Zbigniew Zapasiewicz

In this mixture of fiction and documentary Krzysztof Zanussi invites a number of Poland’s great actors—Maja Komorowowska, Daniel Olbrychski, and Jan Nowicki—to "revisit" characters they played in the director's earlier works.

Francis Ratay witnesses the theft of church painting "Angel with violin". The entire incident recorded by an amateur camera. The thief turns out to Benedict Weber, gallery owner and art connoisseur. Francis comes to his gallery. Blackmails him, that will provide police record, unless the image in three days back in place.

A Polish ambassador (Zbigniew Zapasiewicz) finds his life falling into ruin following the death of his wife.

An examination of the relationship between an indecisive medical student and his fiancee.

Pawel Markowicz suffers from Stendhal syndrome and it is to Dr.Giordano that he tells his secret.

The story of a doctor named Tomasz who questions his beliefs, faith and morality as his end is near, so he makes all efforts to find dignity in his imminent death.

An idealistic scientist is encouraged by his wife to use his good looks to get ahead, but his new job carries with it temptations and traps.

A detachment of the Polish IFOR forces in Bosnia is led by Major Keller, who is being investigated for insubordination during a patrol in Srebrenica. The investigation is to be led by two arriving officers - Lieutenant Czacki and Major Kusz who will also replace Keller as CO. When the camp's RTO receives a communication from a downed Norwegian chopper, Keller ignores his standing orders and leads a platoon to rescue the crew.

In good old days Franz Maurer and his partners from secret police used to live like kings. Now, they all must adapt to new post-communist environment where they are scorned and losing all the privileges. Some, like Franz, are like ordinary police fighting against drug dealers. But Franz would soon find that some of his friends are on the other side.

A story of high-ranking party members from the 1970s embroiled in political deception.

Jacek, an angry drifter, murders a taxi driver, brutally and without motive. His case is assigned to Piotr, an idealistic young lawyer who is morally opposed to the death penalty, and their interactions take on an emotional honesty that throws into stark relief for Piotr the injustice of killing of any kind.

In a border town two sons of the local commander using stolen arms take hostages of eighteen girls in a dormitory, because they want to go West by plane.

Quando um jovem polonês desempregado, obcecado pela violência, mata friamente um motorista de taxi, um advogado recém-formado é designado para defendê-lo. Kieslowski demonstra através dos três protagonistas a anatomia de um crime e os meandros da justiça de um Estado totalitário.

Witek, um estudante de medicina, pede uma licença de um ano da faculdade após a morte de seu pai, para repensar sua vocação; ele decide viajar para Varsóvia, mas enquanto corre para tentar alcançar o trem na estação, três possíveis eventos acontecem.

On a single day the fate of three couples are joined and some of them sealed.

Laura is personnel manager in a hospital. Her father-in-law was a high ranking cadre, her mother-in-law is an influential functionary, it is only her husband - director of an archives - who is unfit for everything. Laura does not like to be home. During one of her rovings she meets her former classmate, who wants to break into the world of pop music with a new band.

Made in 1982, shelved for five years. Story opens with Lucja Krol's husband under the tram. She gives birth to her fourth son on the floor of their new apartment. Neighbor Wiktor, a communist intellectual, befriends the poverty-stricken family but is soon arrested and sent to jail. During the war Lucja narrowly escapes a Nazi roundup at the black market. Her sons hold ardent Communist meetings in their apartment, with her blessing. Lucja works hard, but without complaint. After the war, Klemens is inexplicably arrested, accused by the new regime of being a collaborator. Wiktor, now a high-ranking party member, trying to defend him, himself falls into disgrace. Klemens is tortured to "confess" and dies in jail, a Communist to the end. Lucja is never told about his fate.

Set in military barracks in a small town during World War I. The soldiers herded in the barracks are 'politically suspect' mix of characters from all over of the Austro-Hungarian Empire: Czechs, Jews, and even Italians, but officers in charge are Germans. A new lieutenant arrives with the mission to bring order to the unit. He is the sadist, enjoying humiliating the men. Fed up with his behaviour the lower ranks kidnap him one night and string him up in a public toilet. They also make sure that he fouls up during the inspection. Eventually the five ring leaders are imprisoned. They escape and end up in Budapest posing as guards as guards of veterinary surgeons. They are caught and sent back to face a court martial and their old tormentor.

