Krzysztof Komeda

A feature- length documentary on the life and work of jazz musician and composer Krzysztof Komeda.

Krzysztof Komeda was a jazz pianist and film composer. With compositions like the lullaby for Rosemary's Baby (1968) by Roman Polanski, Komeda succeeded in writing his own chapter in the history of soundtracks. This documentary follows the life story of the composer by the means of his melodic sounds. It is a reflection on his soundtracks, which changed the common film scores forever. It is a contemporary document about the attitude to life in a time of social, political and cultural change after war, about work and exodus of Polish artists in the 50s and 60s. A story about how film music is created and how it affects people. Directors who worked with Komeda and who are also friends talk about him: Roman Polanski, Jerzy Skolimowski, Henning Carlsen and Andrzej Wajda. His wife, Zofia Komeda, and his sister, Irena Orlowska, recollect him.

The reunion of a group of former medical students results in a flood of bitter memories.

A riot in a state prison is staged to cover up an escape attempt, during which many inmates and guards are killed. Shot on location at Arizona State Prison.

Um jovem casal se muda para um apartamento em Nova York para começar uma família. As coisas ficam assustadoras quando Rosemary começa a suspeitar que seu futuro bebê não está seguro ao lado dos seus estranhos vizinhos.

A dancer and a Danish student meet on a train; she is going on tour to Rio, and he decides to follow her. Based on the novel by Jens August Schade.

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

A young Belgian car nut and hairdresser's apprentice attempts to get a Porsche by all means for his nearing debut race and meets a girl in the same time.

O famoso professor Abronsius (Jack MacGowran) e seu desastrado assistente Alfred (Roman Polanski) viajam para a remota Transilvânia para pesquisar vampiros. Eles são hospedados em uma pousada por Shagal e, logo, o tímido Alfred se apaixona por Sarah, a filha de cabelos ruivos. Quando Sarah é sequestrada pelo misterioso conde von Krolock, o professor Abronsius e Alfred dirigem-se para o seu assustador castelo. A dupla de cientistas é recebida pelo conde e pelo seu alegre filho Herbert que os convidam para um baile de vampiros logo mais a noite.

A dream-like meditation on post-industrial life in Communist Poland.

The protagonist dreams of a better life, and his dreams take the form of colorful magazines.

In 1890, Pontus, the starving writer, wanders the streets of Christiania, in search of love and a chance to get his work published. All he meets is defeat and suffering while his sense of reality is withering. One moment he is delighted and the next he curses everybody. All the time he manages to maintain human dignity and pride.

Um criminoso ferido e seu parceiro moribundo se refugiam em um castelo à beira-mar. Os proprietários do castelo, um calmo inglês e sua esposa francesa, estão inicialmente relutantes em ser os anfitriões dos criminosos. Rapidamente, no entanto, as relações entre o criminoso, a esposa e o inglês começam a mudar de forma humorística e bizarra. (e 16 - Estimado 16 Anos)

A famous Polish conductor meets a young Polish student in Czechoslovakia and pretends to be Czech to impress her.

A man's surreal search for a woman named Eva on Christmas Eve.

A daughter of a furniture seller helps her father’s business by promising a marriage to the customers.

Allegorical animated short about the power of creation and destruction. An unknown man carries a wicker basket filled with elements resembling human figures. After their combination the small creatures are come to life. The creator tries to force them to listen. As a result of refusal, a conflict arises.

Set in the time of Napoleon wars, shows how the wars swept over the unfortunate Polish country at the beginning of the XIX-th century. Story revolves around the Polish legion under command of General Dabrowski, who then fought on Napoleon's side with the hopes of Poland's revival.

A film grotesque whose protagonist is a poor clerk lost in the modern world. He buys a trumpet to express his personality via music.

A group of women are workmates at a laundry. Rike is spreading a rumor about the manager Marta, a rumor that Marta is a lesbian and that she once tried to seduce Rike. This leads to an explosive situation at the workplace.

A sly critique of the communist regime in Poland, one of the carefree participants disrupts a patriotic march by retrieving a collection of unnecessary "bourgeois" items from inside his head. It introduces the disunity in their ranks as everyone starts playing with objects brought by him.

The reminiscences of a Russian pilot, shot down over Poland during the war, of his first great love there.

At the end of World War Two, Polish people move to the western lands vacated by Germans. But some ruthless profiteers pose as government representatives and intend to make off with loot from a deserted town they took over. One honest man stands up against them because he believes these goods belong to the people.

