ANDRZEJ WAJDA. MAN OF POLAND: A retrospective at the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles

From September 5–7, 2025, Los Angeles will host a retrospective of Andrzej Wajda’s films, presented through the collaboration between the Wajda Film Centre and the American Cinematheque. A day earlier – on September 4 – Emerson College Los Angeles will host a discussion panel devoted to his work. This encounter between the American audience and one of the most important artists in world cinema will be an opportunity to rediscover films that – though deeply rooted in Polish history – carry a universal message and inspire reflection on values fundamental to every free society.

Andrzej Wajda’s work grows from the very core of the Polish experience – from the history, culture, and values that have shaped generations. Wajda came of age in the shadow of World War II, in a world marked by loss, heroism, and the necessity of moral choices. From this burden – and from Poland’s literary, painterly, and theatrical traditions – he built his own unique cinematic language.

His films blended romanticism with pragmatism, rebellion with compromise, memory with a vision of the future. His protagonists – soldiers, workers, artists – had to find their place in the dense web of history, ideology, and personal desires, and faced moral dilemmas that remain strikingly relevant in today’s world of tensions and divisions. Today, in an era of global debates on democracy, human rights, and civic responsibility, his films speak just as powerfully as they did on the day of their premieres.

For American audiences, Wajda’s work offers not only a record of Central and Eastern European history, but above all universal stories of courage, loyalty, and the search for meaning in a world without easy answers. These are values that connect audiences regardless of language or continent – and in the United States, where freedom is the foundation of national identity, they resonate in a particularly profound way.

The project Andrzej Wajda. Man of Poland is more than a film retrospective – it is an invitation to intercultural dialogue. Thanks to the collaboration between the Wajda Film Centre and the American Cinematheque, audiences in Los Angeles will be able to see both his most famous works and participate in meetings and discussions devoted to the director’s legacy. Each screening will be preceded by a short introduction delivered by experts.

PROGRAM

September 4, 2025, Thursday
Emerson College Los Angeles
7:00 PM – Opening Night Presentation and Reception at Emerson College
Discussion panel “The Legacy of Andrzej Wajda – 25 Years After His Honorary Oscar”
Panelists: Katarzyna Ślesicka, Grzegorz Skorupski, Artur Zaborski

To RSVP for the Sep. 4th event at Emerson College, please email james_lane@emerson.edu.

September 5, 2025, Friday
American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre
Opening Night and Reception
7:30 PM – ASHES AND DIAMONDS / EVERYTHING FOR SALE – double feature
Introduction by Artur Zaborski, Vice-Rector of the Warsaw Film School

September 6, 2025, Saturday
American Cinematheque at Los Feliz 3
12:30 PM – MAN OF MARBLE
Introduction by Grzegorz Skorupski, Wajda Film Centre / Film Producer
4:00 PM – MAN OF IRON
Introduction by Grzegorz Skorupski, Wajda Film Centre / Film Producer

September 7, 2025, Sunday
American Cinematheque at Los Feliz 3
1:00 PM – KANAL
Introduction by Grzegorz Skorupski, Wajda Film Centre / Film Producer
Screening as part of the American Cinematheque’s “Sunday Print Edition” series, showcasing films from 35mm prints
4:00 PM – KATYN
Introduction by Artur Zaborski, Vice-Rector of the Warsaw Film School

DISCUSSION PANEL

A key part of Andrzej Wajda. Man of Poland will be the discussion panel at Emerson College Los Angeles, designed as a compass for viewers who are just discovering the figure of the director and the context in which his films were made. The event will take place on September 4 and will begin with a presentation on Andrzej Wajda and the historical and cultural background of his work – from his childhood during World War II and his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, through the years of the Polish Film School, the cinema of the 1960s and 1970s, the political transformation of 1989, to the contemporary period, his Honorary Oscar, and the founding of the Wajda School.

