POLISH DOCUMENTARIES IN THE FIPADOC 2026 PROGRAMME
Five Polish documentaries have been selected for the official selection of the prestigious French festival FIPADOC, with three of them set to receive their premieres. Paweł Chorzępa’s latest documentary The Tuners will have its world premiere in Biarritz, while The Queen and the Smokehouse by Iga Lis and Bacewicz x Bomsori by Jakub Piątek will both be screened in front of international festival audiences for the first time. Polish projects will also be featured prominently in the festival’s industry section.
The new year opens with considerable momentum for Polish documentaries, marking their presence at the upcoming edition of FIPADOC 2026 – one of the most important international festivals dedicated to documentary film. Held annually in Biarritz, the event traditionally spearheads the global calendar of documentary festivals. This year’s programme includes several Polish productions, presented both in-competition and across industry events.
Selected for the official European Stories competition is the feature-length documentary The Queen and the Smokehouse, directed by Iga Lis, which is going to enjoy its international premiere in Biarritz. The film is a portrait of the charismatic Miecia who has for decades run a legendary fish smokehouse in the seaside town of Łeba. The camera follows her at a moment of personal reckoning, as health issues force her to reflect on the future and on an identity shaped almost entirely by work. Set against the backdrop of a summer coastal landscape, the film becomes a story of resilience, passion, and the need to redefine oneself in the face of passing time. The film is produced by Munk Studio, operating under the Polish Filmmakers Association, and Silver Frame.
The same section will also feature Letters from Wolf Street by Arjun Talwar, a film already known to audiences worldwide, which observes the lives of residents of a single Warsaw street through the eyes of a director originally from India.
Poland’s presence in Biarritz also includes two short music-themed documentaries selected for the festival’s short film competition. The Tuners, directed by Paweł Chorzępa, will receive its world premiere at FIPADOC. The film takes viewers behind the scenes of one of the world’s most prestigious piano competitions, focusing on an elite group of piano tuners whose precision, experience, and sensitivity determine the final sound of the instruments – and, indirectly, the success of the eventual winner. The film is produced by Joanna Chorzępa from Bees Film House.
The second music-related title, presented as an international premiere, is Bacewicz x Bomsori, directed by Jakub Piątek. The creator of the widely acclaimed Pianoforte, recognised by both audiences and international juries, this time offers an intimate record of the creative process of South Korean violinist Bomsori Kim as she prepares to perform Grażyna Bacewicz’s Polish Rhapsody. Observing solo rehearsals, her work with a pianist, and meetings with orchestra and its conductor, the documentary reveals not only the road to a concert performance but also a deeply personal dialogue between the artist and the work of the Polish composer whose music Bomsori Kim has been championing on world stages for years. The film is produced by Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne in collaboration with Telemark.
Meanwhile, the DOCS4TEENS section will present All the Colors of Youth by Agnieszka Kalińska – an intimate documentary constructed from conversations with today's teenagers. The director gives voice to young people without filters or simplifications, portraying the experience of growing up in an era of social media, pressure, anxiety, and the need for acceptance. Although circumstances change, the emotions – loneliness, confusion, rebellion against adults – remain strikingly universal, making the film a sincere and resonant portrait of modern youth.
Polish presence at FIPADOC 2026 will also be strongly felt in the festival’s key industry events. Among the projects selected for International Pitches Selection, alongside 24 other productions, is Inner Landscapes, directed by Zofia Sawicka. It's a visual story about people of different nationalities and backgrounds travelling by train across endless steppes. The stifling interior of the carriage becomes a space for confronting personal conflicts and emotions, while the mosaic of characters forms a moving reflection on the condition of human community. The film is produced by Maciej Kubicki and Zofia Kujawska from Telemark.
Directed by Nadim Suleiman, the Polish-Arab co-production I Am One of Them will be presented during European First Film Pitches. The film explores the relationship between a young Syrian film student living in Poland and a Polish nationalist and aspiring rapper. Their unlikely friendship, put to the test by rising political and cultural tensions, experiences of war and conflicting visions of the future, becomes a powerful story about identity, conflict, and the difficult search for belonging in a divided world. The Polish producer of the project is Kasia Kuczyńska.
Participation in Producers Meet Producers, an industry initiative supporting international documentary co-productions, is another important aspect of Poland’s presence at FIPADOC 2026. During the part showcasing producers from the Visegrad Group – partnered by the Krakow Film Foundation on Poland's side — the selected participants include documentary filmmaker Tadeusz Chudy (including On My Own Terms) and producer Marta Dużbabel, co-owner of PINOT FILMS, known for working on Aga Borzym's Girls' Stories among others. The session, moderated by Zdeněk Blaha, will include project presentations and one-to-one meetings with foreign producers, representing a significant step towards building cross-border partnerships and European documentary distribution.
Both the strong presence of Polish films in the FIPADOC programme and the active participation of Polish filmmakers and producers in the festival’s professional events confirm the high standing of the Polish documentary sector – one capable of telling stories deeply rooted in local experience while resonating powerfully within international cultural and social debate.
You can read more about the festival and the selected films and projects here.