28th Chicago European Union Film Festival Spotlight: Poland, it is our pleasure, with the generous support of the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Chicago, to present two weeks of the best new and classic films from Poland and Polish filmmakers. Join us March 7–20, as we present 20 films, including 13 new titles-and 12 Chicago premieres-alongside classics from filmmakers including Krzysztof Kieslowski, Agnieszka Holland, and Andrzej Wajda. Meet filmmakers visiting us from Poland, and enjoy taste from the country through special events and at our concession stand.

Schedule

Friday, March 7, 2025

7:00 pm

Opening Night: WHITE COURAGE

BIALA ODWAGA

2024, Marcin Koszalka, Poland, 115 mins

In Polish with English subtitles | Format: Digital

Set in the Polish Highlands at the outset of WWII, Marcin Koszalka’s gripping WHITE COURAGE begins with a betrayal. Brothers Andrzej (Filip Plawiak) and Maciek (Julian Swiezewski) are driven apart when Andrzej’s lover, Bronka (Sandra Drzymalska, SIMONA KOSSAK) is promised to Maciek. Andrzej leaves, and meets Wolfram, an anthropologist who enlists him to support the Nazi ideology, while Maciek begins organizing the local resistance back home. When Andrzej returns, an inevitable, devastating confrontation unfolds. Koszalka (THE RED SPIDER) sets a brutal story against a breathtaking backdrop, using the tale of two brothers to tell a larger story of WWII’s impact on the Highlanders. Co-written by Koszalka, with research support from the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation, WHITE COURAGE won the Best Director and Best Screenplay awards at the 2024 Gdynia Film Festival, and swept the 2024 Polish Film Festival, winning Best Director, Best Actress (Drzymalska), Best Supporting Actor (Swiezewski), and Best Screenplay. Content consideration: contains scenes of violence. Dialogue: Director Marcin Koszalka in attendance.

Buy Tickets

Saturday, March 8, 2025

12:30 pm

SHATTERED GAMES

W SZACHU. OSTATNIA ROZGRYWKA

2023, Marek Bukowski, Poland, 60 mins

In Polish with English subtitles | Format: Digital

Inspired by true events, SHATTERED GAMES tells the story of the Polish national chess team-known as the Golden Team-as they prepare for the 1930 Hamburg World Chess Championship. As war looms and Nazis occupy Poland, the team grows closer as a tight-knit group of friends, battling to win the trophy as they also contend with the declining health of their star player, Akiba Rubinstein. Filmed in the interiors of historic pre-war palaces in Poland, SHATTERED GAMES, in one potent hour, stylishly captures how the outbreak of war brought a premature end to a brilliant team whose moves are still studied in chess textbooks to this day.

Buy Tickets

2:30 pm

THE LOVE BUZZ

MILOSC JAK MIÓD

2024, Maciej Migas, Poland, 100 mins

In Polish with English subtitles | Format: Digital

While Majka and Agata are both in their 50s, going through menopause, and dissatisfied with life, the old friends are otherwise polar opposites. Widowed Majka lives by the Baltic Sea, runs a sweet shop, and is a devoted grandmother, while recently single Agata lives in the Tatra Mountains, meditates regularly, and has no family. When the two women reconnect at a funeral, they make an impulsive decision to swap lives, a role reversal that leads to hilarious twists, character building challenges, and unpredictable revelations. A laugh-out-loud comedy about trusting your head and your heart, THE LOVE BUZZ delightfully suggests that age really is just a number.

Buy Tickets

5:00 pm

SIMONA KOSSAK

2024, Adrian Panek, Poland, 100 mins

In Polish with English subtitles | Format: Digital

In this smart biopic, Sandra Drzymalska (WHITE COURAGE) stars as Polish ecologist hero Simona Kossak (1943–2007). Lacking the artistic talent or interest that defined the Kossak family for generations, after graduating university Simona chooses to leave her hard-hearted mother and accept a position at the Polish Academy of Science’s Research Center in the Bialowieza Forest, and begins to learn how defend both her position as a naturalist and the place of a young woman in a world dominated by men. With vivid, lush cinematography, and an equal parts commanding and vulnerable performance from Drzymalska, SIMONA KOSSAK is a captivating portrait of an underappreciated hero.

