Films
EDUKINO – FORCES OF LIFE Competition
We invited to the festival competition films from all over the world, the characters of which face personal limitations, adversities, fear, lack of faith in their abilities, loneliness, depression, etc. and strive to survive the crisis, to regain happiness, to love, to pursue their dreams and goals, etc,… regardless of whether they succeed or not. We also invited films presenting practices that sustain the forces of life.
We believe that the works selected for the festival will move our viewers and will be a source of inspiration for those struggling with problems.
All the festiwal films are listed below, each assigned to one life force from among the wide spectrum that we will see on the festival screen.
LIFE FORCES
The concept of LIFE FORCE was formulated by psychologist and philosopher Viktor Frankl. Frankl believed that life forces are an innate and inherent part of human nature, that they are complex psychological constructs that promote development and search for meaningful life, which consist of beliefs, attitudes, motivations, values and other aspects of personality.
According to Viktor Frankl, the main forces of life are: love, creativity, knowledge, searching for the meaning of life and purpose, helping others, fun and humor, movement and physical activity, contact with nature, spirituality, freedom.
Forces of life are powerful resources that support man in difficulties. A person motivated by the forces of life is more willing to take risks, overcome obstacles and achieve goals. It is also easier for him/her to remain hopeful and optimistic in the face of adversity.
LIFE FORCES DRAWN FROM CREATIVE WORK, PRACTICING ART, EXPRESSION

LOREN & ROSE / USA
Dir. Russell Brown
Feature film 2023 / 82’
The story of friendship of a young, promising director and an aging film star who wants to revive her career, wonderfully played by Jacqueline Bisset. To Rose acting is what allows her to maintain strength and the will to live despite many adversities…

TWARZE AGATY / POLAND
Dir. Małgorzata Kozera
Documentary 2023 / 62’
The story of Agata’s long struggle with hemangioma cancer, with which doctors gave her only 2 years to live. After 20 years and over 30 facial surgeries, although illness and pain still accompany her, she lives a full life…

RADICAL MOVE / POLAND
Dir. Aniela Gabryel
Documentary 2023, 67’
Members of the legendary theater group “Workcenter” continue Jerzy Grotowski’s artistic explorations. By devoting themselves to artistic work, they explore the forces of life…

SCISSORS / CHINA
Dir. Tanweihua Tan
Feature film 2023, 29’ 58’’
Film about losing the ability to create.
A master of traditional paper cutting, invited to Beijing to work with scissors, for the first time in his life sees a real tiger there, which makes the abstractions he has been masterfully creating for many years disappear from his mind…

TREBLINKA JEST WE MNIE / POLAND
Dir. Krzysztof Żurowski, Jerzy Traczyński
Documentary 2023 / 5’ 10’’
Samuel Willenberg – Polish-Israeli artist, volunteer in the 1939 war, prisoner and participant of the Treblinka uprising, presents his sculptures of scenes from the Treblinka extermination camp…
LIFE FORCES DRAWN FROM THE RELATIONSHIP WITH PARENTS AND A HAPPY CHILDHOOD

THE ONE I LOVE / POLAND
Dir. Paweł Hejbudzki
Documentary film 2023, 93’
An extraordinary story about a young woman facing the trauma of her loveless childhood, searching for the truth about herself and her unknown siblings, a difficult confrontation with her mother, who is also a victim…

TO GO / TURKEY
Dir. Seval Şener
Short feature film 2023, 22’ 59’’
A girl who is planning to emigrate from Tyrkey, helps a mysterious young visitor from Canada find a place in Istanbul where – as he says – he has a hidden treasure…

REFLECTIONS / POLAND
Dir. Elena Vataman-Mărgineanu
Short feature film 2023, 15’
A story about the bond between a child and a mother in the picturesque realities of life in an old Moldavian village, where old superstitions are still alive….

W DRUGĄ STRONĘ / POLAND
Dir. Natalia Dutkiewicz
Short feature film 2023, 18’ 07’’
A joint trip of a father and his daughter, who is hurt by his long absence in her life, which is an opportunity to renew the damaged bond. Will the teenage daughter, who shows lack of interest during the trip…

FEETLESS SHOES / ESTONIA
Dir. Ernesto Redondo Vegara
Short feature film 2023, 24’ 59’’
A conflict between a father – the head of a failing circus – and his son, who comes to help him, but is not and does not want to be his copy. The conflict ends with a bitter confrontation…
LIFE FORCES DRAWN FROM LOVE

ANARAM / IRAN
Dir. Hooshang Mirzaei
Feature film 2023, 52’ 30’’
A young married couple defend themselves with tenderness, poetry and artistically crafted details against the knowledge that the husband’s incurable disease will progress…

GOSIA&TOMEK / GERMANY
Dir. Christine Jezior
Documentary film 2023 / 90’
What happens when, as a result of an accident, one of the two persons deeply related to each other, loses consciousness and falls into a coma? For several years Gosia…

