Spanning more than six decades, Wajda’s work made him one of the central voices of Polish cinema after the Second World War. His films repeatedly explored the intersections of personal and national history, memory, identity and politics, examining how historical events and political realities shape the lives of individuals and entire societies. His work received wide international recognition, and in 2000 he was awarded an Honorary Academy Award for his contribution to world cinema.

Throughout November, four of Wajda’s most important films will be screened, representing different periods in his career and offering an opportunity to revisit the themes that occupied him throughout his life. The screenings will be accompanied by introductions from film scholar Prof. Yair Lev, filmmaker Laura Bialis and film director, cinema scholar and lecturer Benjamin Friedenberg, who will offer different perspectives on Wajda’s work and the historical and cultural contexts in which the films were made.

The closing evening, on 24 November, will also focus on a dialogue between Wajda’s work and a new generation of filmmakers. As part of a collaboration between the Polish Institute and the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, a special course entitled The Social and the Political as Cinematic Images – A Tribute to Andrzej Wajda was held in October. The course was led by Benjamin Friedenberg and included film and academic professionals from Poland. As part of the course, students created short films inspired by Wajda’s work, which will be screened during the closing evening. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring directors Dani Rosenberg, Netali Braun and Bissan Tibi, alongside film critic Shani Kiniso. The evening will conclude with a screening of Wajda’s film Afterimage (2016), his final film, about Polish artist Władysław Strzemiński and his confrontation with the communist regime in Poland.

Screening Programme

Tuesday, 3 November | 19:30 – Man of Marble 

Poland, 1977 | Directed by Andrzej Wajda, 157 min

Polish with English subtitles

A young film student sets out to investigate the story of Mateusz Birkut, a bricklayer celebrated as a working-class hero in the 1950s who later vanished from public view. Through newsreels, interviews and archival footage, she uncovers the gulf between a state-manufactured legend and the life behind it. Wajda turns a filmmaker’s investigation into a gripping political drama about the creation and erasure of heroes and the camera’s power to challenge official history.

Introduction in Hebrew: Benjamin Freidenberg

Tuesday, 10 November | 19:30 – Man of Iron 

Poland, 1981 | Directed by Andrzej Wajda, 153 min

Polish with English subtitles

Gdańsk, summer 1980. As shipyard workers go on strike, a radio journalist is sent to gather material discrediting a prominent labour activist. But encounters with the strikers and those closest to his subject unsettle his loyalties and force a crisis of conscience. In this sequel to Man of Marble, Wajda brings together fiction, historical footage and appearances by members of Solidarity, capturing a moment when the struggle for workers’ rights becomes a demand for freedom and political change.

Introduction in English: Laura Bialis (in English)

Tuesday, 17 November | 19:30 – The Promised Land 

Poland, 1975 | Directed by Andrzej Wajda, 180 min

Polish with English subtitles

In the booming industrial city of Łódź at the end of the nineteenth century, three friends – a Pole, a Jew and a German – join forces to build a textile factory and pursue their dreams of wealth. Amid ruthless competition, shady dealings and turbulent desires, ambition tests their friendship and moral boundaries. Adapting Władysław Reymont’s novel, Wajda creates a visually dazzling epic: a portrait of a city where everything has a price, and industrial progress is built on exploitation and human lives.

Introdution in Hebrew: Prof. Yair Lev

Tuesday, 24 November – Closing Evening

19:30 – Afterimage (2016)

Directed by Andrzej Wajda

Wajda’s final film

In post-war Poland, painter and avant-garde artist Władysław Strzemiński refuses to subordinate his work to the dictates of Socialist Realism. While his students are drawn to his artistic vision, the authorities gradually strip him of his ability to teach, create and make a living.

Andrzej Wajda’s final film is a poignant and moving portrait of an artist fighting to preserve his independence of vision and thought, and a cinematic meditation on artistic freedom, a teacher’s responsibility and the personal cost of remaining true to one’s convictions.

The film screening will be preceded by a panel discussion featuring filmmakers Bissan Tibi, Shai Carmeli-Pollak and Neta Shoshani.

All screenings will take place at Cinema Spiegel, Sam Spiegel Film and Television School, Jerusalem.

For more information and tickets, visit the Cinema Spiegel website.