WARSAW JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL / KAMERA DAWIDA ONLINE

EINSAME HELDEN

Recommended. Thorough and insightful. You learn everything you might want to know about Germans who saved Jews during the war and what happened to both parties afterwards. All in just 45 minutes. There's a lot of psychology, e.g. prostitutes, being socially excluded too, helped Jews regularly. The documentary also explains why some of the holocaust survivors couldn't stand living in Germany after the war and why others could. It's also a grim but comprehensive picture of German society which in a larger part internalized Nazi values to the point of seeing the helpers as traitors even after the fall of the Nazis. 

תמונת ניצחון (IMAGE OF VICTORY)

Watchable. The 25-minute documentary presents an excerpt from the Israeli-Palestinian war: an accidental hero of a military action which cost several thousand lives, mostly Palestinian, and many more thousand wounded. The guy, suffering from enormous pains, is presented cheerfully - mostly smiling and joking - he's become a celebrity. He's in a state-of-art rehabilitation centre, surrounded by friends and well-wishers all the time, visited by a minister, a supermodel (Bar Refaeli) and several musicians. The upmarket health service, the esteem soldiers enjoy and the high level of community tie-ins - he's never alone, even in hospital - all look exotic to a Polish viewer. At the same time you notice how much marketing is involved in the promotion of the deadly conflict. And that's it. Pleasant to watch but shallow. 

WARSAW JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL / KAMERA DAWIDA ONLINE

החטאים (PAST LIFE)

Recommended. Gripping from early minutes when girls hear their father is a murderer. The digging is intriguing. But it's more than just a thriller speeding the blood in your veins. It's phenomenally acted all round. And the underlying issues of trust, grief, remorses, blame, unspoken experiences of a whole generation add an edge. Leaves some food for thought. 

Watching the WJFF online lets you fast forward to the movie skipping the 4 minutes of commercials. But the whole movie sometimes gets stuck and you have to refresh a few times.

WARSAW JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL / KAMERA DAWIDA ONLINE

With more than 40 movies available this year, most in 48-hour blocks, I'm picking them at random.

LOVE RITUALS IN ISRAEL

Watchable. An investigative type of documentary which I love the most. And yes, I did learn a lot about the Israeli concept of love and family - Israel turns out to combine tradition with modernity and religious rigidity with liberalism remarkably well - but, at just 44 minutes, it's too short and I felt let down by its sudden ending. I wish the woman continued her digging. 

SIMPLE THINGS

Recommended. A truly touching documentary, also about getting married, so much in line with the previous film, but a corker. This one, 30-minute long, focuses on one person only, a 37-year-old told by a match-maker not to go but to "run" to find a husband, the story of her having been to 100 dates is moving, mostly due to the endearing protagonist: beautiful, even if overweight, smart, warmhearted and disheartened. Then a miracle happens. 

GANEF

Watchable. A 14-minute actors' film. Starts well, disappoints later. Intriguing as you are dying to know what's in the bags but I the rest isn't very clear. It shows a child's perspective differing from adults' but what message is it actually trying to convey?

HUMAN DOC FESTIVAL ONLINE

I was going to preview the documentaries before the festival. I've found 24 films I haven't seen yet. In fact, I can only skip "Oni nie znają naszej sztuki" ("They don’t know our art. Graffiti in Kenya") from last year's Afrykamera which I saw and reviewed then. However, for technical reasons, I haven't been able to start watching those films yet. 

UKRAINA! FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE

Here too, I'm waiting for a chance to catch up with one last movie of the festival - extended till the end of the month. In the meantime, I've decided to some up this year's event. Firstly, the contents: 21st century and just behind our border a war has been going on for 5 years. The festival brings it home reminding us over and over again about lives in a war zone. Hard to imagine for most Europeans and it's a daily bread for several young people whose lives have been irreversibly changed by politics somewhere high above them, unnoticeable to them while they're just continuing the struggle day by day. Secondly, the viewing experience: all movies are loud, perfectly audible from a computer without extra loudspeakers. Subtitles look best when placed on a black backdrop below the picture which isn't always the case so reading them is a problem at times. I skipped meetings and, on top of movies, tried to enjoy the gig - didn't quite work out though, I couldn't stand Gordiy Starukh's music.

FISHEYE

Watchable. Barely. It drags so badly I kept counting the minutes of the film. While the set-up of being kidnapped and locked up while close ones don't know where the person has vanished is, by rule of thumb, a perfect thriller setting. Instead you get a quirky and somewhat disturbing psychological drama about a few severely disturbed individuals, most of them scientists - hardly plausible. Poorly acted - no good role in the whole cast and ineptly shot - everyone looks ugly and the interiors are often overlit. The setting where she's locked-up right next to her flat was intriguing enough for me to endure watching till the end. 3 scriptwriters, 4 script doctors, psychotherapy consultants on top of that, developed within some special Nowe Horyzonty program and such a result? Shame on everyone.

Reviewed from an online screener, cinematic reception might differ.

UKRAINA! FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE

The festival has been extended till the end of November. Below my penultimate movie. Now I'm dead knackered after a series of nearly sleepless nights and won't see the last one before tomorrow.

ПРОЩАННЯ ЗІ СТАЛІНИМ (STATE FUNERAL)

Watchable. Long but the sheer sight of staggering numbers of participants nails you to the screen. It also lets you experience what it was like to live under communism when organized mass public events were a rule and the scarcity of goods made everyone and everything look shabby. The documentary is monumental. Roughly 2.5 hours showing the announcement of the death - unexpectedly long and medically detailed - and the funeral spreading over several cities in a number of Soviet Republics. Shabby coats both of the common folks and of the dignitaries remind you of the post-war deprivation but also magnify the impression of equality people must have had at the time. Funnily, apart from delegates from countries like China, there were also representatives of a communist party from Britain. The coffin was red. Of course. The gigantic funeral makes you wonder how many of the attendees and organizers knew of the unspeakable crimes committed on the orders of the deceased. There's little sobbing. Most of the gathered listen and stare as if dumb. In one of the last speeches Beria warns of enemies of the state. But after that you hear a Russian lullaby played aloud which is moving and heart-warming, as if the dead was a little child. It's only in the written notice at the end that you hear of the 15 million who died of hunger and 27 million executed or tortured under Stalin's rule. 

UKRAINA! FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE

STRIP AND WAR

Watchable. Belarusian, not Ukrainian, and all the more fascinating for it. A clash of cultures and worldviews: an elderly former pioneer and communist activist believing in military values and engineering professions lives with his stripper grandson believing in money, his own brand and creativity. Tanks and Lukashenko in the background. A bizarre view of life in Minsk. Both protagonists are competent in what they do. One is a war veteran, the other a muscled and extremely fit dancer so it's easy to appreciate both. The director has chosen to present not only the stripper's body but also his ailing grandfather's which connects the two and divides them at the same time. The film is not particularly insightful but enjoyable nevertheless.

UKRAINA! FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE

U311 ЧЕРКАСИ (U311 CHERKASY)

Watchable. The drama about Ukrainian resistance against Russia during the invasion on Crimea in 2014 is shot so professionally, not only in terms of the picture and sound quality but also of story-telling, it resembles... Russian cinema. Minor faults of the script and editing make some political, military and technical aspects impermeable to outsiders. But the human dilemma: patriotism vs. 4 times the wage when you've been poverty-stricken all your life and the personal drama are lucid. The film was consulted with the navy so I have no reasons not to trust the depiction of an army consisting of ignorant amateurs who often lack solidarity, empathy, skills, reason, discipline, who failed miserably. 

The subtitles, especially English ones, were quite small. And the Polish translation had a few more curse words than the original. The English version didn't.

SERGEI LOZNITSA SHORT FILMS

ОДНА НІЧ В ОПЕРІ / UNE NUIT À L’OPÉRA (A NIGHT AT THE OPERA)

Watchable. It's mostly black and white, with just one shot in colour in the middle, but manages to capture the splendour of the Opera Garnier - it shines, mostly owing to the jewellery worn at the opera nights. The roughly 20-minute film compiles the greats of mid-20th-century walking up the steep stairs and sitting in the seemingly small hall listening to and watching various performances. It's fun, you'd just love to join them. That one colourful shot inserted in the middle, however, shows how much you miss when the film is black and white.

СТАРИЙ ЄВРЕЙСЬКИЙ ЦВИНТАР (THE OLD JEWISH CEMETARY)

Watchable. Another 20-minute long black and white film with a smart use of light. Pleasant, showing how life has renewed itself on the old massive burial ground. Life always goes on. Nothing revelatory but with no words spoken, just the sounds of nature in the park, it's soothing.

