The 66th Krakow Film Festival (May 31 to June 7) will open with Marc Isaacs’ Synthetic Sincerity. “What becomes of documentary cinema when image no longer reflects reality? In an age filled with pictures generated by artificial intelligence, can meaningful arguments about authenticity even be made? These are the questions that Synthetic Sincerity, Marc Isaacs’ new film, will pose to festival audiences,” organisers of KFF write.
The opening ceremony, with the director in attendance, will take place on 31 May.
Comments Barbara Orlicz-Szczypuła, Director of the Krakow Film Festival: “This year’s festival opening is going to be truly spectacular. The film we have selected is a vital contribution that compels us to reflect upon the transformation unfolding before our eyes – the changing role of the creator and our relationship to AI. I am delighted that Marc Isaacs is returning to Kraków with his latest work!”
Adds Anita Piotrowska, KFF Artistic Director: “The film we have chosen to open this year’s edition of the KFF not only addresses the increasingly urgent question of our close relationships with new technologies. It also invites a conversation about what cinema – documentary cinema in particular – should be today, at a time when we find it ever harder to trust the images in front of our eyes. Marc Isaacs’ film manages to explore these themes with a lightness of touch, pushing at the boundaries of the classical documentary form.”
Synopsis: The research team at The Synthetic Sincerity Lab approach the director with a request to access conversations recorded during the making of his films. The scientists wished to use them as AI training material, with the aim of generating more convincing and more ‘human’ characters. In return, Isaacs was granted the opportunity to observe and film the process by which data on facial expression and bodily response is gathered. Among the figures who appear on screen is a digital rendering of the Romanian actress Ilinca Manolache, familiar to Polish audiences from Radu Jude’s Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World. By playing with different levels of realism and with its subtle wit, the film examines the relationship between humans and machines, posing a further question: in a world where computer systems are learning what it means to be human, and where the boundaries between fact and fiction are getting blurrier by the hour, is genuine sincerity still possible?
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION, FIRST TITLES
“The first titles announced for this year’s International Documentary Competition at the Kraków Film Festival tell a story about moments of transition – those most intimate, inscribed upon the body and desire, but equally those that are social and historical in nature. The presented films are rich in sensual imagery and bold confessions, yet they also recount lives marked by the destructive forces of nature and the violence of war,” organisers of KFF write.
Selected titles from the International Documentary Competition:
- The Arctic Circle of Lust, dir. Markku Heikkinen, 97’ Finland, Germany, Sweden, 2026
- The Fabulous Time Machine, dir. Eliza Capai, 71’, Brazil, 2026
- Silent Flood, dir. Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, 90’, Ukraine, Germany, 2025
- Redlight to Limelight, dir. Bipuljit Basu, 100’, India, Finland, Latvia, 2025
- Holofiction, dir. Michal Kosakowski, 102’, Germany, Austria, 2026
- Tickling the Devil, dir. Piotr Małecki, Maciej Nabrdalik, 82’, Poland, 2026
- Magic Hour, dir. Marcin Borchardt, 80’, Poland, 2026
- Synthetic Sincerity, dir. Marc Isaacs, 72’, United Kingdom, 2025
TITLES SELECTED FOR THE NATIONAL COMPETITION:
The National Competition includes a total of 41 films that are going to compete for the Golden Hobby-Horse, affirming the strength and diversity of contemporary Polish cinema – from feature-length and short documentaries to short fiction and animation.
“The programme brings together established names and 15 promising debutants, titles already recognised at international festivals and those which, we can now confirm, are first going to travel to Cannes,” write organisers. “Nineteen of the Polish films are directed by women. What lies ahead is a broad spectrum of films that remain bold in their form, alert to the world around it, and unafraid of risk – films that confront difficult subjects, examine familial fractures and traumas, yet are equally capable of extracting profound meaning from seemingly trivial stories. It is here that the most compelling happenings of the past year and the most distinctive voices make themselves heard.”