Five swindle stories, taking place in five international cities: Tokyo, Japan ("Fumiko's Five Benefactors" by Hiromichi Horikawa); Amsterdam, The Netherlands ("A River of Diamonds" by Roman Polanski); Naples, Italy ("The Road Map" by Ugo Gregoretti); Paris, France ("The Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower" by Claude Chabrol); and Marrakesh, Morocco ("The Confidence Man" by Jean-Luc Godard). Godard's segment was not included in the original French cinema release, and Polanski's segment was not included on the 2016 home disc release.

After years of working in the city, Róża returns to the countryside. The property she has accumulated draws the attention of local bachelors.

The film shows the tedious process of inspection and maintenance of passenger cars. To the accompaniment of jazz music, we get to know the hardships of the employees of the railway. A request for respect for their work addressed to passengers is the main message of the image.

A modest and plain young Małgorzata leads a very boring life as a cashier. One day a robber riddles her bank car with bullets, kills driver and two security guards and takes the money. The police finds out that the stolen banknotes are being spent at a fashionable spa resort. The only way to find the criminal is to favor Małgorzata with a seaside holiday in the company of a handsome Captain as her "brother"...

A young teenager from the provinces comes to Warsaw to find her relations. But she has many adventures instead.

A young man, Kuba, is returning from the army. At home, an image of misery and despair remains: the father is seriously ill, and the mother has become emotionally attached to the man who exploits her and intends to take over the farm. After the death of his father, the young man guards the farm, but his girlfriend leaves him. Unable to bear the atmosphere of envy and resentment, Kuba leaves for the city.

A young couple goes for a car ride. As a result of careless driving, an accident occurs.

"Waiting for Godot" on ice and snow, without words. Against a barren winter landscape, a figure approaches: it's a man, pulling a small sleigh on which another man sits, plucking a dead bird. They stop to trade places; the one now on the sleigh takes out his knitting. Accidents, misunderstandings, disagreements, and an outright fight await our absurd protagonists as their trip to nowhere continues, first with one pulling, then the other. What if they were to lose the sleigh? What rules of civilization and partnership would guide them then?

A boy awaits the return of his long-absent emigre father but is disappointed when they finally meet.

A budding playwright is thrilled to find out that his play will be performed at a prestigious theater, but a series of problems pile up, along with the general feeling that opening night will be disastrous.

Um casal quase atropela um jovem de 19 anos numa estrada e acaba oferecendo uma carona para o rapaz, convidando-o também a passar o dia velejando. A partir daí, estabelece-se uma disputa entre os dois homens, mediada pela mulher.

Film starring Wienczyslaw Glinski, Lidia Korsakówna and Grzegorz Roman

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.

A small and thin barefoot slave (played by Polanski) plays a flute and beats a drum to entertain his large master who rocks in a rocking chair in front of his mansion. The slave jumps and leaps like a madman, wipes his master's brow, feeds him, washes his feet, shades him from the sun with an umbrella and holds a urinal for him.

A quarry worker falls in love with a practicing doctor.

A young doctor is tired of being sought by women. One night he meets a young girl who all but forces herself into his room where they talk of morals and love. But he loses her when he goes out to see some friends and then rushes madly around the city after her.

A young doctor is tired of being sought by women. One night he meets a young girl who all but forces herself into his room where they talk of morals and love. But he loses her when he goes out to see some friends and then rushes madly around the city after her.

Jacek is a handsome, charming young Pole who belongs to a drama company. One day, in the streets of Gdansk, he meets Marguerite, a beautiful, charming French girl. He falls for her but the young lady is whimsical...

Jacek is a handsome, charming young Pole who belongs to a drama company. One day, in the streets of Gdansk, he meets Marguerite, a beautiful, charming French girl. He falls for her but the young lady is whimsical...

To convince the prison warden against releasing him, a middle-aged Polish man recounts his life, one he considers to have been characterized by exceptionally bad luck.

The twenty-one-minute-film is set in a men's public rest room and recounts the day to day existence of an elderly woman who serves as an attendant in the lavatory. As an endless procession of men pass before her, relieving themselves in the urinals, the attendant escapes her reality by daydreaming about the past and the soldier she once loved and the child she bore him.

A short Polish black and white silent movie directed by Roman Polański. The film features two men who emerge from the sea carrying a large wardrobe, which they proceed to carry into a town. Carrying the wardrobe, the two encounter a series of hostile events, including being attacked by a group of youths (one of whom is played by Polanski himself). Finally, they arrive back at a beach and then disappear in the sea.

The first Polish film about jazz and, at the same time, an unusual documentary record of a concert of two legendary music bands: Hot Club Melomani and The Komeda Sextet.