Ashes and Diamonds / Popiół i diament (1958) by Andrzej Wajda is one of the most important films of the so-called Polish Film School. Set in post-war Poland, it portrays not only the moral and personal dilemmas of the individual, but also the conflict between generations, ideologies, and competing visions for a new Poland. Shot in a distinctive, highly realistic style enriched with powerful symbolism, Ashes and Diamonds has become a classic of Polish cinema, addressing themes of memory, identity, and the cost of ideals.

© mat. Filmu Polskiego

Set on VE Day, 8 May 1945, Ashes and Diamonds takes place in a provincial Polish town where the end of the war brings not relief but a profound crisis of identity. Adapted from Jerzy Andrzejewski’s novel, the film follows Maciek (Zbigniew Cybulski), a resistance fighter confronting a final assassination mission just as he glimpses the first fragile possibility of life beyond conflict. Poland’s fighters—caught between their wartime loyalties and the uneasy dawn of communist rule—struggle to understand what their sacrifices mean in a landscape where the victors are also former invaders.

The film’s title, taken from lines by poet Cyprian Norwid, poses a haunting question: can any “diamond” of hope survive the ashes left by war?

The screening will feature English subtitles, an introduction by Kris Van Heuckelom,
and will be followed by a discussion with Konrad Klejsa.

Konrad Klejsa, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Film History and Theory at the University of Łódź. He is the author of Filmowe oblicza kontestacji (Warsaw, 2008) and co-editor of several collective volumes, including Kino polskie: reinterpretacje. Historia – ideologia – polityka (with Ewelina Nurczyńska-Fidelska, Kraków, 2007). He has received scholarships from the Foundation for Polish Science (2006), the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD, 2007), the weekly Polityka (2008), and the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (2009). He is a recipient of the Bolesław Michałek Award (for Filmowe oblicza kontestacji) and the Polish Film Institute (PISF) Award (for Kino bez tajemnic).
© Maciej Andrzejewski (University of Łódż)

Kris Van Heuckelom, PhD, has a background in Slavic and Eastern European Studies and teaches in the MA programs in cultural, literary, and translation studies at KU Leuven. He specializes in late modern Polish literature and culture, with a focus on comparative and transnational perspectives. His teaching covers European literatures and cinemas, Polish–Dutch literary translation, and East–West dynamics in contemporary Europe.
As a literary translator, he co-edited a Dutch translation of Bruno Schulz’s letters (2017) and several anthologies of contemporary Polish poetry, including works by Adam Zagajewski and Ryszard Krynicki. He is secretary of the Flemish Association for Literary Studies and serves on the editorial board of Cahier voor Literatuurwetenschap.
© KULeuven

SCREENING:
Monday, May 9 at 5 PM
Film introduction by prof. Kris Van Hueckelom
Q&A with prof. Konrad Klejsa
Cinema ZED Leuven
Andreas Vesaliusstraat 9C, 3000 Leuven
TICKETS

Projection is organized as part of the programme “2026 – The Year of Andrzej Wajda”