Krakow Film Festival 2026 Has Begun
On the ground for another edition of one of Europe’s essential documentary gatherings
The 2026 Krakow Film Festival opened yesterday and runs through 7 June, bringing another week of urgent nonfiction cinema, animated work, short films, and industry dialogue to one of Europe’s most vital documentary platforms. Modern Times Review has been a longtime partner of the festival, and this year we are once again following the programme closely, with our critics on the ground in Krakow to report from screenings, conversations, and industry events as they unfold.
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News
Krakow Film Festival reveals new international titles and visual identity
Krakow Film Festival adds new award for documentary innovation
Interview
As KFF Industry returns to Krakow in 2026, Katarzyna Wilk discusses the movement between Polish documentary, international festival circuits, Ukrainian projects, and the long-term relationships that allow films to travel beyond recognition alone.
Films
Around Paradise
Director: Yulia Lokshina
Conspiracy culture, settler ideology, and capitalist exploitation converge inside a gated Paraguayan enclave.
Shifting Baselines
Director: Julien Elie
The fantasy of interplanetary escape curdles into a black-and-white requiem for a damaged Earth.
Synthetic Sincerity
Director: Marc Issacs
Blending science and cinema, Synthetic Sincerity follows AI researchers and migrants to ask what remains authentic when images and machines blur.
The Winning Generation
Director: Marco De Stefanis
Between father, grandfather and nation, a young dissident tries to transform legacy into action while searching for tenderness inside a history built on sacrifice.
Traces
Director: Alisa Kovalenko, Marysia Nikitiuk
Winner of the Panorama Audience Award at this year's Berlinale, Traces, details the powerful story of women seeking to survive and thrive after being raped and tortured by Russian forces during the war in Ukraine.
Tristan Forever
Director: Tobias Nölle, Loran Bonnardot
A piano on a cargo ship opens Tristan Forever, a film about Tristan da Cunha and a doctor’s longing for distance, belonging, and a simpler life.