand, Janko Muzykant saves his life and escapes from the village on a Pegasus.

In this haunting short fiction film, a group of Jewish children and their teacher are herded into an ambulance by Nazis; the vehicle, ordinarily representing comfort and safety, becomes the group’s death chamber. Morgenstern’s presentation of the incident serves as a metaphor for the horror of the Holocaust, and provides a powerful trigger for discussion of the disturbing issues raised by the film. The figure of the children's’ teacher specifically parallels Janusz Korcak (1879-1942), a famous Jewish educator who ran an orphanage in the Warsaw ghetto and died with his young charges at Treblinka.

Nikodem Dyzma is a poor dancer who comes to Warsaw to find a job. The problem is that nobody wants to hire him. One day he finds an invitation to the party with very important people and decides to attend. A small accident at the party makes him the hero of the night and becomes the beginning of his career.

Poland, during World War II. Martha Weiss, a Jewish woman, arrives at the Auschwitz extermination camp with her family. She is assigned the role of interpreter, but her loved ones are much less fortunate.

The first Wojciech J. Has (Saragossa manuscript) short film. Very simple and touching story about a boy who dreams about buying an accordion.