Buy Tickets

7:30 pm

THE A(A) TEAM

DRUZYNA AA

2024, Daniel Jaroszek, Poland, 132 mins

In Polish with English subtitles | Format: Digital

As the A-Team said, “I love it when a plan comes together,” but for the AA Team, the plan is tenuous at best. When four alcoholics learn their beloved rehab facility will close due to lack of funding, they take on a risky gig to save it: smuggle two tankers of booze across Poland for $200,000. They pack food and their emotion journals, kidnap their therapist (Lukasz Simlat, CORPUS CHRISTI), and drive. But temptation is not their only danger: a deranged customs officer is also hot on their trail. To survive, the team has to learn to rely on each other, keep their eyes on the road, and trust themselves in this equal parts dark and heartwarming comedy.

Buy Tickets

Sunday, March 9, 2025

12:30 pm

UNDER THE VOLCANO

POD WULKANEM

2024, Damian Kocur, Poland, 105 mins

In English and Ukrainian and Spanish with English subtitles | Format: Digital

In Damian Kocur’s timely UNDER THE VOLCANO, a Ukrainian family is wrapping up their sun-soaked holiday in the Canary Islands when Russia invades their homeland. In an instant, they are no longer tourists, but refugees. Frantically waiting for news from home, father Roman, stepmother Nastia, teenage Sofiia, and young Fedir are grounded: trapped in paradise as other travelers go about their vacations, oblivious to their situation, anxieties, and alienation. UNDER THE VOLCANO, Poland's submission to the Academy Awards for Oscar consideration, is a sensitive and authentic portrait of displacement and unquestionably a war movie, though not a single shot is fired, nor a bomb dropped.

Buy Tickets

2:45 pm

EUROPA EUROPA

1990, Agnieszka Holland, Poland/Germany/France, 112 mins

In Polish, German, Russian, and Hebrew with English subtitles | Format: Digital

Agnieszka Holland-whose GREEN BORDER won Best Film at the 2024 Polish Film Awards-gained international acclaim for EUROPA EUROPA. Based on a true story, German Jew Solomon Perel, who is separated from his family during WWII, finds himself surviving only by reluctantly hiding his Jewishness. In a Soviet orphanage he learns Russian, then uses his skills to work as an interpreter for the German army. When he returns home, he enlists in the Hitler Youth Academy-a horror that continues to keep his identity a secret. EUROPA EUROPA is a damning refutation of the idea of racial purity and a coming-of-age story like no other.

Buy Tickets

5:30 pm

THREE COLORS: BLUE

TROIS COULEURS: BLEU

1993, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Poland/France/Switzerland, 98 mins

In Polish, French and Romanian with English subtitles | Format: 4K Digital Restoration

Inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution, Warsaw-born master Krzysztof Kieslowski designed his critically acclaimed THREE COLORS trilogy as an exploration of liberty, equality, and fraternity. In BLUE, Julie (a riveting Juliette Binoche) is devastated after her husband and daughter are killed in a car accident. Overwhelmed with grief, she attempts to sever all ties with her life and the people who knew her before the accident, but finds that, either by her own hand or through coincidence, her past continues to connect with her present. A meditative study of personal freedom, BLUE is a hypnotic and exceptional cinematic experience.

Buy Tickets

Monday, March 10, 2025

6:15 pm

ASHES AND DIAMONDS

POPIÓL I DIAMENT

1958, Andrzej Wajda, Poland, 103 mins

In Polish with English subtitles | Format: 35mm

One of the most important Polish films of all time, ASHES AND DIAMONDS takes place on the last day of WWII. In a small town in Poland, resistance fighter Maciek (Zbigniew Cybulski, the “James Dean of Poland”) has been tasked with assassinating a communist official to help solidify Poland’s post-war government. When the mission goes awry, he meets Krystyna, a captivating barmaid who offers him a fleeting vision of a life beyond conflict, where intimacy and daily routine replace violence and military discipline. Using man as metaphor for country, Wajda delivers an urgent and electrifying vision of Poland at a time of transition.