ЛИСТ/ ПИСЬМО (LETTER)

Switched off. Quiet life in a village. Nothing much happens. Blurred black and white picture. 

The three shorts with no dialogues were easy to watch, no struggle with the size or visibility of subtitles.

ДОДОМУ / EVGE (HOMEWARD)

Watchable. No respect for dead bodies, pervasive corruption, derelict towns - ugly Ukraine.  But beautifully filmed, especially the finale at sunrise. The unsightly reality of Ukraine is juxtaposed with traditional Tatar values. And the story of a father-son reunion and reconciliation is engaging, as is the Tatar background. Akhtem Seitablayev excels as the tough Crimean father. The story has numerous twists and turns since the men's road is ridden with adventures. Not everything is comprehensible to outsiders regarding Tatars' history or modern day check points but most is easy to follow. Modern day adventure movie. 

Perfectly legible subtitles. Easy to read on a laptop screen from a distance.

UKRAINA! FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE

ЧОРНИЙ ВОРОН (BLACK RAVEN)

Switched off. Typical Eastern European historical drama: dull, gloomy, no tension, required knowledge of history to understand the movie. More often than not there's no music whatsoever so nothing builds up suspense, even artificially.

АУСТЕРЛІЦ (AUSTERLITZ)

Switched off. A 94-minute dodumentary in which you just watch crowds of tourists visiting Auschwitz. 

RELIC

Watchable. In the first act, you deal with the fear of your mother having Alzheimer's. In the second act, it's the fear of mould on the walls of a derelict house, leaks and claustrophobia - the highest dose of adrenaline. In the third act, the fear of a deranged family member inflicting violence on you. The finale of this horror-drama is a weird and disturbing scene of not letting go. It's repulsive more than scary. But unpredictability and slowly mounting tension keep you glued to the screen.

UKRAINA! FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE

ЗЕМЛЯ (EARTH) 

Switched off. An actors' feature shot in the USSR in 1930. What was a current conflict to the contemporaries, is awfully outdated 90 years later. Not involving in the slightest.

CATS & DOGS 3: PAWS UNITE!

Watchable. Very pleasant - both the human and the animal characters, endearingly acted. Great dialogues. A few things detract from the pleasure though. Firstly, the plot with a villain causing havoc feels weary as a rule and the robot dog was neither convincing nor matching the rest of the animal story. Secondly, some lines were on the disgusting side, too much focus on excretions. Lastly, mediocre dubbing in both languages: original and translated - in Poland, it's available in Polish only. But it was a heart-warming story enough for me to try and catch up with part 1 and 2 which I haven't seen at all. And it changed my view of animals. Suddenly the dogs I saw in the yard on my way back home seemed somewhat different, I became more aware of their body language. 

UKRAINA! FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE

ВІДДАНА (VIDDANA)

Watchable. A period drama where the mistress's beauty embellished by elaborate dresses and hairstyles, other characters' costumes as well as the set decoration, though resembling theatrical scenography, are eye-catching. The story, based on a book I haven't read or even heard of, is engaging, with a handful of surprises in the plot, but not entirely clear. I had a feeling the book was cut short where more background was needed. All this bright representation conceals a psychological drama as twisted as the trees bound together and referred to in the story. Far-fetched but kind of magical. An enchanting song runs over the end credits. 

The movie had the best subtitles so far - the only ones I could see from a distance. 

НОМЕРИ (NUMBERS)

Watchable. I've seen a documentary about Oleg Sentsov, now time has come to see a film written and, remotely, in over 100 letters, directed by him. It's a damn smart metaphor of Christianity, of a totalitarian state and of a lager since all three are ruled the same way. Each line is strikingly clever and thought through. Sadly, it's filmed theatre. If a film location had been used it would have made a hell of a difference.

THE EARTH IS BLUE AS AN ORANGE

Switched off. Bringing up children - of whatever age - is boring and living in a war zone doesn't make it any more interesting. The documentary could do with more dynamic cutting too. And a title in correct English.

Mojeekino.pl stutters which slows down each movie to the point it lasts on average 1/6 longer than its stated running time.

UKRAINA! FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE

SHORT FILMS

ЗНЕБАРВЛЕНА (DESATURATED)

Watchable. On the one hand it's a failure because the 10 minutes film feel lengthy but on the other it's tongue in cheek since the protagonists know they are in a movie and dread the end credits that "no one stays for". The order to wear non-depressive colours is an ingenious film idea deserving a more complete story.

КОЛООБІГ (CIRCULATION)

Watchable. A rail-view of Kiev: poverty, derelict buildings and industrial plants. Uninspiring but I'm happy I saw it from the comfort of my home.

ЗОНҐ (ZONG)

Watchable. An artistic way of presenting an environmental topic. The form is dismal which makes watching dull but reflects the topic well. The final message of how draining bogs increases greenhouse gases release to the atmosphere by 20% is the most interesting.

ДРУГИЙ ФРОНТ. ІСТОРІЇ ЛҐБТ-ВІЙСЬКОВИХ (THE SECOND FRONT. STORIES OF LGBT SOLDIERS)

Watchable. 4 short stories cover a range of topics: LGBT people's personal safety, sex change operations and life at war. The war has disappeared from foreign media but has been going on for more than 5 years now - there's clearly a generation growing for who it's a way of life. Worth seeing to update yourself on the situation in the region but there's nothing truly vital.

The whole set provided such a variety of topics, genres and narrative styles it was kind of fascinating.

IN THE TRAP

Walked out. Not much of a trap, is it? First you get some childish spooks. Next a family drama - the decently looking kid grew up into a surprisingly ugly adult. Soon comes a possession and an exorcism. But ominous music, fast, stumping steps in the house and the man's girlfriend acting crazy rather than possessed weren't scary in the slightest. And ugly protagonists, poorly acted in that, don't entice you either. 

A second unscary horror today. Seriously, these days riding a crowded bus induces more fear.

COME PLAY

Walked out. I came but left in the middle having decided not to play interested. I felt calm watching the movie and it was supposed to be a horror. Instead it's a family drama about an autistic kid bullied by school mates. Minor jump scares are caused by sudden loud noises - occasional apparitions are so lame no adult will be afraid. The monster roars and groans from minute one but does it in a manner resembling a large pussy cat. Heavy stumping won't frighten anyone living in a block of flats. Burnt light bulbs and fuses are ridiculed even by the child protagonists. Squeaky wardrobes and a book making a scary tale come to life are such exploited tropes they simply don't work. The film just keeps you hanging on for something to happen but it never does. And the realistic layer is so shallow it won't hook you either. 

UKRAINA! FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE

НЕ ХВИЛЮЙСЯ, ДВЕРІ ВІДЧИНЯТЬСЯ (DON'T WORRY, THE DOORS WILL OPEN)

Watchable. An interesting travelogue with an impressive range of protagonists. The documentary covers South-Western Railway. In comparison to Poland, Ukraine appears as if stuck in the 90s. And poorer than the Polish 90s because there are no fortunes in sight. Crime, in turn, is. The travelling, often for vending work, people's experiences resemble Polish ones of the transformation period. But the rail is also a scene of deadly, often gruesome accidents recounted by its workers.The whole film is well-balanced. It's cut in a way which renders the film comprehensive, comprehensible and absorbing simultaneously.

UKRAINA! FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE

CONTEMPORARY UKRAINIAN ANIMATION

ІСТОРІЯ УКРАЇНИ ЗА 5 ХВИЛИН (UKRAINE'S HISTORY IN 5 MINUTES)

Watchable. A rapped music video listing the main events in the history of Ukraine, most of which are unknown to outsiders and mentioned by name only. Animation-wise, historical figures appear one by one and look like paper cut-outs. The whole thing refreshes your knowledge where existent but is too fast to learn anything new. The music is mediocre.

ПЕРЕВТІЛЕННЯ (METAMORPHOSIS)

Watchable. Kafka's adaptation where the man changes not into a cockroach but into a tick and the tale is presented from his family's point of view, not his own. The animation's black-grey-white with spots of red. Pretty comprehensible apart from the final scene which becomes a guesswork as to what's happened.

ПОКИ НЕ СТАНЕ ЧОРНИМ (UNTIL IT TURNS BLACK)

Watchable. Original since it's in Japanese.The town consisting of drawings mixed with objects looks great but the main character doll without a face is awkward, even with the lovely transparent umbrella. It looks like a school etude showcasing a variety of animation styles which, to an ordinary viewer, are overwhelming in such a short film (6'23").

