What happens when a family secret refuses to stay buried? Brother, the powerful new film by Maciej Sobieszczański, dives deep into memory, guilt and the fragile bonds that hold us together. It’s an intimate story set against the shadows of family history — and a confrontation with the past that can no longer be avoided.
Winner of the Krzysztof Kieślowski ScripTeast Award, the film has already drawn international attention for its emotional precision and bold storytelling.
It also carries the unmistakable visual signature of Jolanta Dylewska — one of Poland’s most respected cinematographers, whose work has shaped some of the most important films of the last decades. Her eye brings extraordinary depth and tenderness to this story.
We’re presenting Brother with English subtitles, making the film accessible to both Polish and international audiences.
📍 Glasgow Film Theatre — Wednesday, 29 April at 20:00
📍 Cameo Picturehouse Edinburgh — Thursday, 30 April at 18:30
🎟️ Tickets available via the link in Borscht Film Club bio.
We’ll also be sharing a 19‑minute recorded Q&A with the filmmakers, hosted by Maggie Hurt — a chance to hear directly from the creative team behind the film.
Join us for two special screenings, sponsored by the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Edinburgh and organised in collaboration with the Kinoteka Polish Film Festival in London.
🎬 BROTHER – Scottish Premieres + Exclusive Q&A
Borscht Film Club, presenting the best of Polish films, is bringing Brother, one of the most acclaimed new Polish dramas, to Scotland for two Scottish premiere screenings — each followed by an exclusive recorded Q&A from the Closing Gala of the Kinoteka Polish Film Festival in London.
Directed by Maciej Sobieszczański, @sobieszczanski Brother is a powerful, intimate story about two siblings navigating loyalty, violence and the fragile bonds that hold a family together. The film stars Agnieszka Grochowska @agnieszkagrochowska_official , one of Poland’s most celebrated actresses with international credits including The Innocents, Upperdog and Walesa: Man of Hope, alongside rising young actor Tytus Szymczuk @tytus_szymczuk .
The post‑screening Q&A features Sobieszczański, Grochowska and Szymczuk, moderated by Maggie Hurt, a respected UK film critic known for her sharp insight into European cinema.
🎥 Q&A excerpt below. Thank you @K . Dubicki
📍 Scottish Premieres:
GLASGOW – GFT
📅 Wednesday, 29 April, 20:00
EDINBURGH – Cameo Picturehouse
📅 Thursday, 30 April, 18:30
English subtitles provided.
These screenings are sponsored by the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Edinburgh and organised in collaboration with the Kinoteka Polish Film Festival in London.
🎟️ Tickets available via the link in Borscht Film Club bio.
How Poland Missed Its Own Adolescence
Brat, built around young, unknown boys and rooted in the emotional inarticulacy of male adolescence, contains the very elements that have recently translated into international success. The global industry has shown a clear appetite for stories about boys on the brink—films and series that confront vulnerability, repression, and the fragility of masculinity with urgency and clarity.
And yet, where others have taken similar material and pushed it outward—shaping it into a narrative that travels—Poland has allowed its own version to remain inward-facing.
This is not a question of talent. Nor is it a question of resources. It is, fundamentally, a failure of framing.
As producers, the responsibility does not end with identifying a truthful subject or casting authentic faces. It extends to recognizing what that material is in the world. An Oscar-nominated film like Corpus Christi, directed by Jan Komasa, succeeded not only because of its craft, but because it was positioned as a story about belief, identity, and moral authority—themes legible across borders. It told international audiences how to watch it.
Brat was never given that translation.
Instead, it reflects a broader hesitation within Polish cinema: a reluctance to assert that local stories are part of global conversations. The result is a body of work that remains respected, even admired, but insufficiently exported.
The irony is difficult to ignore. At a moment when the international market is actively seeking narratives about young men who cannot access their emotions, Poland presented a film that captured exactly that—and then failed to frame it as urgent, as universal, or even as a story about masculinity.
Working with unknown young actors is not a limitation; it is an asset. Authenticity travels. What does not travel is silence around meaning.
If there is a lesson here, it is not that Poland needs different stories. It is that it needs greater confidence in what its stories are worth,and a willingness, at the level of production, to shape them for the world stage.
Poland did not miss the story—it missed the moment to claim it.
#comingofage #masculinity
As part of Celebrating the Year of Andrzej Wajda with Wajda School @wajda_school_and_studio , Maggi Hurt @maggihurt - curator of the Wajda School shorts programme at Kiosk N1C @kioskn1c - introduced one of the screening blocks, sharing the story behind Wajda School with the audience.
Founded in Warsaw in 2002 by Andrzej Wajda and Wojciech Marczewski, the school has become a vital bridge between film education and the professional industry, supporting emerging filmmakers in developing their own projects.
Across the past weeks, audiences have explored a rich programme of short films spanning themes of womanhood, family life, identity and social pressure - from award-winning documentaries to bold new voices in European cinema.
There’s still one more block of short films to catch - Friday 27 March at 6pm.
FREE tickets - link in bio.
#WajdaSchool #PolishCinema #ShortFilms #LondonEvents #FilmFestival
Unique opportunity. Just time to run down to @filmhouse_edinburgh to catch the opening of their season of Andrzej Wajda films starting soon with ASHES AND DIAMONDS in a lovely 35mm print.
THANK YOU to everyone who came to Otherfield this year and brought all the energy to bring this edition alive!
Huge gratitude to the filmmakers who gave incredible workshops, were present and shared their experiences, opened up their processes and allowed us to screen their work.
Massive thanks to our dedicated, amazing volunteers, and the incredible Laughton Lodge residents – none of this would be possible without you.
A huge thank you from the Otherfield team - until the next edition!
#documentary #festival #diy
This week our preview tour began with #TheStimmingPool screenings at @britishfilminstitute and @curzon.soho , followed with Q&A sessions with the Neurocultures Collective. If you missed out on tickets, book now for more of our Q&A screenings in the coming weeks at cinemas nationwide....
Opportunity to see For Sama on the big screen @BFI Thur 3 March as part of The Camera is Ours project highlighting important female voices in UK documentary.
So pleased that Academy Gold Fellowship recipient director Waad Al-Kateab will introduce.
Screening alongside Children of the Ruins UK 1948 Dir. Jill Craigie.
Restored by BFI National Archive
@BFI
The Camera is Ours https://bit.ly/3K3rCil
Project curator Ros Cranston
#bfinationalarchive
@forsamafilm@Academygold@Waadalkateab
Still time to catch Márta Mészáros powerful films on the big screen @britishfilminstitute Southbank this weekend. You won’t be disappointed. They linger in the memory.. start with Diary for My Children on Saturday #womanwithamoviecamera #femaledirector #herstory #martameszaros #bfisouthbank #bfiplayer
Márta Mészáros hidden stories to be discovered and celebrated. She deserves to be at the heart of cinema history. #returntocinema @britishfilminstitute@secondrundvd@hungarian_culture_uk@nfi_filmarchivum #womanwithamoviecamera #womanwithamoviecamerasummit #femalefilmmaker #restoration #pioneer #disruptor #closeup #hungariancinema
Today @BFI Southbank discover a hidden gem from The Cinema of Márta Mészáros. RIDDANCE Sat 10 July 17.30 Thanks to @nfi_filmarchivum@hungarian_culture_uk #WomanWithAMovieCamera #restoration #archive
