23.
09.
2026.
Others
Others
At the festival in the UK, we will premiere Jakub Gomółka’s live-action film INTIMATE SCENES and Zuzanna Heller’s animated film THE HEDGEHOG.
This will be the 31st edition of the Encounters Film Festival, which runs from 23 to 27, September in Bristol, a UNESCO City of Film. Established in 1995, the festival now holds qualifying status for the BAFTAs, BIFAs, and the European Film Awards.
This year’s international short film competition features 142 films from 39 countries. Among them are two of our student films, making their premiere!
INTIMATE SCENES (live-action film)
World Premiere
Film synopsis: An intimate scenes coordinator and an actor are hired to work on a film just as their own relationship begins to fall apart. He is preparing for the role of a manual laborer—a part which unexpectedly brings him closer to his own roots. The boundary between the film set and reality becomes increasingly blurred. Ultimately, fiction offers him a way to say something he cannot express outside of it.
Credits:
screenplay and direction : Jakub Gomółka
cinematography: Stanisław Skonieczny
editing: Maciej Woźniak
sound: Rafał Nowak
music: Jerzy Mączyński
production management: Klara Skwirut
cast: Maja Wolska, Bartosz Mikulak, Sylwia Achu, Igor Tajchman artistic supervision: Mariusz Włodarski, Bartosz Świniarski
THE HEDGEHOG (animated)
UK Premiere
Film synopsis: Don's ride is interrupted by the Hedgehog.
Credits:
screenplay and direction: Zuzanna Heller
animation: Zuzanna Heller, Aleksandra Miedzińska
editing: Cecylia Pacura
sound and music: Nikodem Sikorski
production management: Jonasz Różański
The animation was created to mark the recent Year of Wojciech J. Has.
Full list of films selected for the 31st Encounters FF competition: encounters.film/2026-official-selection
In addition to the competition, there will be a special screening of MY SECRET CYBERLOVE, directed by Bartosz Stankiewicz, as part of the European Short Film Audience Award—a showcase of films which won the Audience Award in their home country. Screenings in this series have previously taken place in countries including Germany and France.
Congratulations and fingers crossed!
1 – INTIMATE SCENES
2 – THE HEDGEHOG
3 - MY SECRET CYBERLOVE
4 – festival press materials
This year’s international short film competition features 142 films from 39 countries. Among them are two of our student films, making their premiere!
INTIMATE SCENES (live-action film)
World Premiere
Film synopsis: An intimate scenes coordinator and an actor are hired to work on a film just as their own relationship begins to fall apart. He is preparing for the role of a manual laborer—a part which unexpectedly brings him closer to his own roots. The boundary between the film set and reality becomes increasingly blurred. Ultimately, fiction offers him a way to say something he cannot express outside of it.
Credits:
screenplay and direction : Jakub Gomółka
cinematography: Stanisław Skonieczny
editing: Maciej Woźniak
sound: Rafał Nowak
music: Jerzy Mączyński
production management: Klara Skwirut
cast: Maja Wolska, Bartosz Mikulak, Sylwia Achu, Igor Tajchman artistic supervision: Mariusz Włodarski, Bartosz Świniarski
THE HEDGEHOG (animated)
UK Premiere
Film synopsis: Don's ride is interrupted by the Hedgehog.
Credits:
screenplay and direction: Zuzanna Heller
animation: Zuzanna Heller, Aleksandra Miedzińska
editing: Cecylia Pacura
sound and music: Nikodem Sikorski
production management: Jonasz Różański
The animation was created to mark the recent Year of Wojciech J. Has.
Full list of films selected for the 31st Encounters FF competition: encounters.film/2026-official-selection
In addition to the competition, there will be a special screening of MY SECRET CYBERLOVE, directed by Bartosz Stankiewicz, as part of the European Short Film Audience Award—a showcase of films which won the Audience Award in their home country. Screenings in this series have previously taken place in countries including Germany and France.
Congratulations and fingers crossed!
1 – INTIMATE SCENES
2 – THE HEDGEHOG
3 - MY SECRET CYBERLOVE
4 – festival press materials