ELOHIM – METAMORPHINE

Watchable. Pleasant pop music and video. Attractive, especially the song, with matching visuals. But this animation doesn't stand out.

ПЕТРІВКА-РЕКВІЄМ (PETRIVKA-REQUIEM)

Watchable. Fascinating electro music and ingenious combinations of animation techniques with stories, especially the one stylised for an 80s computer game. Lacks cohesion though. Too many tales within 5'16".

СУРОГАТ (THE SURROGATE)

Watchable. All characters look ugly, even the dog. The story's of a crime which is fascinating, even if the woman's reaction is inexplicable.

ПУПОВИНА (THE CORD)

Recommended. A powerful, even shocking story of a bond between a mother and a child which first limits the mother and next, the same way, ruins her son's life. Lovely animation doesn't make it any less harrowing. Heart-breakingly real.

КОХАННЯ (DEEP LOVE)

Watchable. A creative representation of the transformation of post-Soviet Ukraine into an independent state. Top-notch soundtrack. Yet, several tropes are incomprehensible to an outsider. Just 13'58" long but with a post-credit.

UKRAINA! FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE

Out of the 19 movies and short film sets presented this year, I've seen before: 

МІФ (MYTH) in 2019

АТЛАНТИДА (ATLANTIS) in 2019

THE TRIAL: THE STATE OF RUSSIA VS OLEG SENTSOV  in 2017

GNIZDO GORLYTSI (THE NEST OF THE TURTLEDOVE) in 2016

The reviews can be found in the blog. And it looks like I'll start the remaining 15 tomorrow.

HUMAN DOC - ONLINE

Another festival is coming up shortly. The organizers, ever careful not to cause any environmental or societal damage and to include everyone, have decided not to risk human health and life to Covid-19 and will run this year's edition entirely online. What's more, this year will be free of charge. The dates are 23-29 November, however, I'll have a chance to preview the films earlier and will share my findings with you so keep your eyes peeled next week.

LITTLE JOE

Recommended. A psychological thriller, alternatively science fiction, depending on your own perception. But then again, it is about perception. Still, what you notice first, is the set decoration and costumes - the picture is just beautiful, the shades of green in the uniforms and canteen seats match the female lead's ginger hair, yellow trousers and yellow walls of her place. That contrasts with the bright red of the flowers. And that picture-perfect colour palette and the sterile organization of the lab are contrasted further by the chilling plot. The movie keeps you on the edge of the seat for 100 minutes. It taps into the fears of GMO as well as the Covid-19 pandemic: imperceptible symptoms of a virus infecting the brain, wearing masks, genetic testing. And those less physical fears - of whether one is a good parent, if others' feelings are genuine and if that matters at all, as one protagonist puts it: "no feelings are real, and who cares". Most importantly, it's skillfully written, keeping you in suspense and guessing who's right and what's real. Excellent music accompanies the picture.

THE CRAFT: LEGACY

Recommended. Darkish fantasy for teenagers with a strong feminist message. I don't think I've ever seen the 1996 original. From what I've read on Wikipedia, that movie, by a man, was brutal and the girl characters acted the way boys do in real life. Well, the new movie is by a woman, for women, where the girls and women act like girls and women do. And, although several tropes from the first act of the first film reappear in this makeover, it's far from a horror. David Duchovny, known among others from "Beethoven" and "The X-Files" has a role combining a family and the supernatural. The plot holds a handful of surprises up the sleeve, is well-paced, every girl can relate to the experiences and the added magic is wonderful, including visual and sound effects. Professional cinematography, inspiring make-ups, top-notch music ranging from Mozart's Requiem, via techno and electro, to a piece by Princess Nokia. First-class fun. 

WARSAW KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL (ONLINE)

파고 (HEIGHT OF THE WAVE)

Watchable. The scriptwriter's introduction to the film is more moving than the picture. It drags unbearably. And the crime is just a pretext for a psychological drama with a number of protagonists - virtually everyone has a problem. In the social background, patriarchy is the root cause both of corruption - moral and financial and of the girl objectifying herself to the point it's hard to determine whether a crime has taken place. Disturbing when you come to think of it. Cinematography lacks clarity and is as subdued as the plot. 

The festival, on the mojeekino.pl platform, required you to start the movie precisely on time. It ran rather smoothly, though a bit too quiet to hear the original well. But at least you could choose between Polish or English subtitles.

Now I'm looking forward to the Ukraina! Film Festival. The 5th edition, which has taken place in Warsaw already, runs from 2 November to 9 November online, on the same platform but flexibly in terms of days and times.

HALLOWEEN MARATHON

For a number of reasons I ended up watching just one of the four movies in the marathon:

ALIVE. (2018)

Recommended. Two people, of identities unknown to themselves, are kept in an abandoned hospital by a mad doctor. Tortures, glimpses of memories are enough to get your adrenaline pumping. Strong imagery, especially bloody body parts and corpses as you explore the building, enhances the horror. Behind all this lies a mystery. Towards the end certain place gave me a clue to their identities but the final revelation was even more shocking. And what comes after that is the most frightening part in an already blood-curdling horror. There's a mid-credit and a post-credit - not to be missed either.

HELMUT NEWTON: THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL 

Watchable. OK, his pictures were impressive, creative and manifested the power of the body which I associated with Nazi-time photography before this inspiration was cited in the documentary. But how many nudes, all in the same powerful poses, can you watch? With the same model testimonies of how confident they felt working with him. It's just tedious. There's a little mid-credit which doesn't bring in anything new.

Seen online, cinematic reception might differ.

POLOT

Watchable. A completely niche topic: a young zeppelin constructor and his start-up in the contemporary Polish reality. Technical details don't help the feeling the story's fictitious. Of course it is, but watching a movie you shouldn't feel it, should you. While the storyline's clear enough, the first act runs too fast, especially the crash which makes the subsequent plot superficial. While the 3 young start-up guys (acted by: Maciej Musiałowski, Eryk Kulm Jr. and Tomasz Włosok) are convincing, the lead's love interest (Pola Błasik), his mother (Izabela Kuna) and the businessman (Andrzej Konopka) are miscast which decreases the plausibility further. The majority is well shot but rain, especially the second one, looks superimposed and the guy doesn't look wet. 

Has Cessna rental got so cheap recently? They've been used in another recent Polish movie - "Tarapaty 2" "Triple Trouble"), sadly with no special purpose in either production.

IL NIDO (THE NEST)

Recommended. An unusual horror. The opening is foreboding and it's a sombre affair throughout, the grim picture never goes away, even at joyous moments something is looming above the boy. The family is weird, their customs horrifying and inexplicable. Till the finale which clarifies everything and puts everyone in a different light. The whole message is petrifying.

Reviewed from an online screener, cinematic reception might differ.

CZYSCIEC

Watchable. A chaotic documentary with a handful of acted scenes. Often philosophically abstract, at times intriguing, even spooky at some point and occasionally moving. It switches from one form and time period to another constantly, changes moods frequently and juggles Polish, Italian and French commentators ranging from a doctor, through a number of priests to the controversial (not in the film but in real life) founder of the Wojownicy Marii (Mary's Warriors) sect. The documentary makes it clear that the idea of a purgatory was accepted by the Church as late as at the 16th century Florentian synod, based on much older common people's beliefs. It also states that 25-30% of those who've been through clinical death have memories of out-of-body experiences. Cases of hearing voices in abandoned or isolated places like monasteries are presented in the context of purgatory souls. The necessity to confess your sins is emphasized several times. And you're told that a soul can't be saved if their family won't pray. Is it supposed to absolve Catholics from personal responsibility for their own actions? The whole thing sounded quite construed. 

SAINT MAUD

Watchable. Hardly a horror. Anything supernatural only starts in the 54th minute of the 83-minute long movie and one brief scene towards the end truly belongs to the genre. The rest is an engaging drama about seeking connection with God and what it takes to become a saint or about a mentally disturbed young woman - depending how you look at it. It also delves into issues of control, dying, our assumptions regarding other people's needs. If I understood correctly, the language Maud hears from God and speaks herself in the finale is Welsh - God only knows why, so to speak.

17TH DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY FESTIVAL - THE FREE ONLINE PART

JOVANNA FOR FUTURE 

Watchable. A 15-minute film about children climate demonstrations. Giving hope and naive at the same time.