Buy Tickets

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

6:00 pm

THREE COLORS: WHITE

TROIS COULEURS: BLANC

1994, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Poland/France/Switzerland, 92 mins

In English and Polish and French with English subtitles | Format: 4K Digital Restoration

Laced with a biting irony (Roger Ebert called the film Kieslowski’s “anti-comedy"), WHITE is a darkly playful tale of equality and justice. Karol Karol (Zbigniew Zamachowski), a hapless hairdresser living in France, returns to his native Poland penniless and humiliated after he loses everything when his wife Dominique (Julie Delpy) divorces him. Once home, he begins plotting a complex and absurd plan to regain his dignity. An interesting film to consider in 2025, when discourse about masculinity abounds (The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw deemed it “an opera of male agony”), WHITE is a sardonic study of power, control, and destiny.

Buy Tickets

8:00 pm

WOMAN OF...

KOBIETA Z…

2024, Michal Englert, Malgorzata Szumowska, Poland/Sweden, 132 mins

In Polish with English subtitles | Format: Digital

Set against the landscape of the Polish transformation from communism to capitalism, WOMAN OF… (a reference to Andrzej Wajda’s MAN OF IRON and MAN OF MARBLE) spans 45 years of the life of Aniela Wesoly-portrayed by Mateusz Wieclawek and Malgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik-following her journey of liberation as a trans woman. Co-starring Joanna Kulig (CIVIL WAR), A WOMAN OF…, which was supported by a trans advisory team, pulls no punches in its criticism of Poland’s past and present mistreatment of the queer community. Michal Englert and Malgorzata Szumowska craft a tender, sensitive portrait, which was nominated for the Gold Lion and the Queer Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

Buy Tickets

Thursday, March 13, 2025

8:30 pm

THREE COLORS: RED

TROIS COULEURS: ROUGE

1994, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Poland/France/Switzerland, 99 mins

In French with English subtitles | Format: 4K Digital Restoration

In RED, a luminous exploration of human connection, Irène Jacob stars as Valentine, a melancholy model whose life unexpectedly intersects with that of Joseph, a retired judge who habitually spies on his neighbors. The film received three Academy Award nominations, including a Best Director nod for Kieslowski, and critics declared he had saved the best for last. Kieslowski announced that this final film in the THREE COLORS trilogy would also mark his retirement, Devastatingly, the director would die suddenly two years after its release. A story of empathy and the possibility of redemption, RED is a brilliant final gift from one of Poland’s most revered filmmakers.

Buy Tickets

Friday, March 14, 2025

6:00 pm

IDENTIFICATION MARKS: NONE

RYSOPIS

1964, Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland, 73 mins

In Polish with English subtitles | Format: Digital

Jerzy Skolimowski was still a student at the Lódz Film School when he finished his semi-autobiographical debut feature. He stars as Andrzej Leszczyc, a university dropout who is sentenced to military duty. Filmed in real time and made up of approximately 29 shots, IDENTIFICATION MARKS: NONE follows Andrzej as he wanders around the city, considering his looming obligation on his last day as a civilian. Made three years after he had co-written Roman Polanski’s Oscar-nominated hit KNIFE IN THE WATER, this striking debut also introduced Skolimowski as a bold and uncompromising director.

