The festival showcases films exploring the lives and cultures of fishing communities.
The Queen and the Smokehouse follows Miecia, a woman known locally as the "Queen," who has run a smokehouse in a Baltic seaside resort for more than four decades.
According to the producer's note, the smokehouse serves not only as a workplace but also as a social hub for the local community. As Miecia's health declines and she gradually steps back from the business, "a fragile transition begins, exposing the uncertain future of both the smokehouse and the people whose lives orbit around it."
Lis, 25, is a history graduate from the London School of Economics. She has described her debut feature as "a tale about the last bastions of authenticity in places consumed by tourism," as well as a reflection on the passage of time and female resilience.
The film previously won the best cinematography award at the Festival of Debut Film in Koszalin, northern Poland. It has also been screened at the FIPADOC Documentary Film Festival in Biarritz, France and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival in Greece.
(mk/gs)