WINTER LAKE

Recommended. An inspiring 15-minute film about camping in winter. Finnish winter, with owls, seals, woodpeckers and snowshoeing, silence and occasional aurora borealis.

DEUX (TWO OF US)

Recommended. A subtle psychological drama with a number of twists of action and food for thought. How do we know what's best for our loved ones? Where's the borderline between violence and care? The movie starts ordinarily but soon becomes gripping as you never know what's going to happen next. Ah, and the lyrics of the song matter too.

PREMATURE

Recommended. Harlem, NYC. A beautiful young couple (Zora Howard played the girl and co-scripted the movie) in a love flick for teenagers which is both down to earth and engaging. First you meet a bunch of sociable and outgoing girls that are just fun to watch, especially as you begin to follow the relationships of the lead. Particularly one affair. Each line of the dialogues and each scene are thoroughly realistic. First you take to both leads or maybe even the entire bunch of friends, female and male, and then you really feel for the girl. Masterfully written. And in spite of their minor faults, they're all amiable, live decently and can be achievable role models for the young black youth.

Both movies reviewed from online screeners, cinematic reception might differ.

17TH DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY FESTIVAL - THE FREE ONLINE PART

WHAT YOU GONNA DO WHEN THE WORLD'S ON FIRE?

Switched off. Very mundane lives of relatively poor Afro Americans. Occasionally they gather to blame whites for their own failings. At the same time, they are clearly uneducated and have no drive for it. 

Original dialogues are perfectly audible. Polish subtitles are rather small. In this case they'd be useful since the protagonists speak English with hard African accents. 

ACCOMPLICE + RETURN TO EARTH 

Recommended. What a ride! Mind-blowing mountain bike stunts, exhilarating music, awe-inspiring vistas of mountains and of nature - Ladakh (I admire the girls riding down the steep Himalayan stokes), British Columbia, Oahu etc., masterful shots, e.g. of a dog running, apart from the aerials. While both parts pump your adrenaline, the first is a series of amazing sports shows + a biopic and the second a series of amazing sports shows + musings on life. A big screen is a must.

The presence of some unmasked people in the audience gave me more adrenaline than I wished for.

17TH DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY FESTIVAL - THE FREE ONLINE PART

ONCE THE DUST SETTLES

Watchable. Slow, could be easily cut short, depicts ruins which, after a couple of years, turn into tourist attractions. The first story - on Italian earthquakes - only briefly mentions the disaster, focusing rather on the locals retrieving their saint figures and assembling at a church, the second explores the Chernobyl life before, during and after the catastrophe and takes you on a tour of Pripyat - radiation-free for the film audience, the last part deals with Syrian Aleppo and is on the dull side again.

NOWE HORYZONTY FESTIVAL AND AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL

Both the 20th Nowe Horyzonty and the 11th AFF will take place online. Some movies will be available at the Nowe Horyzonty cinema too. Nearly 140 movies online. "Zabij to i wyjedź z tego miasta" ("Kill It and Leave This Town") will open the festival and "Druk" ("Another Round") will close it. The AFF will offer independent, usually new directors discovered at Sundance, South by Southwest, Tribeca as well as documentaries, including one revealing still unknown facts about Bruce Lee's career. This year the NH jury will be all Polish, though one of them is the Toronto Film Festival programmer. Isamu Hirabayashi's "Shell and Joint" is to reflect human relations in the form of insects. Also some movies from recent Kino Dzieci will reappear at the upcoming festival. Films from Berlinare disappeared later because of the pandemic. So SNH don't want to repeat Berlinale's mistake. From a few hundred sold passes fewer than 20 people have returned them once the festival moved online. 90% of NH and 70% of AFF has been moved online, negotiations with sells agents and distributors are ongoing regarding the rest. No red carpets this year. Safety first. At cinemas, 25% of seats in the largest screening rooms will be available. Online, no time blocks, all movies will be available all the time, flexibly. Each movie has a limit of screenings. At Kino Dzieci 2500 thousand people watched simultaneously. Now they're prepared for bigger numbers. No festival queues. Once you press play, you have 48 hours to see it. If the online version is successful, such a hybrid option may stay for the future. If you click at 23:59 on the last day of the festival, you can still see the movie. The last purchase chance on 15th November, still 2 days to watch.

GUNS AKIMBO

Watchable. Poles have a special term for that: "patostreaming". The local, Polish-invented English-sounding word can be defined as streaming pathologic behaviours. I thought Dumb Akimbo might be a more direct title but that would be too mild. The movie's moronic, it's a visual equivalent of junk food. Why did I keep watching? It has superb music. Put your grey cells to sleep and enjoy the soundtrack accompanied by unsophisticated yet rhythmic actions.

Reviewed from an online screener, cinematic reception might differ.

BANKSTERZY

Recommended. It follows in the footsteps of "Pitbull. Ostatni pies" ("Pitbull: Last Dog") and does it fully professionally: fine performances all round, a straightforward script with aces up the sleeve, masterfully directed and shot, with superb music. This fact-inspired business-political thriller keeps you on the edge of your seat. Most importantly, it clarifies the whole situation of "frankowicze" ("franc debtors") to ignorants like me. On a serious note, it made me wonder if the scam victims would be able to afford a cinema ticket to see this production themselves.

17TH DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY FESTIVAL - THE FREE ONLINE PART

WESTWOOD: PUNK, ICON, ACTIVIST

Recommended. Another, beside Alexander McQueen, British fashion icon who got no education but has been so spatially skilled since childhood she could design any shoes or clothes she fancied. You get to see her at work and get to know her current and past relationships. Malcolm McLaren turns out to be full-of-himself and malicious - quite a disappointment to a punk fun like me. Kate Moss says - that's rare, she doesn't speak up normally - she just wanted to get out of Croydon. And Vivienne Westwood's current partner, Andreas Kronthaler, met her as her student, twice younger than Vivienne, became totally besotted with her and has been half-designing with her ever since. A fascinating personal history and quirky, British to the core, outfits. 

THE SECRET GARDEN

Watchable. Having seen the trailer, I expected a brighter adaptation, even more magical. The movie turns out to be all gloom. Still, even within this steadily despondent atmosphere, it makes use of changing light several times, an eruption of colours when all flowers blossom or deepened darkness of the estate, all accompanied by music setting the mood. The beginning stresses the time of unrest just before the split of the colony into India and Pakistan as well as the cholera epidemic which resonates both with current civil upheavals and, even more so, with the Covid pandemic. But that, once the tone is set, gives way to the aristocratic cold upbringing where the girl's British life on the moors mixes with her memories of life with parents - most notably a depressed mother, which adds to the moroseness of the situation. The film is relatively slow-paced, at the same time skimming the literary original of its complexity. I think the duration of the movie could have been used better. On the other hand, I enjoyed the fact the film is deeply rooted in British values: not only the love of gardens but also that specific grit and resolve characterizing the English when faced with hardships. Lovely, perfectly matching music ends in the final song over the end credits, "The Secret Garden" by Aurora. Atmospheric but sombre and depressing.

17TH DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY FESTIVAL - THE FREE ONLINE PART

CUNNINGHAM

Watchable. Impressive contemporary dance choreographies and no story to speak of. The only line distinguishing it from other dance documentaries is that when you dance "you work with material which deteriorates in time." That's not delved into. Instead it covers the inter-human relations within the dance company too much - who cares? Admirable dancing is the main attraction. Colourful tightly-fitting uniforms increase your awareness of the dancers' postures and moves and those are extraordinary at times. 

The screening had loud original dialogues and visible Polish subtitles at hand too. 

LASSEMAJAS DETEKTIVBYRA - TAGRANARENS HEMLIGHET

Watchable. Another kids' flick in the series. The plot's very naive, adults are silly and even the criminal good-natured. I've seen better even within this franchise. In Poland, it's available only dubbed in Polish.

Reviewed from an online screener, cinematic reception might differ.

RAZ, JESZCZE RAZ

Walked out. I got to the screening late and... left early. I gave it half an hour (my minimum for feature-length screenings, to give every film a fighting chance) and within that time I heard: locker room talk - only, technicalities of pissing - by pissed protagonists of course - and of entering a brothel, slurping, famous actors doing the same locker room talk with theatrical poise, I saw drunks, also pissing - a recurring motif in the picture, scruffy men, colours off, grainy texture. Virtually each line of the dialogues is filled with filth, curse words - the lowest sort of language and people and completely accidental music. Only sound was of decent quality. Target audience? Only unsophisticated, uneducated men, best drunk.

The movie makers laughed every now and then at the premiere. I'm glad at least they enjoyed the film.

