Academy of Polish Cinema: Man of Iron (1981) 4K

Man of Iron, 1981, dir. Andrzej Wajda

A radio journalist (Marian Opania) is commissioned to record a report compromising Tomczyk (Jerzy Radziwiłowicz), an activist of the strike committee at the Gdańsk Shipyard. He tries to make his way to a shipyard occupied by workers during the hectic summer on the Coast of 1980. He meets a friend (Bogusław Linda) who tells him about Tomczyk, a fellow student. He manages to get a pass to see Tomczyk's interned wife, Agnieszka, and visits the family of an old union activist. Under the influence of these meetings, he decides to reject the order. In Iron Man, the protagonists of the movie The Marble Man return, although already in the background. Together with her husband, son Birkut, Agnieszka created an exhibition of photographs, and the strike at the Gdańsk Shipyard turned out to be the realization of the original idea of the Man of Marble — the restoration of dignity and agency by the workers. These events went down in Polish history as the August 1980 Agreements. Scenes with the participation of trade unionists and government representatives were staged for the film, according to the course, in the Health and Safety Hall of the Gdańsk Shipyard just a few days after the historic events. A classic of the cinema of moral anxiety, preceded by the film Man of Marble (1976), followed years later in the film Wałęsa. Man of Hope (2013). The film was awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival, as well as the Ecumenical Jury Prize (1981) and an Oscar nomination (1982) in the category of Best Foreign Language Film. The NZSS Solidarity Award in Gdańsk was also significant, as the film was commissioned by shipbuilders.

A film in 4K presented during the Cannes Film Festival in 2026.

18:00 - lecture by Prof. Krzysztof Kornacki

19:30 - screening of Andrzej Wajda's film in 4K version from 2026.

Screening with english subtitles.