“This is one of the most energetic cinemas in Europe, achieving many international successes, open to co-production, offering diverse and rich cinema," says Barbara Orlicz-Szczypuła, the director of the programme office. "We found it out ourselves in the last five years, when three times the Swedish films won the most important awards in Krakow: in 2013 Tora Mårtens was given the Golden Horn for the film "Colombianos," in 2012, the same award went to Peter Gerdehag for his film "Women with Cows," and in 2011, the Silver Horn was given to Marcus Lindeen for the film "Regretters." Besides, we have close contacts with filmmakers who are connected to Sweden in their creative work, such as the eminent documentary filmmaker Jerzy Śladkowski, who repeatedly presented his films at our festival, and Magnus von Horn, awarded in Krakow for his short films, whose feature-film début "The Here After" now wins the most important trophies both in Poland and in Sweden."

In the latest feature-length documentary film programme, we will watch: MonaLisa Story (dir. Jessica Nettelbladt) - eight years from the life of the eponymous protagonist, who says about herself that she was born high. The camera carefully and with a brutal honesty records her everyday struggle with addiction to heroin and her numerous attempts to free herself. In the controversial Pervert Park the filmmakers Frida and Lasse Barkfors go to the United States to give the floor to those who many people would not like to listen to at all. By telling the story of sex offenders, they document their life at large, which is limited to a specially created zone, commonly referred to as the "pervert park."

In the film The Girl Who Saved My Life, the director Hogir Hirori abandons his pregnant wife and sets out from Sweden on a journey to his homeland, Kurdistan, to tell the story of the refugees from there. When he comes across a sick girl on his way, he does not know yet, how much she would influence his life. The subject matter of refugees returns also in the film Nice People (dir. Anders Helgeson, Karin af Klintberg) - a story about a group of Somali immigrants, who unite in a small Swedish town to form a ... hokey team, and who become the first African team in this sport. Ingrid Bergman – in Her Own Words is, according to the title, a portrait of one of the greatest stars from the golden era of Hollywood, created using her own words. The director Stig Björkman used previously unknown, private notes, letters and interviews with her children to create an intimate image of this incredibly talented actress and a fascinating woman. The film that tells a story about friendship put to the test is Martha&Niki (dir. Tor Mårtens), a story about two Swedish women of African descent, who, after initial successes in hip-hop dance, have to face the other side of the coin and their own past.

Sweden is the first Nordic country which will be the special guest in Krakow. The films produced on the other side of the Baltic Sea will also appear in the competition part of the festival.

56th Krakow Film Festival is held from May 29 to June 5, 2016.