Teresa Budzisz-Krzyzanowska Movies

Respected French actor Michel Piccoli directed and co-wrote this allegorical drama. A (Jerzy Radziwilowicz) is a veteran political activist in an unnamed country with a long history of human rights abuses. When the nation's dictatorial government is overthrown and a new democratic leadership comes into power, A's wife Sylvie (Dominique Blanc), who was born in France, travels to Paris to work on an article about the nation's new political freedoms. But A soon discovers that the changes have not been as dramatic as he imagined after Sylvie is told she will not be allowed back into the country. A and his daughter Joyce (Jade Fortineau) wait out Sylvie's immigration problem at his family's seaside vacation home, but while he and his friends have long been subject to political harassment, A discovers that the new regime's tactics have a far more dangerous undertow, with executions of radicals suddenly becoming commonplace. La Plage Noir was screened in competition at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Winner of the Best Actress award for Teresa Budzisz-Krzyzanowska at The Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, the Magdalena and Piotr Lazarkiewicz-directed 1991 feature film Departure (aka 'Odjazd') concerns the toxic relationship that develops between a mother and daughter of German ancestry, confined to a nursing home in Mazurian Lake, Poland. An ethnic identity crisis emerges, as the daughter, Hilda, identifies closely with the Polish, and the mother, Augusta, with the Germans. The difference of opinion soon erupts into a sour disagreement over whether to stay put or head back to the country of their fathers. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Ewa (Dorota Stalinska) was once a big-name actress. Now she is a drunk, washed-up has-been, living in a very ordinary apartment. She doesn't know how to sincerely express any concern for anyone but herself, and her dreams of returning to prominence as a singer or making a theatrical comeback are undermined by her unpleasant personality. Despite that, she has moments of warmth and tenderness which enable one occasionally to see what her former appeal must have been based on. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In 1905 a partitioned Poland was striving for independence from the Russians, Germans, and Austrians, and terrorist, guerrilla squads conducted selective assassinations to further the nationalist cause. A young man in one of these groups, hardly a killer by instinct or inclination, murders a Russian spy and is brought to police headquarters for questioning. When he is suddenly released after a session with a duplicitous judge, he goes back to his underground organization to report on the judge's conduct. Instead of acting on his information, the group sends him out to kill a Polish writer who they say has sold out to the Russians. The young man tracks the writer all the way to Italy, after observing his court trial in Cracow and being pretty much convinced that the writer was innocent of the charges brought against him. When faced with the moment of truth when he must kill the writer, he cannot do it. Once again, he has to return to his organization and bring them information that they will not want to hear. This time, however, his disobedience to their orders weighs heavily against him. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

An enigmatic, symbolic, puzzling fantasy about a young shepherd named Jakub (Janusz Michalowski) and a palace, this story was directed by Junak Tadeusz. Set at the end of World War II, the action -- such as it is -- starts when Jakub decides to finally walk into a palace that has intrigued him since he was a young child. Once inside the large structure, he seems to have entered a dream world. He comes across characters who force him into resolving life-threatening situations, though it is never quite clear why. Perhaps Polish audiences would derive more meaning from this culturally-bound philosophical journey. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide