By placing her daughters in front of the camera, the director opens the window into the inner world of childhood, where curiosity leads the way and the senses and emotions are its tools.

The world of sisters Zoja and Lea is filled with shared games, discoveries, and conversations, as well as the inevitable squabbles of daily life. At first, their bond appears unbreakable. Yet as time passes, the older sister is increasingly drawn to books and friends of her own. Despite their growing differences, both girls share an unease about the future, sensing the shadow of a troubled adult world marked by war, pandemic, and environmental collapse.

Inspired by Janusz Korczak’s “King Matt the First”, this poetic documentary captures the beauty and fragility of childhood. With striking visual lyricism and rare emotional intimacy, it creates a space where perception and feeling become tools of knowledge – and where listening to children may reveal the wisdom adults have forgotten.

Programme section: Docs Open Debates / New Female Voices
Original title: Król Maciuś Pierwszy | Year: 2025 | Duration: 75′
Country: Montenegro, Italy, France, Croatia, Serbia | Language: Montenegrin, Italian, French | Subtitles: English
Director: Jaśmina Wójcik | Production: Marta Dużbabel, Agnieszka Rostropowicz – Pinot Films | Screenplay: Jaśmina Wójcik, Igor Stokfiszewski | Cinematography: Jakub Wróblewski  | Editing: Anna Garncarczyk | Music: Dominik Strycharski

FESTIVALS & AWARDS (SELECTION) 

Hot Docs, Canadian International Documentary Festival, 2025 – World Premiere | New Horizons International Film Festival, 2025 | Two Riversides Film and Art Festival, 2025 | Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival, 2025 – Special Mention (Best Polish Film Award)

DIRECTOR’S BIO 

Jaśmina Wójcik is a director, visual artist, and creator of listening-oriented participatory socio-artistic actions. She focuses on the inclusion and empowerment of communities that lack visibility and opportunities for expression. She is the author of the award-winning creative documentary “Symphony of the Ursus Factory” (2018), which has been screened at festivals including IFFR, Hot Docs, DOK Leipzig, DOC NYC, and RIDM. She received grants from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage and won numerous prizes. Her works have been exhibited at the Zachęta National Art Gallery, the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art and the Bunkier Contemporary Art Gallery. For several years, she has been involved in empathic education, developing original practices for children’s artistic expression. She treats them as co-creators and invites them into dialogue. “King Matt the First” is her latest film.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

A key figure in my work is Janusz Korczak (1878-1942), educator, doctor, and writer. He tragically died with the children from his orphanage at the Treblinka concentration camp. His daily practices, research, and writings were dedicated to understanding children, their subjectivity, vulnerability, and the right to self-determination. The simplicity of life, being present in the here and now, and the constant movement between the real and imagined worlds are just some of the natural abilities of every child, as well as adults who have preserved that part of their sensitivity. “King Matt the First” represents the culmination of my search as a mother, artist, director, educator, and human being. The film is set in a time similar to that of Korczak’s novel, which was written between the First and the Second World Wars. It reflects the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. It serves as a plea for a sensitivity revolution, one that learns from kids and reconnects us with our inner child.