Eroica

Peasant Diaries

A film meant to show what people were told to believe about the wonderful lives that Polish peasants led in post-war Poland.

The Stars Must Burn

The year 1953 ends. Mines that failed to fulfil the plan are not allowed to light their star. Socialist realism treated seriously – with the memory of the mining tradition, with respect for the work of the old, with hope for the young.

Young Art

In October 1949, when socialist realism was imposed on Polish artists, a presentation of the achievements of art schools took place in Poznań. The report of the event called ‘shows’ was made by students of the Film School in Łódź.

A Fairy Tale

A recording of the performance of the symphonic poem entitled Fairy Tale by Stanislaw Moniuszko at the ‘Ursus’ Factory in Warsaw. It took place in 1952 and was performed by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Witold Rowecki.

Passenger

A German woman on a ship returning to Europe notices a face of another woman which brings recollections from the past. She tells her husband that she had been an overseer in Auschwitz during the war, but she has actually saved a woman's life.

Polish Film Chronicle 59/52AB

All celebrities hurry in order to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Polish Film Chronicle. On this occasion, there’s a special episode of the Chronicle directed by Andrzej Munk and performed by Wieslaw Golas: a pastiche of a typical episode with fixed elements - documentation of succeses achieved by Polish workers, artists, sportsmen, and cameramen of the Polish Film Chronicle.

Science Closer to Life

Modern work tools are created thanks to the development of science, as a result of the transfer of knowledge between generations. A review of the tradition of Polish science from the times of Nicolaus Copernicus to the establishment of the Polish Academy of Sciences. [35mm online]

Man on the Tracks

One night in 1950 a passenger train runs over a man, who turns out to be the veteran train engineer Władysław Orzechowski, know for his old ways and stern demeanor. As the inquiry panel tries to deduce why would a man like Orzechowski jump in front of a moving train several of the people involved in the case are interrogated, each telling their own version of the story. Can the panel arrive at the truth in a world where workers unite, inferior coal is a badge of honor, and the old order is suspect?

Bad Luck

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

Sunday Morning

Short propaganda film. Warsaw's post-war reconstruction as seen through the eyes of the passengers of a red bus.

A Walk in the Old City of Warsaw

A young music student strolls through Warsaw’s Old Town as the city’s everyday sounds—children, traffic, machinery, music, and passing jets—shift from background noise into a spontaneous outdoor concert.

A Railwayman's Word

A documentary about the hard work of railwaymen transporting coke from Tarnowskie Góry to Szczecin Iron works.

Men of the Blue Cross

The final film produced by Warsaw’s Documentary Film Studio is an epic re-enactment of a treacherous mission by the Voluntary Tatra Mountain Rescue Service to aid colleagues stranded behind enemy lines at the close of World War II (several real participants feature in the film). Based on a short story about the rescue by Adam Liberak, Munk’s final “documentary” is also arguably his first major exercise in the craft of narrative filmmaking.

Destination - Nowa Huta!

This documentary describes the process of building and the first days of the combine and the city of Nowa Huta. Andrzej Munk realizes the postulates of socialist realism decreed in Polish cinematography in 1949.

Con bravura

Originally, Munk intended Eroica to be a triptych with Con bravura being the first part, but he ultimately gave up on this film, deeming it weaker artistically than the two counterparts. Con bravura is about conspiracy conflating the paths of a rather unconventional nun and an intrigued young man – each of them bears secrets and the encounter could incite a flaming romance, though one suffocated by war.Munk set the film in the mountain capital of Zakopane and its vicinity, allowing breathtaking views from a cable car and using his experiences of the Nazi occupation in the area to add gritty reality. The director plays a cameo as a priest with several of his industry friends also making appearances.

Downfall

In April of 1945, Germany stands at the brink of defeat with the Russian Army closing in from the east and the Allied Expeditionary Force attacking from the west. In Berlin, capital of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler proclaims that Germany will still achieve victory and orders his generals and advisers to fight to the last man. When the end finally does come, and Hitler lies dead by his own hand, what is left of his military must find a way to end the killing that is the Battle of Berlin, and lay down their arms in surrender.

Gandhi

In the early years of the 20th century, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a British-trained lawyer, forsakes all worldly possessions to take up the cause of Indian independence. Faced with armed resistance from the British government, Gandhi adopts a policy of 'passive resistance', endeavouring to win freedom for his people without resorting to bloodshed.

Closely Watched Trains

At a village railway station in occupied Czechoslovakia, a bumbling dispatcher’s apprentice longs to liberate himself from his virginity. Oblivious to the war and the resistance that surrounds him, this young man embarks on a journey of sexual awakening and self-discovery, encountering a universe of frustration, eroticism, and adventure within his sleepy backwater depot.

The Bridge on the River Kwai

The classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson, the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans.

Antonia's Line

After World War II, Antonia and her daughter, Danielle, go back to their Dutch hometown, where Antonia's late mother has bestowed a small farm upon her. There, Antonia settles down and joins a tightly-knit but unusual community. Those around her include quirky friend Crooked Finger, would-be suitor Bas and, eventually for Antonia, a granddaughter and great-granddaughter who help create a strong family of empowered women.

The Best Years of Our Lives

It's the hope that sustains the spirit of every GI: the dream of the day when he will finally return home. For three WWII veterans, the day has arrived. But for each man, the dream is about to become a nightmare.

Enemy at the Gates

A Russian and a German sniper play a game of cat-and-mouse during the Battle of Stalingrad in WWII.

Rome, Open City

During the Nazi occupation of 1944 Rome, Resistance leader Giorgio Manfredi is pursued by the Nazis as he seeks refuge and a means of escape.

Overlord

On the eve of D-Day, a team of American paratroopers crash behind enemy lines and come face-to-face with a Nazi threat unlike any the world has ever seen.

The Song of Names

A man searches for his childhood best friend, a Polish violin prodigy orphaned in the Holocaust, who vanished decades before on the night of his first public performance.

From Here to Eternity

In 1941 Hawaii, a private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit's team, while his captain's wife and second in command are falling in love.

Battle of Britain

In 1940, the Royal Air Force fights a desperate battle against the might of the Luftwaffe for control of the skies over Britain, thus preventing an attempted Nazi invasion.

The Eagle Has Landed

When the Nazi high command learns in late 1943 that Winston Churchill will be spending time at a country estate in Norfolk, it hatches an audacious scheme to kidnap the prime minister and spirit him to Germany for enforced negotiations with Hitler.

Kelly's Heroes

A misfit group of World War II American soldiers goes AWOL to rob a bank behind German lines.