In the words of the director himself “this is a film about ordinary people against the background of great historical events.” The story of a group of children from Polish and Jewish families living on Border St. in Warsaw. Difficult, moving and cruel Polish-Jewish relations, recounted by a filmmaker who was extremely attuned to social problems. A film report from the border between two worlds – the “Aryan” side, and the ghetto. Starring Mieczysława Ćwiklińska and Jerzy Leszczyński, with Ida Kamińska as a supporting actress.

SPECIAL EVENT: ALEKSANDER FORD RETROSPECTIVE

Aleksander Ford - a man of contradiction. A pre-war socialist, he became a protege of the communist regime after the war. Highly regarded for his outstanding artistic achievements (his Piątka z ulicy Barskiej received the Jury Prize in Cannes), he was the first to have adapted Sienkiewicz for the screen. In 1960, he made a grand-scale production of Krzyżacy (Knights of the Teutonic Order), a work that became nearly as important for Poles as Mickiewicz’s Pan Tadeusz.

Ford was born in Łódź as Mosze Lifszyc. For two decades he taught at the Film School in Łódź, where his students included Andrzej Wajda and Roman Polański. He made over twenty films and built the institutional base of Polish cinematography. At the same time, he was known as the Colonel - his works were often shelved, but he also censored the films of his colleagues, blocking ideas and holding back scripts.

After the antisemitic purge of 1968 - 45 years ago - he was barred from creative work. He left the country a year later. It was often said that he would have been one of the fathers of Hollywood had he left for the United States in the 1920s - but at the beginning of the 70s he could hardly find his place there. He committed suicide in Florida in 1980.

IN PARTRNERSHIP WITH: WFDIF, POLIN Museum

Venice IFF 1948: THE BEST FILM, ZLOTA KACZKA 2010: THE BEST FILM DIRECTOR

20-11-2021 13:30, WJFF.pl

Language: Polish   Subtitles: English