%20.png)
Poland On Screen
POLISH ASSOCIATION
Christchurch
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
For six days this December, Christchurch gets a window into Poland through film.
Poland on Screen brings Polish cinema to the big screen with seven very different films — from intimate documentaries and contemporary drama to dark comedy, romance and a beautifully understated Polish classic.
These are films about people: their relationships, ambitions, beliefs, mistakes, humour and the worlds they live in. Some will make you laugh, some will challenge you, and some may stay with you long after the credits roll.
Whether you have Polish roots, love discovering international cinema, or are simply curious to see something different, this festival is for you.
Come for the films, stay for the stories, conversations and a little taste of Poland on the big screen.
ORGANISERS & SUPPORTERS
Poland on Screen – Polish Film Festival in Christchurch is jointly organised by The Polish Association in Christchurch Inc. and Fundacja Nowa Przestrzeń in Poland. The festival is the result of a close partnership built around a shared goal: bringing contemporary Polish cinema, culture and stories to audiences in New Zealand and creating a festival that can grow into a regular part of Christchurch’s cultural calendar.
We are proud to present the festival in partnership with Lumière Cinemas at The Arts Centre, whose support and experience help bring these films to the big screen in one of Christchurch’s most distinctive cinema settings.
The festival has been made possible through the generous financial support of the Senate of the Republic of Poland – Polonia 2026 programme and the Polish Charitable & Educational Trust New Zealand. Their support allows us to bring a diverse programme of Polish films to Christchurch and make the festival accessible to a wider audience.
We are also honoured to have the support and patronage of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Wellington, and we are grateful to everyone who has contributed their time, knowledge and encouragement to helping this festival come to life.
Poland on Screen is more than a series of film screenings. It is a collaboration between people and organisations in Poland and New Zealand, created to share Polish culture, support international cultural exchange and build lasting connections through cinema.
PROGRAMME
FRIDAY · 4 DECEMBER · 6:00 PM
PIANOFORTE
Directed by Jakub Piątek · 89 min · Documentary
Step behind the scenes of the legendary International Chopin Piano Competition, where some of the world’s most gifted young pianists arrive in Warsaw for an opportunity that can change their lives.
Jakub Piątek’s intimate documentary follows them beyond the concert stage — through rehearsals, nerves, ambition, disappointment and extraordinary pressure. Instead of simply watching a competition, we get to know the young people behind the performances and see just how much talent, sacrifice and resilience lie behind every note.
Pianoforte won the 2024 International Emmy Award for Arts Programming, bringing international recognition to this beautifully observed Polish documentary.
SATURDAY · 5 DECEMBER · 7:00 PM
PHOTOSENSITIVE
Directed by Tadeusz Śliwa · 93 min
Agata is blind, independent and full of life. Robert is a successful photographer who appears to have everything, yet has gradually closed himself off from the world.
Their unexpected meeting brings two very different people together and forces both to confront their pasts, assumptions and vulnerabilities. Warm, romantic and full of humanity, Photosensitive is a story about trust, attraction and acceptance — and about discovering that truly seeing another person has very little to do with sight.
SUNDAY · 6 DECEMBER · 12:00 PM
CANDIDATES OF DEATH
Directed by Maciej Cuske · 95 min · Documentary
What begins as a holiday project to make an amateur horror film becomes a tradition lasting more than fifteen years.
A father, his son and two friends return year after year to make another instalment of their homemade horror series. Along the way, childhood gives way to adulthood and the films become an unexpected record of friendship, growing up, changing dreams, fears, relationships and fatherhood.
Funny, tender and genuinely moving, Candidates of Death is ultimately much less about horror films than about the strange magic of creating something together — and the relationships that survive while everything else changes.
Winner of the Best Polish Film Award at Millennium Docs Against Gravity 2026.
SUNDAY · 6 DECEMBER · 6:00 PM
THE ALTAR BOYS
Directed by Piotr Domalewski · 106 min
A group of teenage altar boys is frustrated by the injustice, hypocrisy and indifference they see around them. So they decide to do something about it.
Their solution? Hide a listening device in the confessional, learn the secrets of their neighbourhood and use what they hear to help those they believe deserve it — and punish those who do not.
What begins with youthful idealism soon becomes much more complicated. Sharp, energetic, funny and provocative, The Altar Boys explores faith, friendship, morality and the dangerous distance between good intentions and doing what is actually right.
One of the most acclaimed recent Polish films, The Altar Boys won the Golden Lions for Best Film at the 2025 Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, together with awards for screenplay and editing and the festival’s Audience Award.
MONDAY · 7 DECEMBER · 6:00 PM
IT’S NOT MY FILM
Directed by Maria Zbąska · 99 min
Wanda and Janek have been together for years, but somewhere along the way their relationship has stopped working.
After yet another argument, they make one final deal: load a sled with the essentials and walk together along the winter Baltic coast. If they complete the journey without breaking their rules, they stay together. If they fail, they walk away for good.
What follows is an unconventional romantic road movie — funny, tender, awkward and refreshingly honest about long-term love, disappointment and what happens after the conventional “happily ever after”.
Winner of the Golden Claw at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia and recognised at international festivals including CinEast and Smart7.
TUESDAY · 8 DECEMBER · 6:00 PM
THE BIG ANIMAL
Directed by Jerzy Stuhr · 70 min
One morning, Zygmunt and his wife discover that a travelling circus has left something rather unusual behind: a camel. They decide to give it a home. Their neighbours are less enthusiastic.
What begins as a charming curiosity gradually exposes suspicion, bureaucracy and the pressure to conform as the entire town becomes increasingly preoccupied with one man’s decision to keep an animal that simply does not belong there.
Directed by Jerzy Stuhr from a screenplay by Krzysztof Kieślowski, The Big Animal is a beautifully simple black-and-white fable — gentle, funny and quietly piercing in its exploration of tolerance, individuality and our response to anyone who chooses to live differently.
A modern Polish classic and a very different kind of cinema experience.
WEDNESDAY · 9 DECEMBER · 6:00 PM
HOME SWEET HOME
Directed by Wojciech Smarzowski · 107 min
When Gośka meets Grzesiek online, everything seems to fall into place. He is attentive, romantic and completely devoted to her. It looks like the beginning of the perfect love story.
Then cracks begin to appear.
Wojciech Smarzowski turns that seemingly perfect romance into a powerful and uncompromising examination of domestic violence, manipulation and the silence that allows abuse to remain hidden behind closed doors.
Challenging, confronting and impossible to dismiss, Home Sweet Home became one of Poland’s most talked-about recent films.
At the 2026 Polish Film Awards, it won five Eagles, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Actor.