 PRZEMIANY FESTIVAL 2020 - YEAR ZERO (ONLINE)

THE WOLFPACK (2015)

Recommended. People complain of brief lockdowns imposed because of the pandemic. Imagine living like that for 15 years! Well, the brothers bear a grudge against their father who home-jailed them. But they had decent living conditions, a loving family and plenty of movies to watch - not too bad. Unfortunately they have a controlling, far over-protective and overbearing father who exhibits signs of a mental illness. Still, the boys, even though very young, are insightful, self-aware - their camera experience shows how they know they're being filmed, have top-notch social skills - unbeknown to themselves - and a flair for movie-making. They script, act, create their own costumes - some are pretty amazing and set design. One has ventured into the field already, becoming a PA to a production team. I hope others will follow. One thing years of film-watching did to them is empowering them to rebel. Quiet wolf howling can be heard at the very end of final end credits.

PRZEMIANY FESTIVAL 2020 - YEAR ZERO (ONLINE)

UNTITLED

Watchable. A skillfully shot travelogue which is pleasant at the time of the pandemic: wrestlers in sand - probably in Senegal, post-war empty brick houses in former Yugoslavia, people and goats co-existing happily round a landfill. I don't think I'd see any of these otherwise. But at some point the pictures feel drowsy. 1.5 hours is a bit too long. It also doesn't inform me of anything I didn't know before but it shows things I have mostly only read about. Pleasant.

DER SIEBENTE KONTINENT (THE SEVENTH KONTINENT) (1989)

Switched off. Tedious. Very ordinary lives. My own life is more interesting.

Both films were perfectly audible, with big, thick Polish subtitles."Untitled" had Polish voice over for some reason.

ZABIJ TO I WYJEDZ Z TEGO MIASTA (KILL IT AND LEAVE THIS TOWN)

Watchable. Phenomenal animation, star voicing cast but no plot. The animation is superb: changing grey hues convey the image of communist Poland, spots of bright light or blood red stand out, at certain point rain behind train windows looks quite real. It also depicts the grim reality of those years perfectly: harsh child upbringing, elderly people's behaviour, attitude to customers in general, the look of train carriages, towns and hospitals - disturbing at times. At the same time it manages to capture the callousness we lived in which transports us to modern animal liberation movements, especially when little human figures are beheaded and gutted the way carps used to be. But it's all fragmented, there's no storyline, just impressions - to the point but pointless.

 HALVDAN VIKING (THE ADVENTURES OF HALVDAN VIKING)

Switched off. You just watch children playing outdoors in the summer. And they don't do anything special. The fact they live in a Viking village doesn't change that. 

Reviewed from an online screener, cinematic reception might differ.

PINOCCHIO

Watchable. I barely remember the story from childhood and what I recall the most is that I didn't like it and didn't want to watch it any more. The new version, however, is so skillfully enacted that my main objection is that the tale is so dark I doubt it's appropriate for children. But as dark tales go, Matteo Garrone is a specialist and the new adaptation resembles his earlier "Il racconto dei racconti" ("Tale of Tales") at times. Star cast and the use of traditional Italian architecture make the film compelling from scene one till the very end. And that's in spite of its theatrical style, e.g. Cat and Fox are people, other characters take hybrid forms, e.g. a cricket, a snail or a fish have human faces. And parts of the movie tell of a puppet theatre or a circus. Having said that, those venues, derived from the original book, together with other literary tropes, mean the movie is quite true to the book, even the hanging is shown, though he gets rescued in the film. His nose growing when he tells lies appears in one scene only. This interpretation is sympathetic to the wooden boy. He's naughty but that's because he's so gullible, silly, inexperienced in life. It's dubbed in Polish, meant for child audience from the age of 8. Are they sure? Well, it has some educational value since it persuades children they should obey their parents, study diligently and tell the truth. I don't know why it seems to teach them to kiss people around them too - that was weird. But the storyline is morally consistent and totally engaging. Visually, golden-dark. Taken the number of fantasy characters, they could have made it more colourful. 

Reviewed from an online screener, cinematic reception might differ.

PRZEMIANY FESTIVAL 2020 - YEAR ZERO (ONLINE)

ROBOLOVE

Watchable. A widespread presentation of current developments in android-building - from their 'bodies' to A.I - and some reflections on the human need for others: human, animal, doll or android. While the android builders try to persuade us that we're driven by programmed and programmable emotions which act like instincts rather and that the physical and verbal representation of feelings can be and is often faked, it sounded quite cynical to me. And although they claim such androids will be of help to the elderly, the only interest actual customers, aged or not, have in them appears sexual. Are we so shallow? Or as vain as to transport our minds into android 'bodies' to immortalize ourselves? The inventors certainly are.

The documentary had white subtitles on often whitish pictures. It was also quite audible in the original languages (mostly Japanese, Korean, Chinese, English and Spanish).

PRZEMIANY FESTIVAL 2020 - YEAR ZERO (ONLINE)

DAS FORUM (THE FORUM)

Watchable. Following the official meetings of two years feels a bit as if you had to wear a suit and sit with a stiff upper lip yourself. But you do learn why, how and whether it works. I was relieved that most participants - the world's richest and most powerful - did consider the consequences of their actions for the deprived ones and for the climate. So why does it not work? It also lets you look at controversial companies like Monsanto or politicians like Bolsonaro from a different angle - not justifying them but highlighting the issues aren't black and white.

The documentary had big subtitles on black background under the picture and was even quite audible in the original languages (mostly English and German).

KINO DZIECI FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE

CHIEN POURRI (STINKY DOG)

Recommended. The animation is based on the original book illustrations by Marc Boutavant. The set of 4 short films depicts 4 quirky stories: the dog takes his love interest to dine in a dumpster, thinks he's flown to the Moon, wants to rent a holiday carton from a rat, fleas on his beret are looking for a lost family member and the dog is so dumb he can't recognize his best friend Flatty Cat when he's covered in paint. I was just dying to know what was going to happen next. Admirable attention to detail in the scripts.

The film set is shown in English version which is brilliant language-wise, e.g. "I told the fleas to flee" but appears off taken the pictures show Paris.

PELLE SVANSLOS (PETER NO-TAIL)

Watchable. Why do people write scripts when they don't have truly original ideas? Being forced to participate in circus-like performances, bullying, forgettable songs - why any at all? These tropes are neither pleasant nor original. The love subplot doesn't make much sense either. I seriously considered switching it off. But the main cat protagonist was cute and the second half of the film less predictable and less frustrating. Dark tale.

MADISON (MADISON - A FAST FRIENDSHIP)

Watchable. About teenage mountain biking enthusiasts but engaging not only for them. I was curious both whether Madison would succeed in the race and how her friendships and her and her friends' puppy loves would develop. Views of Tirol throughout and great music over end credits.

CITY PLAZA HOTEL

Watchable. An important short film about memories of life in a war zone. Vivid images. But no new news.

LEARNING TO SKATEBOARD IN A WARZONE (IF YOU'RE A GIRL)

Recommended. The title didn't convince me for a long time. But this short film deserves its last year's Oscar win. Within 39 minutes it manages to present comprehensively women's and girls' position in Afghanistan now and until 17 years earlier when the country was under the Taliban rule. The eponymous skating is in fact a lesson in courage. So are several other tasks in class. That's the only way for a societal change. Also, it appears to be an oasis of freedom where the girls genuinely laugh and enjoy themselves outside the constraints of their strict families. Enlightening.

I loved this year's festival. While the festival period was busy for me so I saw a limited number of movies, the online formula allowed me to: watch everything from the safety of my place, write reviews in between the films or even stop them to cook dinner and continue later. Quality recordings with truly audible sound meant I didn't feel missing out on anything. And mind it, at the platform trial a few weeks ago I couldn't even start a movie.

KINO DZIECI FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE

COEUR FONDANT (MELTING HEART CAKE)

Watchable. I spent the 10 minutes of this short film looking for the signs of friendship the title promises. The post-credit of the fly tossing a pancake sums up the production well: most of the dolls resemble small or gigantic hairy flies or moths which is kind of scary. But the creatures are nice to each other. The background looks like rubbish - literally. Weird stuff.

UN LYNX DANS LA VILLE (A LYNX IN THE TOWN)

Watchable. Another short film. Rudimentary pictures, black-grey-white with a splash of orange for the over-sized lynx only, a simplistic story. No words are spoken but it's all clear.

LISTEK (LEAF)

Watchable. More of a brief impression than an even short film. Very basic drawings, mostly autumn colours - exudes nostalgia after the season.