A documentary in which a picture of pre-war Poznan is reconstructed with the help of archival materials from regional collections and staging. The structural axis of the film is a radio broadcast from August 1939 with the participation of well-known and respected residents of the city, who answer the question: is there going to be a war?

In 1969 a young writer decides to write an essay on a well known Polish writer, who had to leave the country in the 50's, later living, working and dying in exile. He slowly assembles the character and even the exterior appearances of his idol until his own identity tragically disappears.

Shortly after World War II an American soldier (Norman) and a Polish refugee (Emilia) fall in love. Eventually he will return to the U.S. and both expect that she will soon follow him with her mother. Emilia's mother is sick, but will recover with the right medicine. But the mother, and not Emilia, knows that there will only be one ticket...

Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi once more explores the dilemma of intellectualism at the expense of humanity in 1982's Imperative. The story concerns math professor Robert Powell, who feels that there is something lacking in his ever-so-precise life. What is missing is truth, specifically philosophical truth. Thus he philosophizes at great length, allowing director Zanussi plenty of room for didactic but little room for warmth. Leading ladies Brigette Fossey and Leslie Caron occasionally melt through the cold logic of Imperative.

A young architect is locked up in prison. He recalls his uncompromising youth and gradual sliding into the moral swamp of compromises. He was not alone. A group of his friends, dreamers and glass house builders, accompanied him.

This heroic story follows the life of Karol Wojtyla, a Polish Roman catholic who ascends the throne of St. Peter as Pope John Paul II. As a young boy, Karol is a bright and talented student. Archbishop Sapieha recognizes the very special, moving qualities Karol possesses and encourages him to consider the priesthood. Although determined to study Polish literature, Karol turns to the church; he is ordained and studies in Italy, France, and Belgium. Torn by fear and repression in post-Stalin Eastern Europe, Karol becomes a poisonous thorn in the communists' side. His deer reverence and commitment return him to Poland as Pope John Paul II.

The film is set in 1905, in a time of feverish revolutionary underground activity in Poland partitioned between three neighbours. All the characters are committed anarchists. The bomb maker puts an invention together to place it at the disposal of young inexperienced terrorists fighting against Tsarist oppression. The story follows the passing of this bomb from anarchist to anarchist as several attempts are made on the life of Tsarist governor general, until, at the end, it is effectively and harmlessly defused by a bomb expert. The presence of the bomb has a destroying effect on all of the Polish revolutionaries, they either die or breakdown.

Set in 1905. The story focuses on a young and inexperienced man in a revolutionary execution squad. He does his killing job out of idealism, and for the love of a woman. The young student murders a Russian spy and is afterwards arrested by the police. Much to his surprise he is released after a session with the traitor-judge, hinting at some leaks in the organisation. Student reports his suspicions back to the organisation, but in response is given a new hit mission.

Bearing traces of the old Anton Chekhov play The Wedding, The Contract is set during an "arranged" ceremony. The bride and groom barely know each other, but this matters not at all to their tradition-bound families. At the last minute, the bride balks. Only slightly nonplused, the groom's father, a status-seeking doctor, decides to go ahead with the expensive reception anyway. Polish director Krzysz Zanussi uses this scenario to stick it to capitalist corruption, and to society's destruction of the individual spirit. Leslie Caron, the one recognizable member of the cast, is outstanding as a wealthy, over-the-hill ballerina who happens to be a kleptomaniac.

A well-regarded engineer in a big enterprise is hounded by trumped up attacks on his integrity when he delves too deeply into how bonuses are handled by the management. He gets into an argument with the guard, is arrested and subsequently fired. An old friend, a journalist, tries to sort things out but the victim's stubbornness and past problems with his wife lead to lossess by both.

An adaptation of Franz Kafka's "The Trial"

Friedrich is a wealthy, handsome German soldier fighting in World War II. His unit is stationed in Poland and occupies the estate of Countess Elzbieta. Forced to remain in her presence, Friedrich begins to pursue Elzbieta out of boredom.

