Andrzej Wajda
1926-2016 Film director
If you grew up in Poland, Andrzej Wajda’s outlook on life has had a significant influence on the perception of Polish history and society.
Over the course of his career, Wajda directed around 60 major films, some of which he himself has said were perhaps a little too long-winded.
After a few years at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, Wajda enrolled at the Film School in Lodz in 1949.
Wajda went on to direct one film after another.
He was not a member of the Communist Party, and his films were often on the edge of what was ideologically acceptable.
However, Wajda achieved such significant recognition that his work was authorised.
However, he himself was aware of how far he could allow himself to go in relation to the regime and was undoubtedly capable of exercising thorough self-censorship.
I should probably list every film, but I’ve just picked a few that I think deserve a special mention:
Ashes and Diamonds (1958) – about the difficulties of returning to a normal life after being part of the resistance movement.
The Promised Land (1975) – about the industrialisation of Lodz based on Reymont’s novel of the same name.
Man of Marble (1976) – Socially critical film about 1950s Poland with censorship and centralised micromanagement.
Man of Iron (1981) – Film about the 1980 strikes in Gdansk and the formation of the free trade union Solidarity.
Katyn (2007) – about Stalin’s murder of Polish prisoners of war in 1940.
Walesa – Man of Hope (2013) about Lech Walesa’s life in the anti-communist opposition.
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