The discussion will also focus on Wajda’s protagonists – from Zadra and Stokrotka in Kanal, through Maciek Chełmicki in Ashes and Diamonds, Mateusz Birkut and Agnieszka in Man of Marble, to Maciek Tomczyk in Man of Iron and Lech Wałęsa in Wałęsa: Man of Hope. Using these characters as examples, panel participants will explore Wajda’s ideals, his ways of circumventing censorship, and his courage in asking difficult questions.

Part of the meeting will be devoted to mutual inspirations – the influence of American cinema on Wajda’s work, and the impact of his films on directors such as Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese. The panel will conclude with a reflection on what Wajda offers us today: how his characters, entangled in ideological tensions and moral choices, help us understand the modern world, where we still have to find our place amid clashing ideologies.

Panelists:

Katarzyna Ślesicka

Deputy Director of Wajda Film Centre for Program Affairs and Head of the Film Education Department responsible for projects such as LET’S DOC Documentary Film Festival for Young Audiences, LET’S DOC.Lab, numerous workshops for children, youth, and teachers under the umbrella of TRAMPOLINA DO KINA, as well as research and development activities within the long-term project New Strategy of Film Education. Producer of documentary films (including Vika! by Agnieszka Zwiefka / 2023 and You Are Not Alone by Karolina Domagalska / 2024). The co-author of DOC LAB POLAND, the largest program in Poland supporting and promoting documentary filmmakers and producers, as well as of CEDOC MARKET at the Krakow Film Festival.

From 2005 to 2015 the managing director and board member of the Wajda School Foundation and Wajda Studio, founded in 2001 by Andrzej Wajda and Wojciech Marczewski. She produced several films for the Studio, including Andrzej Wajda: Let’s Shoot directed by the Paladino team, K2: Touching the Sky by Eliza Kubarska, Aria Diva by Agnieszka Smoczyńska, Sanctuary by Nora McGettigan, and The End of the World by Monika Pawluczuk. A member of the Polish Filmmakers Association, the National Chamber of Audiovisual Producers, and the Polish Film Academy, as well as an expert for the Polish Film Institute.

Grzegorz Skorupski

Cultural and Film Professional with over 16 years of experience working with leading national and international cultural institutions. Proven track record and deep expertise in planning and managing international cultural projects, as well as experience as a film producer.

Since August 2022, Supervisory Producer at Animoon, a Warsaw-based creative team specializing in the development and production of animated projects. For nearly a decade, the studio has focused on delivering high-quality, narrative-driven animation, primarily based on original ideas. Animoon’s portfolio includes short and feature-length films and series aimed at a wide audience.

From 2012 to 2022, Member of the Experts Team at the Adam Mickiewicz Institute (AMI), overseeing the film program. Responsible for planning and coordinating AMI’s film projects and long-term strategic development. Engaged in building international partnerships and managing AMI’s film co-productions.

Particularly interested in cultural and social communication and in audiovisual languages as tools of contemporary cultural discourse.

Believes that the ability to communicate effectively through the language of culture is essential for personal growth and meaningful engagement in modern life – be it social, professional, emotional, or intellectual. In his view, culture is the foundation, while social, business, and private life are its components – not the other way around.

Artur Zaborski

Born in 1987, is a cultural journalist publishing in Polish, American, Canadian, and Swedish media, and the Vice-Rector for International Cooperation at the Warsaw Film School. He serves as Artistic Director of Script Fiesta, Program Director of the Summer Film Academy in Zwierzyniec, and programmer of the “Rebels” section at the Tofifest International Film Festival. He studied film studies and literary criticism at the Jagiellonian University. He has worked as Film Editor for Onet.pl and as Editor-in-Chief of Stopklatka.pl.

Over the course of ten years in the profession, he has interviewed some of the most prominent figures in world cinema, including Nicole Kidman, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Penélope Cruz, Mel Gibson, and Winona Ryder. He is the recipient of the Polish Film Institute Award in the film criticism category (2023) and a two-time grantee of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. In 2022, he was awarded a Sundance Institute fellowship for journalists covering minority issues. He is a member of FIPRESCI.

Organizers:

Partners:

Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland from the Culture Promotion Fund – a state special-purpose fund.

The event is co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.

Media Partner: