A 2016 Polish drama film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It was screened in the Masters section at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. The film will be followed by a discussion with cinematographer Pawel Edelman.
"In this film we looked for certain colours to saturate the visual look in the foreground, while the background, where Strzeminski wanted to run away, was more toned down. We wanted to capture the texture of those times."
Pawel Edelman, PSC
In post-war Poland, renowned painter Wladyslaw Strzemiński works as a professor at the National School of Fine Arts in Łódź. A great artist and co-creator of the theory of Unism, Strzemiński became famous before the Second World War. His students still treat him as the "messiah of modern painting", but university authorities and the Ministry of Culture have a very different opinion. Unlike artists loyal to the doctrines of socialist realism and those fulfilling Party tasks, Strzemiński does not compromise his art. He refuses to comply with Party regulations, and is eventually expelled from the university and the artists' union. Despite that, Strzemiński's students continue to support him, and visit him for private lectures during which they pen down his 'Theory of Vision' and listen to his critique of their work. Nevertheless, as the Communist authorities remain persistent in their actions to ruin him, jobless and impaired due to a missing arm and leg, Strzemiński soon falls into poverty and poor health....