A Wave of Bold Polish Cinema
The Camera Action Festival focuses on the most intriguing Polish films. During the opening ceremony (October 22, 6:00 p.m.), audiences will see Jan Holoubek’s “Wild Wild East”, one of the most highly anticipated Polish productions, starring Itay Tiran and Robert Więckiewicz in the lead roles. Occupied Poland in 1943, where the war is rapidly blurring the line between victim and perpetrator. Holoubek approaches the story through the lens of a Western and a noir thriller, creating an uncompromising tale of violence, greed, and moral decay. Agnieszka Smoczyńska, one of the guests at this year’s edition, employs genre conventions just as boldly; she will meet with the audience during the screening of the much-talked-about and widely discussed “Hot Spot”. The director’s latest film is a futuristic thriller – a wild mix of science fiction, crime drama, and satire on a society subjugated by technology. “Empty Pockets” Filip Bojarski’s feature-length debut, tells the story of survival in a modern city—albeit in a decidedly more comedic tone. Here, the search for an apartment turns into an absurd odyssey in which social cinema meets an intimate comedy-drama.
Audiences can also look forward to a pre-release screening of “What Belong to Others” by Grzegorz Dębowski, the director of the highly acclaimed “Next to Nothing”. The film, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, received the Bisato d’Oro Award for Best Screenplay, presented by a jury of independent film critics. The screening will conclude with a conversation with the filmmakers. “The Time That Never Came”, selected for the Main Competition at the Gdynia Film Festival (FPFF), raises the question of the price we pay for trying to hold on to youth. The film stars Agata Kulesza and Dobromir Dymecki, and following the screening, director Julia Rogowska and producer Krystyna Kantor will discuss the film. Viewers also shouldn’t miss Łukasz Ronduda’s latest film, “Tell Me What You Feel”, in which the director once again combines cinema with contemporary art, drawing on the life and work of Patryk Różycki. Following the screening, there will be a Q&A session with the director, who is a graduate of cultural studies at the University of Łódź. The event is partnered by the Łódź Film Commission.
The 17th Camera Action Festival will take place from October 22 to 25, 2026, in Łódź, and online from October 19 to 21, 2026, on the Think Film platform. This project is made possible thanks to funding from the City of Łódź’s budget. It is co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund – a state-administered special-purpose fund—as well as by the Polish Film Institute and the University of Łódź, the festival’s patron. The “Sound Direction” section is organized in collaboration with the Łódź Film School and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain in Poland. Filmweb is a partner of the section. The festival’s main partners are Monopolis, the Łódź Film School, and the Museum of Cinematography. The Camera Action Festival and the “Man in Danger” Media Festival form the “Łódź Film Festival” network.
