to take part in the 12th International Film Festival in Olsztyn

The International Film Festival in Olsztyn “Prison Movie” promotes and popularizes the art of penitentiary filmmaking.

Over the 11 years of the Festival, 233 films have been submitted for competition review, including foreign productions from Latvia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland, Great Britain, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Peru, the USA, Israel, Colombia, Italy, Romania and Portugal. Many of them have been awarded at prestigious film festivals. Over the past years, “Prison Movie” has grown organizationally and qualitatively – it has become a leading cultural event on the penitentiary map of Poland. It attracts new filmmakers with a rich directorial output and inspires amateurs who are eager to undertake the realization of their own interesting ideas, set in the realities of the prison system. Many times they match the level of professional filmmakers.
“Prison Movie” is an exceptional and unique event. It presents a reality to which only a few have access. It is a meeting place for people who are united by penitentiary work and filmmakers who, confronting the problems of the prison system, provide us with new knowledge about it enriched with artistic impressions. Thanks to the Festival, we have the opportunity to watch extraordinary films about man’s struggle with his weaknesses and his road back to society. It brings us closer to the difficult work of Prison Service officers and employees, while provoking discussion about the prison system.
We invite you to the Festival, which is carried out with passion and is unique in the world.

Festival Organizing Committee