보리야 (BORIYA)

Watchable. Korean-created French-produced. The animation is wonderful: the landscapes and plants are detailed and delicate, they look like in traditional Asian paintings. Human characters in turn, are almost Disneyesque. Translucent water is bewitching. Together, the mixture gives a beautiful effect. Next to none plot however, means even the 13 minutes of the film make you drift away.

JUNU KO JUTTA (THE SHOES OF A LITTLE GIRL)

Watchable. A simple short film about a girl learning how to wear shoes. An exotic Nepalese view on her way to school. That's it.

BENIM KUCUK SOZLERIM (MY SHORT WORDS)

Switched off. Nothing much happens. You just follow a group of boys who don't do anything of interest and don't talk about anything important.

나는 보리 (BORI)

Watchable. It's very good: the plot's original, characters likeable, showing subtly but in-depth what it's like to be deaf in the society. The movie's masterfully shot, the seaside town pleasant, the film's plausibly acted and totally involving in spite of a niche topic. What's missing is the parents' professional life. They seem reasonably well-off but, taken how they are either involuntarily or deliberately but surreptitiously discriminated against, it needs further explanation how they make a living. From working on a ship at nights by the father alone? He's poor at fishing. So that context is missing. Also, the shop situation lacks a satisfactory closure which left me vexed.

Sadly, in Poland, it's translated via English instead of directly from Korean.

KINO DZIECI FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE

KARSTEN OF PETRA BLIR BESTEVENNER (CASPER AND EMMA - BEST FRIENDS)

Watchable. Cute, with lovely animations flying in the air, a touching moment when the girl talks to her mum after her grandpa's visit but silly at times too. I also didn't like the songs - at least their Polish versions. The whole thing is perfectly suitable for nursery-age children though.

The system cut me off 15 minutes before the end due to the reservation expiry. Luckily there was technical support at hand and I got help immediately.

KUTOPPEN (CATTLE HILL)

Watchable. Pleasant animation style, an engaging story, though Klara's dream is derived from teenage cinema and her father's problem from several other movies for all age groups. Still, the worst downside are Polish versions of songs. Only the original one over the end credits was quite pleasant.

OPERASJON MUMIE (OPERATION MUMMY)

Watchable. Superb cartoon opening credits. What follows is a run-of-the-mill story of underage detectives and a robbery in a museum. Fun to watch but nothing new.

KINO DZIECI FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE

BINTI

Switched off. Crazy, unnatural acting, no plot.

KARSTEN OG PETRA PA SAFARI (CASPER AND EMMA ON SAFARI)

Watchable. The little children with their talking mascots are as silly as ever but in this movie you can admire beautifully shot African animals. I also liked it when their grandpa (wonderfully acted) got caught in a trap and I enjoyed the African song over the end credits.

GREENLAND

Watchable. This typical Hollywood blockbuster swings from a psychologic drama to "an extinction level event" and back a few times. It tugs on your heartstrings and pumps your adrenaline where and when needed. Facts are revealed gradually, together with the protagonists' gaining knowledge of the catastrophe. The situation changes constantly so there's no minute of boredom. But it's decently executed rubbish. The whole family is phoney. The guy has a much younger wife and it was he who cheated on her.The kid is obligatorily chronically ill - at least it's diabetes, not cancer ruling most tear-jerking movies. The idea of secret shelters under military air bases across the globe is far-fetched too. I wish they existed and were able to house ordinary people in case of a comet hitting Earth but people in general are poor at predicting disasters and even worse at preparing for them. All drivers easily finding airports of unspecific location without car navigation - most likely not working under the circumstances - don't appear plausible either. Somehow no one gets lost, even if they take - and find - a less travelled route. CGI-wise, the sky looks flat. The best bits are the ruins of world-famous cities like Sydney or Paris. But birds in Greenland where you can't spot any even without a disaster, let alone after 9 months of ashes in the air, detract from the experience.

KINO DZIECI FILM FESTIVAL ONLINE

WIKING TAPPI: MAGICZNA KOLYSKA, AWANTURA Z WODNIKAMI,, CZARY WIEDZMY SKRZYPICHY, PODSTEP JARLA SURKOLA

Watchable. Perfectly appropriate for the 4+ age group. Pleasant and warm. But both the stories and the drawings seem oversimplified.

ELLEVILLE ELFRID (ELLA BELLA BINGO)

Watchable. A delightful, full-bodied animation, with a rich, eventful, detailed plot. The core story's about falling out with a best friend and learning that people mean more than objects. But you also find a rabbit putting a poster in search of a missing carrot and plenty of attractions in an amusement park. You immediately warm to all characters: animals, adults, children. A number of cheerful American pop hits mostly from the 80s.The only element that detracts from this lovely tale is the idea of a circus - much outdated. The bike in the air crossing the face of a moon E.T.-style is also terribly 80s and put together with the circus feels old-fashioned.

TONY HALIK (TONY HALIK. BORN FOR ADVENTURE)

Recommended. Watched on Polish Television for 20 years by 18 million people and unknown numbers on NBC before that he inspired generations of travellers. It's a comprehensive multilingual documentary biography of an unusual man and of the times before mass tourism. A big part of the film is narrated by his son, Ozana Halik, who's childhood resembled "Captain Fantastic". While his approach is on the bitter side, it's the core of what Tony Halik was - a free spirit, both in terms of his 180 000 km journey through the world and his outlook. His yarns mixed truth with fantasy, he was emotionless and fearless, able to manoeuvre all authorities which practically makes him a benevolent psychopath. His carnivorous diet led to a heart failure and his death at 75. He wanted to die travelling but his wife couldn't face it and brought him home. But he lived the way he always wanted to. His incessant love of travel feels infectious even now in the pandemic times. Apart from his life, the documentary depicts historic developments across the world over his lifetime. One in particular shook me up: Solidarity movement times, the fall of communism in Poland and an archbishop says, repeatedly: "now feed off us, we will bill you later". Is this why Polish authorities are still flooding the Church with enormous donations nowadays? On the funny note, Tony tells a hilarious story when the trousers of his borrowed suit ripped with a sound when he was bowing to greet the British Queen - one of a long list of the greats of his time.

Watched from an online screener, cinematic reception might differ.

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

Recommended. Right in the wake of civilian protests in the US, Belarus, Poland, name it, comes this brilliant courtroom drama about real life activists put on trial in 1969. With a star-studded cast. Not only is it thoroughly engaging which is typical for the genre, it contains also lots of humour, e.g. defendants taking the mickey out of the judge and saying "Overruled" in unison with him. It's fast-paced, forcing you to stay alert all the time not to miss any gem as it sparkles with sharp responses. Perfectly matching music. Pictures from the riots contain inserted black and white footage which is even more brutal than the staged part. It tugs on your heartstrings at particularly one morally frightening point. But most of all it's a brainy puzzle of how to win a set-up case. Based on facts which pretty much says how it ends but even if you're familiar with the case, the movie consists of top-notch performances based on an awesome script.

JAK ZOSTAC GWIAZDA

Recommended. It's all professionally, world-standard shot and recorded, all things technical are excellent here. The film may be tacky, especially music, but, as it's put in the picture, TV is all about tacky. What's more, I couldn't resist enjoying it. It's truly light entertainment, ridiculing the celebrity world. It's constantly tongue-in-cheek. Every line is to the point. It has little undertones of how the show business rollercoaster elevates people and then drops from heights. Fine performances all around, both from comedy veterans and from newbies. Wojciech Solarz, virtually unknown but extremely talented, plays a hapless PE teacher.
The costume designer has also demonstrated a great eye for detail: first the girl wears a check shirt, then her father is seen wearing check trousers, finally the producer appears in a check suit. Lots of amusing scenes along the end credits and one post-credit.

The actors present at the screening were as full of themselves as in the film. They didn't want to cover their wannabe faces behind masks so I stayed away from them.
Tomasz Karolak, who's slimmer in this film that in his previous one, has further lost weight since the shooting and is surprisingly even handsome in real life nowadays.

GO FISH

Watchable. My first impression was enticing - the coral reef with colourful fish looked just lovely. But the impression quickly waned and gave way to annoyance. The film is dedicated to little children. But do the fish have to resemble fat human babies? That's vexingly unnatural and detracts from their initial charm. Silly conversations will be boring for adults. But parents may like the educational value of the film. Children learn a lot about marine life, e.g. a sea cucumber or how sea creatures have their teeth cleaned - all in a way perfectly age-appropriate. Although most fish protagonists have distorted shapes, the shark stood out. She looked perfect and even sent chills down my spine. She also swam away moving her tail the way real sharks do. The Polish version is dubbed which, apart from excluding foreign kids, means you won't be able to hear Mark Hamill voicing Dennis.

