Cinema in Vynda | “Kashpirowski”

He is called a saint by some, a charlatan by others. Psychiatrist Dr. Anatoly Kashpirovsky became famous for his massive televised healing sessions, which attracted an audience of up to 290 million in the communist bloc. He became one of the biggest media phenomena of the late 1980s. What was his secret?

At the height of his popularity, Dr. Anatoly Kashpirovsky was one of the most recognizable faces of television in the entire Soviet bloc. His televised healing sessions broke viewership records, drawing hundreds of millions of viewers. Loved by some and fiercely criticized by others, Kashpirovsky became a symbol of a world undergoing a radical political transformation.

His story is also a story of faith and emotion that can unite millions of people around a single voice. Against the backdrop of a crumbling empire, the film shows how hope, fear and the need for certainty can elevate a media figure to the role of powerful authority — and why this mechanism still seems so familiar to us.

The Kino w Windzie project is implemented with co-financing granted on the basis of the Act of 30 June 2005 on Cinematography (Journal of Laws of 2023, item 130) and its implementing regulations and in accordance with the Operational Programmes of the Polish Institute of Film Art, granted by the Polish Film Institute from the Culture Promotion Fund within the funds allocated in 2025 for the purposes of supporting statutory activities Polish Film Institute in connection with the implementation of PO: Film Production, Cinema Development and Promotion of Polish Film Abroad.