A documentary can be a distanced observation of a fragment of reality, an attempt to understand a phenomenon or an intimate original statement. Although this is just a beginning of the endless possibilities. Those approaches are presented in the Harsh Reality screening. The authors of the selected films undertake difficult, and sometimes controversial topics, where it is not easy to stay indifferent.

Halo Effect, dir. Patrycja Polkowska (Poland) 2019, 14’
Studzieniec is an open youth detention centre, resembling a compulsory summer camp rather than a high-security prison. In places like this, the residents are not given sentences in years. They cannot leave until the day of their 21 st birthday. They stay in touch with the outer world mainly by use of a landline phone in the supervisor’s room.
Letter to my mother, dir. Amin Maher (Iran) 2019, 20’
Amin Maher starred with his mother in Abbas Kiarostami’s 10. The famous film became the beginning of a career, but also a nightmare. In a letter to his mother, Maher reveals the most painful secrets from his childhood.
FOR ADULT VIEWERS ONLY. Polish premiere.
My Country So Beautiful, dir. Grzegorz Paprzycki (Poland) 2019, 30’ A documentary portrait of Poland, in which two forces clash representing completely different worldviews. The left wing vision of the country, against the homogeneous Poland built by the extreme right. Among these ideologies – people who fight in the name of their own values and principles. There is one main disagreement – nationalism.
Golden Hobby Horse Award at KFF and New Eye Award at Przeźrocza FF.

Harsh Reality – shorts (thematic block) – online