Joanna Gonschorek

Operation Danube was the cover name for the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact armies in August 1968. The fleet of Polish tanks which arrive to liberate their neighbor, ostensibly threatened by a counter-revolution, includes the old tank nicknamed Ladybird, which is the last to leave the barracks.

In the treacherous and swampy forests that make up the so called “green border” between Belarus and Poland, refugees from the Middle East and Africa trying to reach the European Union are trapped in a geopolitical crisis cynically engineered by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. In an attempt to provoke Europe, refugees are lured to the border by propaganda promising easy passage to the EU. Pawns in this hidden war, the lives of Julia, a newly minted activist who has given up her comfortable life, Jan, a young border guard, and a Syrian family intertwine.

Obese 12-year-old Wojtek is ashamed of himself and his mother, who runs a rundown grocery. On a bad hair day, the boy rebels against his mother, but instead of making her change, he humiliates her.

Stories of three women struggling with alcohol. Dorota is a great prosecutor. Using her immunity, she tries to avoid responsibility for her offenses committed under the influence of alcohol. Her husband, a famous politician, helps her keep the problem secret and rescues her from many troubles but he slowly loses patience. A respected children surgeon Teresa has lost her family due to drinking problem, all she is left with is her job at the hospital where she is the main doctor. The situation goes out of control when the woman comes drunk to the hospital. A student, Magda, likes to party hard and because she is a good student and has a great job, no-one opposes that. At one moment, the girl loses control. A tragedy happens.

Tomek is a young doctor specialised in obstetrics sonography. He lives lost among the women around him. One night he is abruptly woken up by a dead call from his father. This seemingly unimportant event gradually gains significance.

Fed up with pandemics, quarantines and news about ecological disasters, worried about their own uncertain future and the fate of the world, a group of high school students are invited by Kamil, a millionaire's son, to a party at his father's seaside residance.

Jola lives in Podlasie, near the border with Belarus. Her son Marek works in the Border Guard and combs the forests looking for illegal immigrants. Jola is a taxi driver and does not want to interfere, but one day a car breakdown will force her to confront her own beliefs.

Teenage Mila's suicide attempt is interrupted by a young refugee who fights for survival at all costs.

Months after disappearance, the mother of a missing daughter begins her own increasingly irrational investigation.

Mania’s hysterical mother leaves the little girl at her aunt’s in the countryside. On her lonely summer holiday, Mania makes friends with a hen. The girl stages a rebellion when she realises why her aunt keeps chickens.

When two childhood friends strike up romances with their ideal matches, they quickly discover that they may actually have feelings for each other.

A normal day for Kuba takes a strange turn when his uncle kidnaps him and forces him to join an eccentric group of conspiracy theorists.

The 1940s. Leon and his sons work on the Vistula River as sandblasters. One day the men fish a woman and her small daughter out of the river. It turns out that they are Jewish women who escaped from Warsaw, where they could not continue hiding. Leon undertakes a heroic struggle for their survival. He gives the women shelter in his home, risking the lives of his own family.

The suicidal woman remains in her body after death and observes a world in which she is no longer present.

An event, which main attraction is the dance marathon, has gathered crowds at the market square of the provincial Polish town. Impressive prizes compete with another attraction: the concert of the star singer Jessica. A local outsider Christian falls for the singer. Soon he discovers that her life is far from being a dream and decides to win her heart. In the crowd of marathon contestants we will meet many individuals who dream of winning the main prize for various motivations. Who will turn out to be the winner? Will there be a prize at all? Because two small-time crooks, Simon and Silvio, are lurking around. And why this persistent notion that our life is so often influenced by miracles...?

Ula, a young girl from a small town in Poland is kidnapped and taken to a brothel in Germany. Luckily she manages to escape and return home. However, the welcome she receives is far from warm, as the girl is ostracised by the local, conservative community.

A lonely dad, facing the sudden death of a Ukrainian babysitter, takes his daughter and her friend on a journey by the truck. Will trucker and two scamp girls handle the transport of frozen fish, body smuggling and life without a home?

In Gufler’s video installation The Responsive Body (2019), questions, directed at heteronormative, masculine self-conceptions of an art movement, arise. Gufler channelled texts by the British Op Art artist Bridget Riley into the film and thus provides her with space in an egocentric museum.

Malwina, a successful car designer, falls in love with Bruno, a successful couples therapist. While he can save any relationship, his own love stories create a series of spectacular disasters. Handsome and funny, he could be the man of dreams, if not for the fact that he acts like a black cat on women. He brings bad luck to his chosen ones, which ends the most fiery romance with a bang. Unaware of Malwin's risk, she succumbs to his charm at first sight. Despite the fact that a series of unfortunate events begins in her life, Bruno is not going to give up this time. In order to save the love of her life, she must find the cause of her heart failures. However, he will not succeed without a bit of luck.

Set in Szczecin, Poland, the series begins after the body of a young woman is discovered under the melting ice. It asks ‘Who was she? Why did she die? Who did she leave behind?

A group of social welfare workers led by their new director tries to provide necessary aid to people struggling with various problems.

Detective Mandżaro and his Warsaw crime unit deduce the hidden design linking apparently unrelated crimes, and a city-wide conspiracy is exposed.

The successful judge Alicja Mazur, who is known for her strictness towards criminals. The woman is unexpectedly accused of a murder she did not commit.

Acclaimed profiler Julia Wigier investigates a forest family murder while confronting personal trauma, only to discover the killer’s crimes continue.

When their latest heist goes wrong, three older female burglars evade officials by hiding out in a nursing home — where they uncover a sinister secret.

It's the story of two slightly crazy guys who are forced to leave their town, where the annual Gooseberry Days celebration is the biggest attraction, and go to London for work. To say, however, that the tour doesn't go according to plan would be a very mild description of what happens next. The protagonists get separated at the very beginning as a result of a gnarled party. The journey that follows is woven with a plethora of marvelous characters. The viewer will find among them: truckers, gypsy camper traders, anarchist squatters, recidivists hiding from the Polish justice system or go-go club employees.

Pati has just found out that in the apartment she lives with her two younger siblings and her mother, the electricity has been cut off again and they are in arrears with the rent. Unfortunately, Julita, Pati's mother, runs away from responsibility in alcohol and drugs, spending time in bars and on the dance floor. Unlike her, Pati has ambitions. She applied to the culinary school in Sopot and is nervously waiting for a decision on whether she will be accepted. Sony, the local drug dealer, starts harassing Pati. He wants her to pay off her mother's debts. Pati discovers that Julita was trying to earn money by dealing drugs. She repays her mother's debt to the dealer with the help of Krystian, who has a crush on Pati. Julita goes to Sony again for drugs.

A retired policeman and a former criminal must face their past when their daughters' lives are suddenly put at risk in this gangster thriller shining a light on the dark and dangerous activities of the Warsaw Mafia.

Caught between her Roma roots and pressure from her friends, a 17-year-old girl aspires to become a hip-hop musician despite her parents' strict rules.

Mały Zgon may seem like a quiet town - but just below the surface lies a twisted web of crooked cops, drug kingpins and high-stakes poker games.