Reviewed from an online screener of top quality, however a cinematic reception might differ.

HAP (HOPE)

Watchable. I'm impressed with Norwegian health service - patient and dedicated doctors available 24/7, procedures on the same day. To Polish people it looks like a fable even when you're dying. Having said that, I detest movies about cancer - it's such an exploited topic. This movie luckily is set up in a big, loving family, mostly over a festive period. The family atmosphere and their Christmas spent together were so suggestive, I expected to see snow outside my windows afterwards - silly, it's September and 20 degrees Celsius. The actors cast in the leading roles, as passionate lovers among others, aren't convincing, mostly due to the visibly huge age difference: Andrea Bræin Hovig is 47 and Stellan Skarsgård is 69. And the movie, however warm, is annoyingly slow.

Watched online so cinematic reception might differ.

MULAN 3D

Recommended in this format too. In 3D it's even better. You can marvel at the meticulously created set, including Mulan's home village, now perfectly round, or be amazed by a spider dangling in front of you. Set pieces are shot from a few angles, where especially wall-walking sequences are impressive. But so is the cinematography as such, e.g. dimmed light or snowy mist add to the combination of varying emotions during watching.

SWALLOW

Recommended. Mesmerising from scene one, mostly due to the glossy cinematography showcasing the riches the young woman has married into. Haley Bennett is superb as the "doll" located in the isolated, posh, lavish but emptish house and kept there like decoration. The title is loaded with meanings: from physical ones - and does Hunter swallow stuff and metaphoric. The callousness of the emotionally frigid wealthy for who everything and everyone has to be just right constitutes economic violence. Later an issue from the woman's past overlaps her picture-perfect cold marriage and she swallows all the insults new and old. The story's fictitious but based around a little known disorder, existing in reality. It's solidly rooted in scientific facts behind such cases. And it serves the film well, since the story's so extraordinary, physically and mentally, from the beginning till the end. I had never seen anything like it before. And I watch a few hundred movies per year, mind it. And Haley Bennett deserves an Oscar.

Watched online so cinematic reception might differ.

WARSAW FILM FESTIVAL

Half the usual audience will be able to attend due to the Covid-regime. At the same time there's a long list of very promising movies. "Big Boys Don't Cry", "Unidentified" and "Droneman" seem particularly intriguing - after narrowing down the top-notch cinema options. For technical reasons though, movies won't be shown online (they lack stereo mixing), only at the cinema. I'm not planning on going but I bet that if I did I would find lots of fascinating productions.

THE NEST

Watchable. Well executed in spite of predictability. Clear shots, an even pace, a simple story, Jude Law suitably cast in the successful business operator wannabe role. But you feel from the early minutes all this wealthy lifestyle is phoney and the family unit is going to collapse under the weight of aspirations and the pressure to be always "ravishing". All songs, e.g. "Hold Me Now", "Runaway", "Don't Leave Me This Way", "Smalltown Boy" have been handpicked as commentaries on the story developments. Also, London City looks like a ghost town when the man goes to work at weekends and the area around signifying Bank station is shown every time - both symbolic. So is the horse case when it comes to his wife. It's all exceedingly in your face. Children obviously have or cause their own problems as well. Not a bad psychological drama but the story's nothing new.

25 LAT NIEWINNOSCI. SPRAWA TOMKA KOMENDY (25 YEARS OF INNOCENCE. THE CASE OF TOMEK KOMENDA)

Recommended. Based on a loud case of a wrongfully convicted man exonerated after 18 years in prison. The original story is as shocking as the film depicts. The movie is skillfully cut - it takes you back and forth in time, presenting the case from a few angles, once focusing on the brutally raped girl, once on Tomek, once on the investigator, but maintains clarity all the time. Also, the waking up scene early on is masterfully cut from one time to another. The story's gripping, moving at times, often scary when you realize Tomek's entrapment and hopelessness. Long-time expert Jacek Moczulski consulted on the prison system. And it's harrowing knowing how it works - it's an accumulation of all imaginable pathologies and some I wouldn't have even imagined. Piotr Trojan is utterly convincing as Tomek. Well-known actors, like Bartosz Opania, Zofia Stafiej, Jan Frycz, Magdalena Różczka appear in episodes or cameos. But the most delightful is the cameo of titular Tomasz Komenda in the last scene when Piotr Trojan's Tomek comes up to the real life Tomek to ask for a cigarette. As in any decent biopic, actual Tomek as well as the investigator and the prosecutors who got him freed, stride together in a soothing finale.

다만 악에서 구하소서 (DELIVER US FROM EVIL)

Watchable. Exciting but flawed. The opening is terribly chaotic - like the evil guy admits later on, he doesn't even remember why he's after the good guy. I don't remember either. This thriller is packed with action keeping you on the edge of your seat. Unfortunately, it's also packed with visibly fake CGIs and medical nonsense. At least music is decent. And some initial shots, with night in different colours, once purple, another time blue, hint at an artistic eye of the cinematographer. This brutal film occasionally displays subtle shades, e.g. the evil guy would slaughter dogs in the past while a knight in a shiny armour can be recognized in the one who slows down his car to let two stray dogs cross the road. The movie has a handful of well-written characters, especially both local helpers. The finale took me by surprise. 

Reviewed from a screener, cinematic reception might differ.

INTERIOR

Walked out. A typical Polish budget movie which must have got funding just because it's so cheaply made. No plot, just mentions of problems so mundane that my own are more interesting. Nothing else to attract a viewer: poor cinematography, cut and sound engineering. A problem is presented, than the protagonist is driving, next another issue, then he's in the car again. Frequent machine noise comes from the background. No acting - just accidental people appear on the screen.

SKANDAL. EWENEMENT MOLESTY (SCANDAL)

Watchable. A documentary about an obscure Polish hip-hop band from a Warsaw suburb but directed so professionally, world-standard I watched it with full attention. I'm not a fan of gangsta rap and the streetwise guys who formed the band had little musical prowess, especially in comparison to some of American hip-hop performers they imitated, otherwise I'd enjoy it more. But the film explains their background e.g. a low level of education, smoking joints, skiving responsibilities, avoiding commitments and the social and economic changes of the 1990s in the country. I dreaded the period. They enjoyed it. Lots of material from those years as well as current commentary. Contains some references to Proceder - a band depicted in actors' movie "Proceder" (reviewed here in December 2019). Excellent cutting makes for an engaging watching in spite of the poor music of the protagonists.

Reviewed from an online screener with perfect sound but, as always, cinematic reception might differ.

LES BONHEURS DES UNS (A FRIENDLY TALE)

Watchable. An insightful satire on envy. It dissects both people's personalities and the mechanisms of their behaviour in the face of a friend's sudden success. Vincent Cassel in a supporting role excels as a smooth businessman and this part is a nice change after his playing a serious of rougher characters. Still, I didn't laugh out loud even once and the first half of the movie was tedious. Set in the literary world which appears to be successful in France, unlike in Poland - heart-warming.

Reviewed from an online screener, cinematic reception might differ. I hope the light white subtitles will be either more visible on a big screen or of a different type for cinemas.

DA CVEN VICEKVET (AND THEN WE DANCED)

Watchable. Largely predictable both as a dance picture and as a gay movie. With the difference it lacks a happy ending in either layer. I have a soft spot for dancing but these dances - traditional Georgian styles, even if technically nearly impossible, lacked cinema-oriented choreographies and filming mode. Only the finale was both emotive and technically superb - even if the moves didn't constitute a Georgian dance. Made me try the moves myself though.

Reviewed from an online screener, cinematic reception might differ.

ADWOKAT (THE ADVOCATE)

Walked out. It's so amateurish everything in this movie fails. Starts with a several-minute long philosophical speech so monotonous it can lull you to sleep before the action even begins. Hang on, action? What action? You get a terminally ill - with obligatory cancer - lecturer and his young, depressed son who happens to be a lawyer. His job is boring. So are his conversations with others: dull and superficial, with even the head of the legal firm sounding downright unprofessional. But it's not the protagonist who's a failure. The whole film is. It's poorly shot and lit, miserably acted and is it directed and cut at all? It drags unbearably and morose music doesn't ramp up the pace. I feel sorry for those who are still sitting at the cinema and watching.

