Inside the 2025 Krakow Film Festival
Documentaries, shorts, and animation that confront a changing world
The 65th Krakow Film Festival returns from 25 May to 1 June 2025, offering a hybrid experience with in-person screenings in Kraków and online access via KFF VOD until 15 June. The International Documentary Competition features 13 films addressing themes like environmental crises, political unrest, and personal identity, with stories set in locations ranging from California's Yurok reservation to Romania's illegal logging industry. Additionally, 41 Polish productions will compete across various categories, highlighting the nation's cinematic diversity. With its blend of global narratives and local talent, the festival continues to be a vital platform for filmmakers and audiences alike.
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News
Complete Polish film programme announced for the 65th Krakow Film Festival
Krakow Film Festival unveils 2025 international documentary competition lineup
Smokehouses and soundscapes at the 65th Kraków Film Festival
Absent fathers and human futures at the 65th Kraków Film Festival
Exploring radical environmentalism at the 65th Krakow Film Festival
Editorial
Irish filmmakers redefine identity through intimate, political, and historical documentaries at the Krakow Film Festival’s Focus on Ireland programme.
Interview
The Town That Drove Away: «We witnessed how urbanisation became a façade»
Filmmakers Grzegorz Piekarski and Natalia Pietsch explore Turkey’s cultural erasure through the transformation of historic Hasankeyf into underwater tourism.
Tooth & Nail : Chainsaws, cameras, and the state that looked away
Brutal beatings, corrupt police, Austrian multinationals. Romania’s logging war is real and it’s funded by Europe’s thirst for cheap wood.
Films
Cyborg Generation
Director: Miguel Morillo Vega
A personal journey into sensory expansion, DIY biohacking, and the radical politics of cyborg identity.
Everything Needs to Live
Director: Tetiana Dorodnitsyna, Andrii Lytvynenko
As war rages, a world champion weightlifter becomes an unexpected hero, tending to wounded pets and people with tireless resolve.
Pet Farm
Director: Finn Walther, Martin A. Walther
A close-up of a loner and animal lover, Pet Farm portrays a man who struggles to find a place in the world for himself and his passions while facing soulless legislation.
Tata
Director: Lina Vdovîi, Radu Ciorniciuc
An intimate story of family trauma and exploitation, tackling patriarchal structures and the complex life of migrant labourers.
The Propagandist
Director: Luuk Bouwman
The rise and fall of a filmmaker who reshaped Dutch cinema by serving Nazi propaganda during World War II.
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