MAN OF IRON (1981) by Andrzej Wajda

Summer 1980: Whilst the Gdańsk shipyards are in the grip of an unprecedented strike, Winkel, an alcoholic journalist officially sent there to cover the event, is actually on a mission to gather incriminating evidence against the trade union leaders, in order to discredit them and put an end to the protest movement. At the forefront of those who commissioned him is a certain Maciek Tomczyk, a troublemaker and son of Birkut, ‘the man of marble’…

“Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival, Man of Iron is a great film by Wajda. (...) It proves to be a rather exceptional example of a historical work set in the present, in which the filmmaker acts as a chronicler of a burning issue etched into Poland’s labour and trade union history.” Olivier Père, Arte TV.

Screening presented by Gwendal Padovan, video editor at Intersections.
Film presented in a restored version.