Nov 12-22, 2026
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Mentor

Mentor

Krzysztof Tomaszewski
Poland
2026
14 min
International Premiere
Luminous
Synopsis

Foreigners often become a projection screen for the fears, prejudices, and speculations of native residents. Here, the conversations of a group of Polish friends who attend boxing training illustrate precisely how this process unfolds. Mentor is a boy of foreign descent who has been coming to the gym for years, and the fact that he has never tried to get closer to them prompts much speculation. Where does he come from? Why does he always bring his equally taciturn father along? Might their market stall selling household goods be a cover for illegal arms trafficking?

While the teenagers piece together a picture of the somewhat enigmatic boy through their conversations, the film shows fragmentary moments from Mentor's life inside and outside the boxing gym. The effect is sobering. When we step into his reality—as do his fellow boxers, albeit reluctantly—their questions and suspicions are not answered, confirmed, or disproved, but rather stripped of their significance.

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Credits
14 min
color
DCP
Spoken languages: Polish
Director
    Krzysztof Tomaszewski
    Krzysztof Tomaszewski
Production
    Agata Golańska for Lodz Film School
    Agata Golańska for Lodz Film School
Cinematography
    Stefan Żółtowski
    Stefan Żółtowski
Editing
    Krzysztof Tomaszewski
    Krzysztof Tomaszewski
Sound
    Michał Bielecki
    Michał Bielecki
Sound Design
    Michał Bielecki
    Michał Bielecki
Music
    Nelly Saghatelyan,
    Michał Bielecki
    Nelly Saghatelyan,
    Michał Bielecki
Screenplay
    Krzysztof Tomaszewski
    Krzysztof Tomaszewski
World Sales
    INDEKS Film Studio
    INDEKS Film Studio
Screening copy
    Lodz Film School
    Lodz Film School

Stills

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The premiere-only section Luminous presents a wide range of styles and formalist approaches, from observational to personal to experimental. Across both feature-length and short films, the titles grapple with big questions of life through deeply personal, lived experiences.
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