December | WATCH DOCS

In this uncompromising socio-political manifesto, director Grzegorz Paprzycki delves into the special meaning of December for Poles; officially a time of reflection, family, and faith, yet in practice reduced to a consumer orgy set to the sound of carols. How does the nation reconcile the ideal of the Christmas Eve supper, where a seat is always left open for a stranger, with the hostility and contempt faced by migrants in our country? Paprzycki’s radical questions find no easy answers. What would it take for Polish society to care about those left to die in the forests along our border? Through striking, juxtaposed imagery, he exposes the hypocrisy of the media and politicians while forcing viewers to confront their own reflection. What will we see when we look into that disturbingly familiar mirror? 

Konrad Wirkowski