Dance With Me, Dad

Wanting to improve her distant relationship with her grumpy and depressed father, the film director tries to persuade him to have a deeper conversation and seeks a path of understanding.

A twenty-nine-year-old adult daughter, the film director, lives at home with her parents. Her father’s constant complaining creates unbearable tension, and she longs to improve their relationship. In an effort to bridge the gap, she decides to have a more meaningful conversation with him. In everyday life, television, jokes, criticising other people, and sleep are a good hiding spot for the father. Nevertheless, she tries to break through this wall. What begins as simple avoidance turns into denial, and ultimately, rage and guilt. A childhood memory of dancing together inspires the protagonist to invite her father to a dance course. He resists, but in the end agrees. The way to the dance course is intertwined with the last part of their conversation. Father and daughter confess affection for each other, yet still have a similar wish that cannot be fulfilled. They go to the dance course and wait for the first lesson to begin.

Programme section: New Talents Competition
Original title: Zatańcz ze mną, tato | Year: 2025 | Duration: 27′
Country: Poland | Language: Polish | Subtitles: English
Director: Małgorzata Goździk | Production: Jerzy Kapuściński, Ewa Jastrzębska, Magdalena Tomanek – Munk Studio | Screenplay: Małgorzata Goździk | Cinematography: Magdalena Bojdo | Editing: Sabina Filipowicz | Sound: Anna Jurkiewicz

FESTIVALS & AWARDS (SELECTION) 

Kraków Film Festival, 2025 – Jury Special Mention in National Competition for a courageous and sensitive portrait of a challenging love between daughter and father

DIRECTOR’S BIO 

Małgorzata Goździk is a documentary film director and a graduate of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. As part of her diploma work, she made the short documentary film “Tort”, which won the Main Prize of the 11th International Documentary Film Festival “Okiem Młodych” in Świdnica and was screened at, among others, the Warsaw Film Festival, Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, Koszalin Film Debut Festival “Młodzi i Film”. Her film “Dance with Me, Dad” was developed as part of the Docu Talents from the East and Doc Lab Go programmes.