Buy Tickets

8:00 pm

EO

2022, Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland/UK/Italy, 86 mins

In English, Polish, Italian and French with English subtitles | Format: Digital

Skolimowski’s most recent film is his most inventive yet, a tender and hypnotic portrait of a donkey named Eo. After he is removed from the traveling circus he has always called home, Eo sets off on an epic journey across the Polish and Italian countryside, experiencing kindness and cruelty in equal measure. In this poetic homage to Robert Bresson’s AU HASARD BALTHAZAR, Skolimowski boldly comments on humanity, global warming, and cinema itself, presenting his vision through the kind and trusting eyes of Eo, and placing the viewer directly in the heart of his four-legged protagonist.

Buy Tickets

Saturday, March 15, 2025

1:15 pm

IT'S NOT MY FILM

TO NIE MÓJ FILM

2024, Maria Zbaska, Poland, 99 mins

In Polish with English subtitles | Format: Digital

“We’ll go to the seaside. We’ll walk 250 miles on the beach. If we can’t make it, we’ll split up.” Janek and Wanda, who love each other, but can’t seem to like each other, trek along the wintery Baltic coast in a last ditch effort to save their relationship. Bundled up against the elements, dependent on one another for survival, and with no humans around for miles, Janek and Wanda have nothing left to do but let it all out. Maria Zbaska’s debut feature, which won the Andrzej Zulawski Award at the 2024 Polish Film Festival, is an assured and uncompromising story of modern love. Dialogue: Maria Zbaska in attendance.

Buy Tickets

3:45 pm

KULEJ. ALL THAT GLITTERS ISN’T GOLD

KULEJ. DWIE STRONY MEDALU

2024, Xawery Zulawski, Poland, 148 mins

In Polish with English subtitles | Format: Digital

KULEJ. ALL THAT GLITTERS ISN’T GOLD chronicles the turbulent years of 1964 to 1968 for two-time Olympic gold medalist boxer Jerzy Kulej, and his wife Helena (Michalina Olszanska, THE LURE). Returning from the Tokyo Olympics with his first gold medal, Jerzy (Tomasz Wlosok) is a national hero, but the next four years, as he trains for the Mexico City Olympics, are complicated by his vices and the slow liberalization of Poland. Director Xawery Zulawski captures the spirit of the era and the complex dynamics of the Kulej’s marriage, punctuating the drama with spectacular boxing sequences that will satisfy any RAGING BULL or ROCKY fan.

Buy Tickets

7:15 pm

UNDER THE GREY SKY

POD SZARYM NIEBEM

2024, Mara Tamkovich, Poland, 81 mins

In Belarusian and Russian with English subtitles | Format: Digital

In Mara Tamkovich’s eerily timely feature debut, journalist Lena is arrested for livestreaming the suppression of a protest against the 2020 Belarusian election, thrusting her husband Ilya into an untenable situation. With the grim possibility that Lena will spend years behind bars, Ilya must consider the sacrifices he may be forced to make to support her. Inspired by the true story of Katsyaryna Andreeva and Igor Ilyash, UNDER THE GREY SKY is a haunting portrait of political repression in the digital age which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and won the Best Debut Director prize at the 2024 Polish Film Festival. Dialogue: Director Mara Tomkovich in attendance. Followed by a reception generously sponsored by Polombia.

Buy Tickets

Sunday, March 16, 2025

12:00 pm

THREE COLORS: BLUE

TROIS COULEURS: BLEU

1993, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Poland/France/Switzerland, 98 mins

In Polish, French and Romanian with English subtitles | Format: 4K Digital Restoration

Inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution, Warsaw-born master Krzysztof Kieslowski designed his critically acclaimed THREE COLORS trilogy as an exploration of liberty, equality, and fraternity. In BLUE, Julie (a riveting Juliette Binoche) is devastated after her husband and daughter are killed in a car accident. Overwhelmed with grief, she attempts to sever all ties with her life and the people who knew her before the accident, but finds that, either by her own hand or through coincidence, her past continues to connect with her present. A meditative study of personal freedom, BLUE is a hypnotic and exceptional cinematic experience.

