Film Fund: “Kandydaci śmierci” at the Gdynia Film Festival
A new documentary by Bydgoszcz-based director Maciej Cuske will be presented in September at the 51st Polish Film Festival in Gdynia. The production was made in partnership with our Kujawy Pomorze Film Fund.
The organisers of the 51st edition of the festival point out that presenting important, widely discussed and award-winning documentaries has become a tradition of the Gdynia event. This year, seven screenings are planned in the “Documentary” section, including three in cooperation with the Krakow Film Festival and one with Millennium Docs Against Gravity.
– The filmmakers invited to the festival tell moving, intimate stories without turning away from the most difficult issues. They speak about fundamental values and portray passion beautifully and with great honesty. We need these films in Gdynia, as well as the power of documentary cinema – said Joanna Łapińska, Artistic Director of the Polish Film Festival.
Among the seven selected titles is the feature-length documentary Kandydaci śmierci, filmed over a period of 17 years and shown in cinemas across Poland since 7 August. Bydgoszcz-based director Maciej Cuske documented summer trips on which he took his son Staś and his friends Rafał and Adrian. Every year, they made amateur horror films together in various parts of the country. Initially conceived as a summer pastime intended to draw the boys away from their computer screens, the project evolved into an intimate, long-term story about growing up, male friendship, parenthood and the passage of time. At this year’s Millennium Docs Against Gravity festival, Kandydaci śmierci won the Polish Competition and received two Audience Awards. The production was made in partnership with our Kujawy Pomorze Film Fund.
The opening film of the “Documentary” section at the 51st Polish Film Festival in Gdynia will be Marcin Borchardt’s Magic Hour. It tells the story of Piotr Sobociński, one of Poland’s most outstanding cinematographers, who worked, among others, on films by Krzysztof Kieślowski. His collaboration with Kieślowski and an Academy Award nomination opened the door to Hollywood. His American career was cut short by his untimely death in 2001.
Another documentary, Igrając z diabłem by Maciej Nabrdalik and Piotr Małecki, follows war photographer Christopher Morris as he tries to find peace and solace in family life. Paweł Chorzępa’s Stroiciele tells the story of the exceptionally precise work of piano tuners during the Chopin Competition.
In Michał Marczak’s Bez końca, we follow the efforts of a desperate father who sets out on his own to find his missing son, Krzysiek. To do so, he builds a boat equipped with cameras and drones to search the waters of the Vistula River. Katarzyna Kultys’s Dom mrówek, meanwhile, portrays the complex relationship between parent and child.
The final documentary presented at the Gdynia festival will be Ślady by Alisa Kovalenko and Marysia Nikitiuk. “The film tells the story of Ukrainian women who, after experiencing sexual violence and torture during the Russian aggression, break their silence, support one another and fight for justice,” reads the festival announcement.
This year’s Polish Film Festival will take place from 21 to 26 September.
Documentaries at the 51st Polish Film Festival in Gdynia
Bez końca, directed by Michał Marczak
Dom mrówek, directed by Katarzyna Kultys
Igrając z diabłem, directed by Maciej Nabrdalik and Piotr Małecki
Kandydaci śmierci, directed by Maciej Cuske
Magic Hour, directed by Marcin Borchardt
Stroiciele, directed by Paweł Chorzępa
Ślady, directed by Alisa Kovalenko and Marysia Nikitiuk
Sixteen titles have qualified for the Main Competition of the 51st Polish Film Festival. Among them is Jan Komasa’s Dobry chłopiec, which was made in cooperation with the Kujawy Pomorze Film Fund.
Dariusz Czołgowski
Promotion Department
24 August 2026