Virtual Festival – Film Competition
Films are not rated and are all subtitled in English. Films do not reflect views or opinions of the organizers and may include mature themes.
The organizers reserve the right to change the program without notice.
$12 general admission – available to purchase online and at the box office
$7 seniors and students – available to purchase only at the box office
$7 children’s program – available to purchase only at the box office
$20 family ticket for children’s program (4 or more) – available to purchase only at the box office
Free admission – documentaries and short films
Free admission – for UM students with valid ID
For a special FAQ for our virtual screenings please visit:
https://michtheater.org/virtual-streaming-faq-aapff
For technical support please email boxoffice@michtheater.org
For questions about the program you can contact us via Chat With Us on our website.
Droga życia/Path of Life
dir. Magdalena Raczkowska-Kazek, 2020, 30 min.
The story of three mothers raising adult children with Down’s syndrome. The different degrees of disability, the vulnerability and total dependence of adult children on their parents, the fear of the aging mothers for what will happen to their children after their death. That tremendous love and sacrifice juxtaposed with inadequate state support.
Historia człowieka, który uwolnił Tomasza Komendę/The Story of a Man Who Set Tomasz Komenda Free
dir. Grzegorz Głuszak, 2020, 30 min.
Tomasz Komenda was 23 years old when his life was brutally interrupted. Overnight, he was arrested, thrown into prison and charged with murder. For nearly two decades of imprisonment, he was beaten, threatened, humiliated and could count on no one but himself. Finally, after 18 years, several prosecutors and a policeman from the Central Investigation Bureau, Remigiusz Krajewo, came into his life.
Jeden dzień dłużej/One More Day
dir. Monika Meleń, 2021, 50 min.
Małgorzata and Krystian are an exceptional couple in every sense. She was born with progressive muscular atrophy, and he loves riding a motorcycle. But who says they cannot fulfil their dreams, especially when they do not have much time left? It is a film about mature love and everyday life with an incurable illness, a road movie and a personal travel diary at the same time.
Johanna Langefeld. Historia znikania/The Disappearance of Johanna Langefeld
dir. Władysław Jurków & Gerburg Rohde-Dahl,
2020, 52 min.
In 1947 in Kraków, the trial of the SS KL Auschwitz-Birkenau staff begins. Missing is the accused SS-Oberaufseherin Johanna Langefeld, the chief SS-guard of the women’s concentration camps. Langefeld disappeared from the Kraków prison in unclear circumstances before the trial. For many years, the story of Johanna Langefeld was kept secret. The authors of the film set off into the past to explain the mystery of the disappearance of the SS woman.
Opowieść o miłości/Love Story
dir. Rafał Bryll, 2021, 38 min.
The love story of a Jewish girl and a Pole during the World War II. Romantic moments, the hell of war and chilling events. Bogdan Jastrzębski, awarded the title “Righteous Among the Nations”, remembers the times of the war, when he fell in love with the Jewish girl, Krystyna Geisler, the love of his life. First dates, shy kisses, the drama of the Jews in the Częstochowa ghetto and a daring rescue action.
Piach/Sand
dir. Bartosz Tryzna & Monika Stpiczyńska, 2020, 16 min.
A day in the life of three road workers. Krzysztof talks about the work of a waltz operator, Jerzy is struggling with two dogs, and Zdzisław is angry because he did not get a day off. Three generations of blue-collar workers, three similar biographies against the background of contemporary Poland and its many problems.
Raisa/Raisa
dir. Dorota Migas-Mazur, 2020, 21 min.
The story of a woman from Chechnya, Raisa, who has fled with her children to Poland to escape her difficult past. By making a decision to leave, she breaks away from the traditional system in Chechnya. This is the only way she can show her objection to the oppressive rule in her country and to what she has suffered. She shares her life story with her Polish language teacher.
Wielki starch/The Fear
dir. Pawlina Carlucci Sforza, 2020, 28 min.
The story of the collective memory of killings that took place after World War II in the Dębrzyna forest in Poland. It was a time when people were returning from far-flung corners of the world. They had no idea that they might become victims of the attacks carried out by marauding bandits who had overrun the area. The residents of the nearby villages knew what was going on, but never intervened because, as they said themselves, they were “living in fear”.
Alicja i żabka/Alice and the Frog
dir. Olga Bołądź, 2020, 29 min.
A tale of growing up too quickly. This is the story of Alicja, a fourteen-year-old girl who gets pregnant. Terrified, she escapes into the world of her imagination. From then on, fantasy and reality intertwine. Not one person in the small town stands by Alicja and not one doctor is willing to carry out a legal abortion.
Czy potwory jedzą kiwi? /Do Monsters Eat Kiwi?
dir. Paweł Podolski, 2020, 28 min.
Tomek’s mother is in the hospital, his older brother nicks phones and his father is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. As if that weren’t enough,
a monster has made itself a home in his wardrobe. The monster is menacing, mysterious and rather greedy. Tomek is forced to think up a way to get rid of his unwanted guest before it gobbles up someone from his family.
Kamień/The Stone
dir. Bartosz Kozera, 2020, 26 min.
A nun who uses a wheelchair touches a rock in a park and is cured. In the archbishop’s eyes, the rock is far too secular an object for the Vatican to recognize the event as a miracle. The Mother Superior uses a bluff to convince the archbishop to pass the matter to higher echelons.
Kattowitz/Kattowitz
dir. Michał Piotrowski, 2020, 14 min.
In 1902, the great surrealist Hans Bellmer was born in Kattowitz, Germany. Less than twenty years later, the first exhibition of his work turns out to be a political and moral scandal – the young Bellmer is to be arrested by the police. However, Silesian insurgents
save him from oppression and make him an offer he cannot refuse, drawing him into the Polish-German battle for Katowice.
Mother Dear/Mother Dear
dir. Zuzanna Sorówka, 2020, 19 min.
Marianna’s life is steady. She is independent, has a good job and lives in a beautiful house. Her limited social needs are entirely satisfied by one close and much younger friend, Hela. One day, she answers an unexpected phone call and starts to realize that there’s no return to the well-organized life she has built over the years. To regain peace, she will have to face her troubled past.
TAK.BLISKO/CLOSE2U
dir. Marek Głuszczak, 2019, 26 min.
Timid Franek finds a new job in an online company. His task is to play attractive call girls and fortune tellers. This is the last chance to pay off his rent to a selfish landlord, Bronek. One day Franek discovers a sad secret of his landlord.
The Hero/The Hero
dir. Milena Dutkowska, 2021, 24 min.
Cyprian, 10 years old orphan, raised by his beloved grandmother, dreams to become a real hero. Suddenly his grandmother dies, and a threat of an orphanage hangs over Cyprian. Now he has to confront the real loss and realize what it means to be a hero in the face of suffering.
Uległość/Submission
dir. Michał Ciechomski, 2020, 26 min.
At a fishing competition, Piotr catches the most disgusting fish on the island. Since then, his life begins to change, but his island faces an apocalyptic end. Piotr will have to choose between his own best interest and that of his entire island community.