Buy Tickets

2:15 pm

THREE COLORS: WHITE

TROIS COULEURS: BLANC

1994, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Poland/France/Switzerland, 92 mins

In English and Polish and French with English subtitles | Format: 4K Digital Restoration

Laced with a biting irony (Roger Ebert called the film Kieslowski’s “anti-comedy"), WHITE is a darkly playful tale of equality and justice. Karol Karol (Zbigniew Zamachowski), a hapless hairdresser living in France, returns to his native Poland penniless and humiliated after he loses everything when his wife Dominique (Julie Delpy) divorces him. Once home, he begins plotting a complex and absurd plan to regain his dignity. An interesting film to consider in 2025, when discourse about masculinity abounds (The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw deemed it “an opera of male agony”), WHITE is a sardonic study of power, control, and destiny.

Buy Tickets

4:30 pm

THREE COLORS: RED

TROIS COULEURS: ROUGE

1994, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Poland/France/Switzerland, 99 mins

In French with English subtitles | Format: 4K Digital Restoration

In RED, a luminous exploration of human connection, Irène Jacob stars as Valentine, a melancholy model whose life unexpectedly intersects with that of Joseph, a retired judge who habitually spies on his neighbors. The film received three Academy Award nominations, including a Best Director nod for Kieslowski, and critics declared he had saved the best for last. Kieslowski announced that this final film in the THREE COLORS trilogy would also mark his retirement, Devastatingly, the director would die suddenly two years after its release. A story of empathy and the possibility of redemption, RED is a brilliant final gift from one of Poland’s most revered filmmakers.

Buy Tickets

Wednesday, March 19, 2025

6:00 pm

MINGHUN

2024, Jan P. Matuszynski, Poland, 94 mins

In Polish and Chinese with English subtitles | Format: Digital

Jurek (Marcin Dorocinski) is a widower who is devoted to his teenage daughter Masia. Though they live in Poland, Masia cherishes and observes the traditions of her late Chinese mother. When Masia unexpectedly dies, Jurek’s Chinese father-in-law Ben (Daxing Zhang) travels to Poland to help lay her to rest and with the intent to perform a “minghun,” or ghost marriage for Masia, so that she might find balance and not be lonely in the afterlife. Jan P. Matuszynski’s (LEAVE NO TRACES) MINGHUN is a sensitive exploration of cross-cultural understanding, and a beautiful portrait of two men brought together by shared grief, love, and family.

Buy Tickets

8:15 pm

A REAL PAIN

2024, Jesse Eisenberg, USA/Poland, 90 mins

In English and Polish with English subtitles | Format: Digital

Straightlaced David (Jesse Eisenberg) and his unpredictable cousin Benji (Kieran Culkin) reunite for a Jewish heritage tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. When tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history, the trip takes on an entirely new meaning. A poignant portrait of family and intergenerational trauma, A REAL PAIN has been hailed as one of the best films of the year, and won Culkin a Golden Globe award and Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Shot in Lublin, Warsaw, Krasnystaw, Krasnik, and Radom, writer-director Jesse Eisenberg, who is a dual American and Polish citizen, has called A REAL PAIN his “love letter to Poland.”

Buy Tickets

Thursday, March 20, 2025

6:00 pm

Closing Night: SPARROW

WRÓBEL

2024, Tomasz Gassowski, Poland, 106 mins

In Polish with English subtitles | Format: Digital

Remek Wróbel (Jacek Borusinski, winner of the Best Actor prize at the 2024 Polish Film Festival), lives a simple and unremarkable life. Approaching 40, he works as a mailman, plays on an amateur football team, and reads the encyclopedia for fun. When he learns that his long-estranged grandfather is still alive, and an alluring new neighbor moves in next door, Remek’s solitary life begins to turn in an entirely new direction. Tomasz Gassowski delivers an endlessly charming debut film-a heartwarming tale of a man who, despite his seeming indifference, deserves all the good that is coming to him.

Buy Tickets

Date: March 7 - 20, 2025

Location: Gene Siskel Film Center

164 North State Street, Chicago, IL 60601

Click here for more Information