New World

(Nowy Swiat)

The stories of three young people trying to find their place in a new and better world--Poland--told in three short films. Zhanna leaves Belarus and her husband, a well-known oppositionist, and with her daughter moves into her sister’s place in Warsaw. She would like to set up her own house with her boyfriend, but her plans are complicated when her husband is released from prison. Azzam worked for the Polish army as a translator but is considered a traitor in his homeland, Afghanistan, and is struggling to cope with his homosexuality and the trauma of war. Wera, a Ukrainian, flees to Poland to keep a secret from family—a plan to undergo gender reassignment surgery. An unexpected visit by her father and little son requires that she must once again face the question of her own identity.

Director: Elzbieta Benkowska (Zhanna), Michal Wawrzecki (Azzam), Lukasz Ostalski (Vera)

Screenplay: Monika Dembińska Elizabeth Benkowska, Izabela Aleksandrowicz, Maksymilian Nowicki

Cinematography: Sławomir Witek, Cezary Stolecki, Piotr Pawlus

Music: Jerzy Rogiewicz

Film Editor: Grazyna Gradon

Principal Cast: Olga Kavalay-Aksenowa, Julian Świeżewski, Hassan Akkouch, Karina Minaeva

Runtime: 100 minutes minutes

Release Year: 2015

Genre: Drama