Feature-Length and Medium-Length Documentaries
- Guard Up!, dir. Katarzyna Wiśniowska, 63’, Poland, 2026
- House of Ants, dir. Katarzyna Kultys, 71’, Poland, 2025
- Japanese Kujawiak, dir. Dagmara Furgał, 54’, Poland, 2026
- Magic Hour, dir. Marcin Borchardt, 80’, Poland, 2026
- Notes From a Besieged City, dir. Mateusz Mularski, 76’, Poland, 2026
- Steps in Silence, dir. Fariz Ahmadov, 72’, Poland, Azerbaijan, 2025
- The Orchestra, dir. Kuba Kossak, 59’, Poland, 2026
- Tickling the Devil, dir. Piotr Małecki, Maciek Nabrdalik, 82’, Poland, 2026
Short documentaries
- Bacewicz x Bomsori, dir. Jakub Piątek, 20’, Poland, 2026
- Four Percent, dir. Monika Masłoń, 14’, Poland, 2026
- Frights from the Mills, dir. Katarzyna Kosajda, 17’, Poland, 2026
- Hidden, dir. Monika Anna Kotecka, 22’, Poland, 2026
- How To Conquer the World, dir. Tomasz Wolski, 15’, Poland, 2026
- Kontrewers, dir. Zuza Banasińska, 21’, Poland, Netherlands, France, 2026
- The Last Wild River, dir. Agnieszka Kokowska, Anastazja Dąbrowska, 15’, Poland, 2026
- Little Green Plots, dir. Filip Szela, 15’, Poland, 2026
- Mix, dir. Klaudia Szott, 24’, Poland, 2026
- The Tuners, dir. Paweł Chorzępa, 20’, Poland, 2026
- Woodeaters, dir. Julia Pełka, 14’, Poland, 2026
Short fiction films:
- A Short Film about War, dir. Nadim Suleiman, 25’, Poland, 2026
- CASE No., dir. Patrycja Polkowska, 20’, Poland, 2026
- Ghost, dir. Karol Ulman, 19’, Poland, 2026
- Half- Baked, dir. Filip Wieczorek, 23’, Poland, 2026
- The Last Family Tape, dir. Jakub Jakubik, 20’, Poland, 2026
- My Dear Bag, dir. Karolina Fronik, 17’, Poland, 2026
- Song of the Night, dir. Oskar Sadowski, 30’, Poland, 2026
- Spiritus Sanctus, dir. Michał Toczek, 15’, Poland, 2026
- They Were All Named Anzhelika, dir. Aleksandra ‘Sasha’ Kutsen, 14’, Poland, 2026
- Weird To Be Human, dir. Jan Grabowski, 16’, Poland, France, 2025
Short animated films
- Almost There or a Weenie, dir. Alicja Jasina, 7’, Poland, 2025
- Autumn 2026, dir. Wojciech Sobczyk, 19’, Poland, 2025
- Axles, dir. Jakub Krzyszpin, 7’, Poland, 2025
- Fanatic, dir. Mateusz Jarmulski, 9’, Poland, 2025
- Frankie the Rabbit’s Final Preparations, dir. Marianna Mrozek, 3’, Poland, 2026
- Kkogdu, dir. Jin Woo, 12’, Poland, 2026
- The Nest, dir. Jakub Baniak, 10’, Poland, 2026
- Pearl Against the Sun, dir. Karolina Walas, 11’, Poland, 2025
- Procrastination Yoga, dir. Paulina Ziółkowska, 8’, Poland, Germany, 2026
- Scherzo, dir. Wojciech Wojtkowski, 12’, Poland, 2025
- Summer of Smooth Asphalt, dir. Maria Dakszewicz, 6’, Poland, 2026
- Three Cups of Coffee, dir. Natalia Krawczuk, 10’, Poland, 2026
KFF is an Academy Award®-qualifying festival in short film categories (fiction, animation, documentary) and feature-length documentary, the European Film Awards in the same categories, and serves as a qualifying event for the BAFTA Awards.
