Program of Documentary Films by Maciej Drygas
at the 18th Polish Film Festival in America

Maciej Drygas, one of the most outstanding Polish documentary filmmakers, will introduce a program of his films at the 18th Polish Film Festival in America. His four acclaimed documentary films will be shown on November 7 and November 8 at 8:45 pm. in the Gallery Theatre (1112 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago): HEAR MY CRY (1991), STATE OF WEIGHTLESSNESS (1994), VOICE OF HOPE (2002) and most recent ONE DAY IN PEOPLE'S POLAND (2005). The author will take part in Q&A session following the screenings.

The films of Drygas are noted for their highly universal values. His documentaries discuss human rights, a freedom of speech, individual's resistance to the restrictions of a totalitarian system. They are so to speak "a cry of protest." Characterized by a passionate pursuit of truth, these films reflect a responsibility of the filmmaker who undoubtedly sides with the humanistic ideals. A brilliant research, exploration of traces, meeting people, and finding out the truth seem the most significant stage in Drygas' filmmaking. The visual material of his films is made up of splendidly edited archive footage. A final result shows the possibilities of documentary cinema in producing deep and synthetic images of social life.

Maciej Drygas (b. 1956 in Lodz) graduated from the Directing Department at the Soviet Union National Film School (VGiK) in 1981. He worked as the Assistant Director for Krzysztof Zanussi and Krzysztof Kieslowski (directing collaboration in Blind Chance, 1981). Since 1991 he has directed documentary films and radio program; received numerous prestigious awards, including "Felix" of the European Film Academy for the best documentary in 1991 for his "Hear My Cry" and the 2005 Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. At the present, he is the head of the Radio Documentary Department in Laboratory of Reportage at Warsaw University and a lecturer at the Academy of Visual Arts and New Media.

November 7 at 8:45 pm.

STATE OF WEIGHTLESSNESS

Outer-space paralyzed them. The view of Earth surprised and captivated them. Great difficulties, like working in weightlessness and cramped spaces, physiological adjustments, the desire for women, did not impede their success. The cosmonauts would not give up these experiences for anything, for they were proud. The whole Soviet nation was proud to show political enemies their advancements and superiority. The conquest of space lost its charm, though, when the Wall separating the world into two camps fell. Then problems began: Money was lacking to continue the space program; rusty, dilapidated structures pointed to the sky aimlessly at Baikonur; and pieces of space capsules laid about messily. During such a period did Maciej Drygas come upon the Soviet space program. In State of Weightlessness he speaks with rocket engineers, pioneers of space medicine, and discovers test subjects of medical experiments. He uncovers audio communications between Earth and the space station and exposes never-before-released archival footage. From this rich and at times sensational material Drygas constructs a fascinating work. He masterly builds up an amazement with and admiration for space-only to crush these feelings by exposing horrifying medical experiments performed dispassionately on people and animals. In turn he darkens the subject even further, exposing once-hidden tragedies and death.

ONE DAY IN PEOPLE'S POLAND

September 27, 1962. An ordinary day in Poland. 1600 babies are born, 600 people die and the weather is neither good nor bad. And yet, something noticeable happens everywhere in the country. The police arrest a suspect, the neighbor buys some salt and a man is openly reprimanded for wearing a beret. With a complex collage of footage from Polish archives and sound bites of radio and police services, director presents a nuanced image of everyday life in communist Poland in 1962. Now and then, sound and image seem to fit perfectly, and sometimes a striking combination of the two produces a new reality. A police officer reports his experiences of the day, after which a mother reads a letter addressed to her son who is in prison. The fragments, succeeding each other in a seemingly arbitrary order, lend the film a rhythm that ripples on, falters and fluctuates again. Just like life itself.

November 8 at 8:45 pm.

HEAR MY CRY

On the 8 of September, 1968, during the harvest festival at the Warsaw Stadium of Dziesieciolecie, 60-year-old accountant Richard Siwiec immolated himself as a sign of protest "against the evil of tyranny, hate and lies possessing the world." His sacrifice went unnoticed by most inside the arena. A camera operator for the Polish Newsreel Agency captured the tragedy on seven seconds of film, which was buried in the national archives. Maciej Drygas' film utilizes authentic material recorded by Siwiec himself two days before his self-immolation. Before he ignited his gasoline-doused suit, Siwiec managed to throw dozens of leaflets protesting the Warsaw Pact's armies' invasion of Czechoslovakia. The heavily-burnt Siwiec was transported to the hospital where he died several days later. Siwiec's name was could not be found on the front pages of Polish or Western newspapers. For several months the radio station Free Europe also said nothing. Yet when half a year later Jan Palach burned himself on the Vaclav Square in Prague, the world was shocked. Based on documents, reactions of Siwiec's closest family and friends, and eye-witness accounts, Drygas attempts to answer the questions: What were Siwiec's motivations? What kind of person was he, and how does one define his fatal actions? From these documents and interviews comes a portrait of a man of honor, a man unwilling to compromise, and whose excruciating death was a protest against the ruling system.

VOICE OF HOPE

The Polish Section of Radio Free Europe began broadcasting its programs from Munich in 1952 recognizing the fact that free access to information is instrumental in preserving human rights. Deemed hostile by the communist regime the station had avid listeners all over Poland. Everyday Poles, young and old, tuned in their radio sets. The regime established a dense network of jamming devices to ban the people's access to free information. Hundreds of specialists were kept busy day and night in effort to jam Radio Free Europe's broadcasts. Did they succeed in suppressing the voice of hope for Polish people?

The documentary section of the PFFA program is curated by Christopher Kamyszew, the festival founder and its former director, presently the President and Executive Director of the Chicago International Documentary Festival.

Admission to each screening of two films is $ 8.50 ($ 7.50 students & seniors). Tickets are available on the PFFA website www.pffamerica.com, over a phone at 773-486-9612 or one hour before the screenings in a box-office unless sold out.

The Gallery Theatre has a limited free parking.

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