URODZINY / POLAND
Dir. Marianna Korman
Short feature film 2023 / 28’ 58’’
The film tells the story of a dancer who had to give up her passion to take care of her daughter suffering from Rett syndrome. The woman takes care of the child with tender love and…

HIDDEN / POLAND
Dir. Krystian Kornel
Short feature film 2023 / 20’
Film about a few days spent together by half-siblings, related to each other by more than brother-sister love and the shadow of the past…

RISING LOTUS / USA
Dir. Gurinder J Singh
Short film 2023 / 17:57
A story about a mother’s courageous escape from her aggressive husband, dictated by fear for her son’s life, and about how motherly love enables one to cope with adversities…
LIFE FORCES DRAWN FROM LIFE FORCES DRAWN FROM GOOD SOCIAL RELATIONS, KINDNESS, MUTUAL SUPPORT, ACCEPTANCE

LA VIE EN ROSES / FRANCE
Dir. Patrice Cordnnier
Short film 2022 / 24’ 54’’
One day in the life of a charming flower girl. A film about how her kindness, attention and acceptance lead to the transformation of a whole galaxy of unusual…

THE ARCHITECT / NORWAY
Dir. Alexander Armas Kereklidis
Short film 2023 / 10’ 40’’
The stressed architect has realized that what she longes for in interpersonal relationships is far from how she perceives herself and others…

HOLDING SPACE / SINGAPORE
Dir. Jamie Teo
Short film 2023, 13’ 02’’
Everyone ,who takes up a challenge and tries to achieve something, has moments of weakness and lack of self-confidence. This is what the two young heroines…

TOUCH ME / ISRAEL
Dir. Boris Kazhdan
Short film 2023 / 89’ 33’’
Resulting from a mistake visit of an illegal immigrant, who works as a call girl, to the home of a man who is not interested in her company in any way…

DAR BADAR / INDIA
Dir. Rohit Khaitan
Feature film 2023 / 45’
Dar-Badar is a human story of displacement, refugee, dreams, realism, success, failure, resilience, challenges, coincidences and life-changing experiences…

FROM THE DARK / USA
Dir. Erika Sanz
Short film 2023 / 6’ 52’’
A film for young people about the experiences of a shy and introverted thirteen-year-old girl who has no friends, encounters rejection and lack of interest in her class…

EVERYTHING FOR YOU / POLAND
Dir. Anna Drozdek
Short film 2023 / 12’
A film for young people about how much the support of a friend means and is needed. Two twelve-year-old schoolgirls help each other because one is better at sports…

MY REFLECTION / MEXICO
Dir. Andrea Bonilla
Short film 2023 / 21’ 52’’
A film for young people about the problem of an overweight teenager and her complexes regarding her appearance. The girl feels misunderstood at home…

F*CKING BLUE CARROTS / POLAND
Dir. Julia Bui
Short film 2023 / 9’ 45’’
A tragicomic film for young people.
What to do when something is completely different than we would have the right to expect? The heroine…

ANOTHER DAY / IRAN
Dir. Sahand Khalaj
Short film 2022 / 13’ 40’’
A story about the everyday life and heartbreak of a young man with cerebral palsy who, in a wheelchair, bravely earns his living as a photographer …

KROŚNJA / TREE CROWN / SERBIA
Dir. Predrag Todorowić
Documentary 2023 / 15′
Guardians of Serbian land carved in stone – the grave monuments of Western Serbs tell the history of the nation, which, without their silent testimony, would be forgotten…

AMUKA / BELGIUM
Dir. Antonio Spano
Documentary 2023 / 71′
The Democratic Republic of the Congo could feed almost half of the Earth’s population. The picturesque farmlands and wild landscapes shown in the film are so lush that it isn’t hard to believe. However, one in six Congolese suffers from hunger…

KILOF / POLAND
Dir. Aleksandra Fudala-Barańska
Documentary film 2023 / 50’
The film presents unknown facts from the history of the early Polish Peoples Republic. Young people, inconvenient for the regime due to their “bad” origins, instead of joining the army …
LIFE FORCES DRAWN FROM REACHING BACK TO THE ROOTS

FORGOTTEN SONG / POLAND
Dir. Monika Grzybowska
Mid-length film – musical 2022 / 39’ 59’’
A story about love, that cannot happen. A young boy from Ukraine and a Polish girl meet in the Przyjaźń housing estate, where the Soviet builders of the Palace of Culture …

THE DEAD TRACK / ITALY
Dir. Antonio Maciocco
Short feature film 2023 / 23’ 55’’
A film in which the joy of life, dreams and enthusiasm of an old vineyard owner reveal to a would-be suicide a new perspective. The man has a peculiar goal…

A PLACE ON EARTH / POLAND
Dir. Zofia Bystydzieńska-Dolata
Documentary film 2022 / 22’28’’
An inspiring document about the interesting, fulfilled life of a retiree who practically and creatively combines his historical interests and passions with archery, social life and gardening…