The film crew at the premiere flouted the pandemic safety rules. Just like they had ignored movie-making principles before.

AFTER WE COLLIDED

Watchable. This sequel, by Roger Kumble, who took over the directing from more subtle Jenny Gage and made me miss her immediately, is so steamy at times you can almost smell cum. No nudity though, it's still aimed at teenagers. It's a peculiar mixture of genuine bits and far-fetched developments. Beautiful, sleek people, all working or having worked for top companies throw tantrums at the tiniest problems encountered in their relationships. Many behaviours and dialogues sound natural for young people, especially Harbin's responses. But the picture-perfect parents who turn out to be deeply troubled at the same time, don't convince. The mid-credit with Tessa's blonde colleague implies a sequel.

TARAPATY 2 (TRIPLE TROUBLE)

Watchable. Julka is played by another girl than in part one. But it's Mia Goti as Felka and Marta Malikowska as her mother who are annoying more than the script requires - they don't suit the comedy genre. It's fantastically directed, by Marta Karwowska again - she clearly feels children's cinema and action as well, the heist is superb. And while the script, with red herrings and an unpredictable ending, is engaging and naturally develops the story from "Tarapaty" ("Double Trouble"), my favourite gang is missing and the storyline lacks originality. There's less humour too, though I loved the policemen chasing the dog: "Stój, policja!" ("Police, stop!"). The best layer of this sequel is music - with songs in Polish and English and outstanding instrumental pieces.

SARLATAN (CHARLATAN)

Watchable. Agnieszka Holland dwells on the past and persecution over and over again. Presents it realistically down to each prop. The film's set in darkness most of the time which makes watching a bit on the difficult side. The eponymous charlatan heals people but cheats on nature doing so as well as deceives others hiding his sexual orientation. Like in Holland's earlier "Pokot" ("Spoor"), the protagonist is ambiguous - he saves and he kills. The director, again, fails to explain why he is the way he is. And why did the assistant sacrifice himself? And did he in fact and did it work? These and other vital questions remain unanswered. The story's based on facts, made into a biopic, but with no poetic licence, not even to provide a backdrop version of their motivations. She just assembled facts and made it into an actors' film instead of a documentary where such information gaps would be justifiable.

LA FAMEUSE INVASION DES OURS EN SICILE (THE BEARS' FAMOUS INVASION OF SICILY)

Watchable. The animation has a warm palette of distinct colours and plays heavily with light and shadow and with perspective. Story-wise, it consists of two equal parts and the second half is less ordinary than the first. Unfortunately the movie lacks lightness in visuals and in the plot or dialogues. It just feels heavy all the time.

Watched online. Cinematic reception might differ.

MULAN

Recommended. A beautifully enacted legend set in exotic China of the Tang dynasty and imbued with Confucian values. Lavish decor, costumes and make-up rich in saturated colours, breath-taking landscapes, natural-looking mythical birds, top-notch martial art choreographies - a visual delight. Add humour, suspense, emotions and it's easy to immerse yourself in Niki Caro's splendid vision. Jet Li is cast as the Emperor and new Zealandese heartthrob Yoson An as Honghui. Hua Mulan and Honghui have a crush on each other so I'm looking forward to a sequel. The end credits are accompanied by probably the same song in 3 languages: first local (Polish here), then English and finally Chinese.

PETLA 

Recommended. Patryk Vega's back on top form so expect sex and violence but also well-paced, involving action and distinct characters. The opening is weird for Patryk Vega's movies. It astonished me with its semblance to the opening of utterly religious biopic "Miłość i miłosierdzie" ("Love and Mercy"). At first you see the titular loop but rather on a cosmic scale, then you hear voices and can't see anything, and then comes a naturalistic picture of birth. Next, you fast forward through the protagonist's life till he reaches adulthood. The difference between "Miłość i miłosierdzie" ("Love and Mercy") and "Pętla" is he's no saint. He's a gangster. Or... police officer. Whatever. Well, his prenatal journey through life seems to serve a double purpose. Firstly, it shows an innocent at first baby can become anyone. Secondly, towards the end, you understand the religious tone of the opening since the story's one of a prodigal son. Yes, a religious story in a gangster form. This time Vega presents his version of the Podkarpacie sex exploits story persuading us Russian intelligence is behind the whole thing. He does it compellingly and I've taken his point. The club in the movie is called Imperium (meaning: empire) which mocks the grandiose names of the original clubs e.g. Olimp (meaning: Olympus) or Prince. The dumb policeman is a recurring character-type in Vega's productions. This time you also get a mockery of "The Ring" and "Grudge" - both in one scene. Parallel to the end credits Patryk Vega poses with the original twin brothers and other photos of the people involved in the scandal are screened - as usual, Mr. Vega is bragging of his successful research. 

JAK NAJDALEJ STAD (I NEVER CRY)

Watchable. A drama about a rough teenager bereaved of her estranged father. Well-paced and clear-cut. With an interesting music piece when the girl gets drunk in Dublin - the song doesn't sound European so no direct relevance to the plot but I loved the sounds. But the core story, however engaging, is bereft of emotions. Typical for Piotr Domalewski's movies. He's finally got the grip of the movie pace and organization but the film feels as empty as his earlier ones, e.g.: "Cicha noc" ("Silent Night"), "Historia Roja" ("The Story of Swarm (roj) Or You Hear Better Underground"), "Demon".

GULLREGN (THE GARDEN)

Recommended. That's one smart movie. Icelandic scriptwriter and director Ragnar Bragason, who had made a movie about children and also one about parents, this time created a feature about child-mother relationships. And sprinkled it with a dash of racism. It's hilarious at times, e.g. when the mother's best friend trips over, usually ironic, at times sad or hard-hitting. Most of all, it's a sharp satire about an overbearing mother who manipulates everyone around her but turning into a profound psychological drama when more family secrets are revealed and you see the light why she is this way. Her shrewd neighbour-friend is another brilliantly written character. A masterpiece of scriptwriting and acting.

Reviewed from a screener. Cinematic reception might differ.


17TH DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY FESTIVAL

This time a real life, held in-cinema, conference on the documentary film festival at which the organizers all the movie makers and most of the media acted as if Covid-19 was fiction. I'm not planning on attending it this year. With so many individuals ignoring the distance and or not wearing masks it's going to be a horror-like experience. Maybe the later online version will be better but... I have no clue if the platform is going to screen the movies with a better quality than they did in the spring when the pictures stuttered and the sound was barely audible. Plenty of new Polish documentaries will be shown this year, hardly any enticing though. "Z wnetrza" ("From Within"), about painter Beksiński, perpetuates his cult in Poland. I've been looking forward to seeing "Blizny" ("Scars") but the cameraman referred to the Tamil Tigers as a terrorist group which mimics the Sri Lankan ruling regime's narration so now I'm apprehensive about the portrayal of the rebels. Dorota Proba, who's been creating the festival trailers for years, now has shot a documentary: "Między nami" ("Between Us") - this trailer hasn't encouraged me though. On the brighter side, TVP Kultura in Poland is going to show earlier festival editions highlights. A film on Tony Halik, famous in communist times traveller who respected all authorities, might be a gem due to the protagonist. Apart from screenings, in-cinema and online Q&As will take place after some films. A foreign documentary worth seeing is:

THE CAPOTE TAPES

Recommended. I've never read any of his books, I don't think I have ever watched "Breakfast at Tiffany's" till the end but loved this biopic. And it's not about his grandiose style either. The documentary is a comprehensive study both of the writer's personality and of "the beautiful people" as the New York elites are called. Turns out the rich are bored silly hence their penchant for extravagant guests. He received la dolce vita and a million-dollar advance on a book, they were entertained. While his veracity has often been contested, the shock at his revealing the jet set party's exploits hints at their truth. The film covers the length of his life and is both inquisitive and enjoyable. 

KINO W TRAMPKACH FILM FESTIVAL - ONLINE

I AM ELEVEN

From what I managed to see it was mediocre: the beginning didn't make sense and I still don't get why the 23-year-old decided to focus on this age. Later the 11-year-olds sounded the way they're bound to be when adult. You could tell their world view was fully formed and could easily picture them the same way as adults. That's profound but I'm not sure the director meant to convey this message since at face value the documentary is quite chaotic.

The streaming on mojeekino.pl, which showed it was going to be available for 48 hours, stuttered so badly the first 50 minutes of the film took nearly 2 hours and then it froze so I had to resign yesterday but thought I'd continue next day. Today I discovered the movie had disappeared from the platform.