King Matt the First

World premiere: International Spectrum Competition / Hot Docs 2025

The world of sisters Zoja and Lea is filled with shared games, discoveries, and conversations, alongside their daily squabbles and disagreements. Initially, the girls, who bear a striking resemblance to one another, seem to share an extraordinary bond of sisterhood. However, as time passes, the older sister, Zoja, begins to grow apart from Lea. She loses interest in playing in the sand or swimming in the river, retreating into the realm of books and spending increasingly more time with her peers instead of her sister. Despite their differences, both girls share a deep-seated fear of crossing the threshold into adulthood, which they perceive as a source of danger. They observe how adults seem indifferent to the destruction of their world, ignoring environmental catastrophes and fuelling war conflicts. 
 

Inspired by Janusz Korczak’s (Henryk Goldszmit) novel of the same name, ‘King Matt the First’ invites into a realm unbound by adult hierarchies and constraints. More than a century after the book’s publication, the author’s words remain profoundly relevant, resonating with the tensions and uncertainties of today’s reality—especially from the perspective of young people standing on the brink of adulthood.

A FILM BY Jaśmina Wójcik | Poland | 2025 | 75’ | world premiere | Festival distribution: Raina