[6] Cisza (Silence) is a short documentary film in which Szumowska tried to capture a simple life of a Polish rural family.

[9] In 2018, she was also selected a member of the jury headed by Guillermo del Toro at the 75th Venice International Film Festival.

[12]  The plot explores complicated relationships among three people facing enormous difficulties who nonetheless strive to achieve happiness, or, at least, steer clear of tragedy.

[13][14] A significant breakthrough in Szumowska's career came in 2008, with 33 sceny z życia (33 Scenes from Life), starring Julia Jentsch, which won a Special Prize at the Locarno International Film Festival.

A talented photographer married to Piotr, a successful composer, Julia has a perfect and financially comfortable life until one day the idyll is interrupted.

Szumowska worked also as a co-producer of Antichrist, Lars von Trier's horror film released in 2009.

He now lives in a village in rural Poland where he works with teenagers with behavioral problems who fight and yell abuse.

When he meets Dynia; the strange and taciturn son of a simple rural family; Adam's self-imposed abstinence becomes a heavy burden.