Woman of...

Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert's film is set in a Polish town. Aniela lived the first half of her life as a man, with a job, a wife and two children, and she wants to live as the person she is. The film follows more than forty years. The country leaves communism for capitalism, yet little changes in the resistance Aniela meets; the narrative shows the government offices, the neighbours and the response inside the family each in turn. Małgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik plays the lead, with Joanna Kulig as her wife. The film screened in the main competition at Venice and was argued over in Poland. Who it's for: viewers of Polish cinema and of life stories told across decades. Who it's not for: viewers for whom scenes of discrimination and rejection within a family would be difficult.