Set in the late '20s. A thirtyish young man, who heads a small factory, faints at the funeral of a close friend. He decides to go home to his aunt and uncle for a while, but gets involved with a family of five women who had been in love with him at one time though he had apparently loved only one, who, unknown to him, has died since his departure. The women are mainly disillusioned with life or estranged from husbands while the youngest has a crush on him.

The film is set toward the beginning of World War II, at a psychiatric hospital in the country. But this is an unusual hospital: there are several incurable schizophrenic cases, staff is bit strange and a writer has voluntarily entered the clinic because he is "peculiar" and a drug addict. Then, the occupying forces arrive...

A famous Polish journalist presents a problem for the powers-that-be when he displays his full political skill and knowledge on a television show featuring questions and answers on a world conference by a panel of journalists. His enemies take away his privileges when he is away. The shock of being "unwanted" parallels a deeper disappointment in his private life: his wife has an affair with a jealous young rival, and after 15 years of marriage and two daughters wants a divorce. She offers no explanations as he tries to untie these problems himself. All the moves he makes are the wrong ones. He takes on drinking heavily with students eager to attend his seminar after discovering the class has been canceled. The journalist, once suave and commanding is reduced to silence.

1846. Edward Dembowski takes part in the Krakow Uprising.

Um retrato dramático e perversamente subversivo do tenso conflito entre alunos e professores em um curso de verão de linguística. Krzysztof Zanussi oferece uma crítica sutil, mas forte, à política do Partido Comunista e da precariedade do sucesso em uma sociedade socialista.

Andrzej and Grzegorz are students of Warsaw Conservatory and preparing for the International Piano Competition. Eva - a beautiful Grzegorz's girlfriend is seriously ill, the doctors suspect she has brain cancer. Even for the sake of health and life of his beloved Grzegorz disagrees to miss even a single day of preparation for the contest. Andrzej has a girlfriend Zosia (the daughter of a professor of music), but the young pianist falls in love with Grzegorz's girlfriend and takes care of the sick Eve.

A man is tried in court for failing to help his brother to avoid suicide.

O filme começa com Eva se confessando com um padre e sendo advertida por ele sobre os pecados cometidos pelos pensamentos impuros. Em seguida vemos a família de Eva, em dificuldades financeiras, decidindo alugar um quarto. Lukasz Niepolomski, o inquilino, desperta uma paixão arrebatadora em Eva e os dois se envolvem em um romance proibido já que o rapaz era casado. Impedido de se divorciar, Lukasz passa a viver com Eva. Depois de se envolver numa briga, é desafiado a um duelo onde é ferido no pulmão. Sozinha e sem muitas perspectivas, Eva, que estava grávida, decide afogar o bebê após o parto. A partir deste momento uma sucessão de acontecimentos parecem afastá-la cada vez mais de Lukasz. Passo a passo Eva vai desconstruindo o sonho e mergulhando em um pesadelo sombrio que a levará inevitávelmente à tragédia.

Matylda reflects on her life on her 30th birthday.

The Polish film based on the book of the same name by Wladyslaw Reymont. Taking place in the nineteenth century town of Łódź, Poland, three friends want to make a lot of money by building and investing in a textile factory. An exceptional portrait of rapid industrial expansion shown through the eyes of one Polish town.

Accomplished playwright supervises the stage rehearsals for his new play away from home. He rents a room at a private house, which is owned by mother and daughter. Wiktor gets entangled in the two women's bizarre relationship.

A biology professor, Adam, after several dizzy spells, enters a hospital for observation. He is a loner and a serious-minded man, who dislikes any display of emotions. He spends three months in the hospital while being tested. After observing patients and hospital routines around him from a distance, he learns that he will need a kidney transplant. Meanwhile his personal and professional life is falling apart: he refuses his wife's offer to donate the kidney for him; the scientific problem he was working on has been solved elsewhere. In the end Adam cracks under the prolonged pressure, waiting for the sound of an ambulance bringing a moribund patient whose kidney may be used for the transplant.

Jan is a young assistant professor in chemistry and a workaholic, Anna is an unsuccessful science writer who turns to Jan for advice and human compassion, but Jan, absorbed with his career, remains immune to Anna's clumsy efforts to pierce his defenses.

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

A thriller about Polish Intelligence Service working on detecting a net of foreign spies.