Antek, 22, comes of age in a devout, radically conservative Polish family where Catholicism, nationalism and vows of celibacy shape every choice. Filmed over years, Polish Prayers follows his slow, searching transformation as doubt, desire and the wider world begin to loosen the certainties he was raised on.

Why This Film Matters: An intimate coming-of-age set against the rise of the religious right, it watches a belief system meet a human life in real time, a rare, empathetic window into the forces pulling at a polarized Europe.