SPACE STATION VILLAGE EP8: MISS YOU TO THE STARS / TAIWAN
Dir. Yi-Feng Kao
Animated movie 2022 / 13’ 03’’
An episode of an animated series that presents content from the indigenous cultures of the peoples of Taiwan. A story about the beliefs that are still alive in several…
LIFE FORCES DRAWN FROM FOLLOWING ONE’S DREAMS, PURSUITING ONE’S GOALS

LOTERIA / USA
Dir. Ali Atshani
Animated movie 2023 / 85’17’’
Full of warmth and selfless kindness, the Mexican community supports two migrants who follow their dreams and try to get to the United States illegally…

GAME OVER / TURKEY
Dir. Saeed Mayahy, Miriam Carlsen
Documentary 2023 / 24’ 59’’
Young Afghan boys are waiting in Turkey for a sea crossing to Europe paid for by their parents, determined to travel towards a better life, although fully aware that they may not reach the desired shore…

THE CHOICE / USA
Dir. Allee Chance
Short film 2023 / 5′ 25″
A film for young people. A short inspiring story about how a young man overcame Internet addiction by setting himself small and then increasingly bigger challenges, which ultimately turned out to be a path to serious achievements…

CLOAK OF HONORS / PORTUGAL
dir: Rui Falcão
Short film 2023 / 20′ 43″
A story about a little boy who makes a mistake trying to earn he needs to fulfill his dream, and about a wise old man who helps him. By the way, an interesting presentation of Portuguese Christmas customs…

MY BACK STORY /HUNGARY
Dir. Flora Chilton
Documentary 2023 / 86′
The film presents the successful surgical treatment of a teenage girl with a serious, progressive spinal curvature, from the moment of decision to make it to the happy ending. The heroes of the film are not only the patient and her parents, but also the attending doctors…

NO / IRAN
Dir. Kavoos Aghei
Short film 2023 / 12′ 17″
A film that shows how much a bold “no” can change your life, addressed mainly to Iranian women to show that they do not have to give in to pressure and agree to marriage against their will…

SORAYA / IRAN
Dir. Majid Vahednezhad
Short film 2023 / 19′ 18″
A shocking film about the practice of infant trafficking. The heroine of the film – a marginalized woman forced to sell her child – decides at the last minute to fight for her child and runs away before giving birth, which leads to tragedy…
LIFE FORCES DRAWN FROM SPIRITUALIY AND REFERENCE O GOD

THE ULMAS. THE BLESSED FAMILY / POLAND
Dir. Dariusz Walusiak
Documentary 2023 / 75′
The story of an 8-person family with small children, brutally murdered by the Nazis for hiding two Jewish families, and recently raised to the altars, presented in a historical and metaphysical perspective…

TECHNOLOGIES OF SOUL / SINGAPORE
Dir. Ian McGonigle
Documentary 2023 / 60′
The film shows how the inhabitants of Singapore – one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world – defend themselves against stress and the flood of digital reality, drawing wisdom from several religious traditions coexisting there…

YOU SHALL BE HINDERED FROM LOVING ME / SPAIN
Dir. Karlos Alastruey
Short feature film 2023 / 25′
A beautifully made film about girls who meet in an autumn forest and decide to stay together for several seasons to worship the Creator and explore the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh…

THE MONK AND THE FOREST
Dir. Benjamin Schryver
Medium-length feature film 2023 / 34′
A monk on a long journey on foot with a secret message for a church dignitary gets lost in the forest and almost dies from exhaustion. Saved from death by a mysterious man of the forest, he continues steadfastly…

I AM ADP
Dir. Marek Skrzecz, Germany
Documentary 2023 / 25′ 45″
Displaced refugees from the Cabo Delgado province in Mozambique, fleeing the terrorism of Islamist extremism, struggle with trauma and the memory of the massacre. They try to find their way in a new, difficult reality…
LIFE FORCES DRAWN FROM HARMONY WIH NATURE

PICK / IRAN
Dir. Shahoo Ahmadi
Short film 2023 / 4′ 05″
Stary ogrodnik, obsypane dojrzałym owocem drzewo i gromadka tryskających energią małych chłopców, którzy zakradli się do pełnego słońca i urody sadu…

DEMONS FROM AFAR / ETHIOPIA
Dir. Tommasso Magnano
Documentary 2023 / 12′ 56″
In the desert, life is only possible where there is water. For the peoples of Africa living far from civilization, water is everything. It is the source of life. As the Ethiopian song says, the sun illuminates the earth…

WILD PORT OF EUROPE / NETHERLANDS
Dir. Willem Berents
Documentary 2023 / 87′
A film about the forces of nature – about the adaptive abilities of animals such as hedgehogs, ferrets, seagulls, kestrels, rabbits, and even seals and exotic Chinese crabs, which stay alive even in such an industrialized environment as a port…
LIFE FORCES WITH A WINDOW OF EYES

THE MEETING / UKRAINE
Dir. Olexander Leonidovich Onufriev
Comedy short film 2023 / 16′ 26″
What forces are triggered in a strictly female group by the appearance of the opposite sex, and in an attractive form at that? The meeting of the female teaching staff at a Ukrainian high school is boiling over at the very announcement of the employment of a male teacher…