Award-Winning Documentary Film Flisak
The documentary film Flisak, directed by Ryszard Kruk, has received the First Prize at the international 20th FilmAT Festival in the category Documentaries & Reportages, History & Heritage. The award ceremony will take place in March 2026 in Warsaw. The film was produced with the support of the Kujawy and Pomorze Film Fund and had its premiere on 7 February 2025 in Toruń.
The documentary Flisak, directed by Ryszard Kruk, is an intimate story about Marcin Karasiński—a photographer, historian, and river rafter—who decides to build a boat from the Teutonic Knights’ era based on a painting from the medieval Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Toruń. In order to do so, he meets Vistula River rafters who, for the filmmaker, became a symbol of the continuity of tradition, memory, and cultural identity.
The profession of the river rafter has almost completely disappeared, surviving today mainly as an element of tradition and regional heritage. In the past, rafters formed a distinct professional group with their own customs, attire, and work ethic. Ryszard Kruk’s film portrays a world that is fading away as a result of civilizational change. The development of road and rail transport has made traditional river rafting economically unviable. River culture is vanishing—along with its customs, dialect, and sense of community.
The central figure of the documentary is rafter Marcin Karasiński, a man deeply connected to the river, who treats his work as a calling. The camera follows him through his daily activities, allowing the viewer to enter the rhythm of his life. On his 13-meter-long boat, he organizes river trips for tourists and residents of Toruń. Karasiński shares stories with the filmmaker about historical river journeys, his work, and the solidarity among river people.
The river, as filmed by Ryszard Kruk, plays the role of an almost autonomous character and can also be seen as a symbol of time flowing endlessly onward. The calm water surface, the current, and the morning mists create a mood enhanced by atmospheric music performed by Jerzy Mazzoll.
The FilmAT Festival is an international festival of tourism, corporate, and documentary films, held annually in Poland. Films submitted to the competition must belong to one of the main categories: Tourism Communication, TV Documentaries & Reportages, and Corporate & Institutional Films. They are evaluated for creativity, style, and impact on the audience. FilmAT is the Polish partner of the International Committee of Tourism Film Festivals (CIFFT)—a global organization bringing together the world’s leading tourism film festivals. The festival jury consists of experts in film, marketing, and tourism.
Paweł Jankowski
12 February 2026