MATKA / POLKA

MATKA / POLKA [MOTHER / POLE] is a meditation on what it means to be a woman in today's Polish society. As a collection of stories – all verbatim – from waiting rooms, gynaecology chairs, abortion clinics, and bedrooms, the film breaks the taboo around the experiences of women facing the country's strict reproductive policy and social prejudices to reclaim their own bodies.

Now streaming on Girls In Film.

Also streaming on Minute Shorts.

Festivals:

Women X Festival (2022, UK) – Winner: Best Documentary Film

Izmir International Women Filmmakers Festival (2023, Turkiye) – Winner: Best Experimental Film

Spektrum Film Festival (2023, Poland) – Winner: Kinematografek Jury Award

Kosice International Film Festival (2022, Slovakia) – Honourable Mention: Short Documentary

Imagine This Women's Film Festival (2022, USA) – Honourable Mention: Short Documentary

CINECITY Brighton Film Festival (2022, UK)

La Guarimba Film Festival (2022, Italy)

Cinema No Estendal (2022, Portugal)

KIN International Women's Film Festival (2022, Armenia)

Social Justice Film Festival (2022, USA)

Toronto International Women Film Festival (2022, Canada)

Doc. Berlin (2022, Germany)

Tallgrass Film Festival (2022, USA)

Montreal Feminist Film Festival (2022, Canada)

Hastings Women's Film Festival (2022, UK)

Small Axe - Radical Short Film Awards (2022, UK)

International Social Change Film Festival (2022, USA)

Nefiltravanae Kino (2023, Belarus)

Berlin Lift-Off Film Festival (2023, Germany)

The Midnight Film Festival (2023, USA)

Female Voices Rock (2023, USA)

Venice Film Week (2023, Italy)

Amsterdam Independent Film Festival (2023, The Netherlands)

DOTS International Film Festival (2025, Greece)

Otherfield Festival (2025, UK)

Produced and directed by: Joanna Suchomska

Editor: Alicja Rymarowicz

Cinematography: Karolina Monwid-Olechnowicz, Monika Dróżdż

Cast: Kornelia Płaszczymąka, Martyna Dyląg, Anna Ryń, Justyna Taborska

Original score: Grzegorz Łapiński

Sound design: Aleksander Durowicz

Art direction assistance: Ada Moy, Agata Matusz

Production Runner: Patrycja Just

Made with the support of Soroptimist International, First Club in Wroclaw, Poland

“Poignantly humanizes the complex stories of women choosing abortion.”

“Deeply impactful.”

- Social Change International Film Festival