Ildefons Stachowiak

Przyłbice i kaptury

Poznań 56

The film depicts the momentous and tragic history of the Poznan uprising of 1956. The memory of the director, who was a nine-year-old boy at the time, is the only canvass of the script. The main characters of the black-and-white film are two boys aged ten and twelve. From their perspective, the viewer follows the development of events. From the depths of the gates, through the rails of fences and cluttered backyards, through the eyes of the children we watch the street riots. The film, without action in the literal sense of the word, was made using a reportage technique that perfectly captures the spontaneity of the Poznan uprising. Among other things, the author of the picture depicts the adventures of a young worker Zenek, who becomes the unwitting leader of the protest, and five professors, who by chance find themselves in the very center of events.

The Crown Witness

Blacha, an ex-middleman in the criminal underground, is the key witness in an enormous Pruszkow mafia bust. As such he is kept under lock and key hidden away from the world. Intent on getting an interview with the ex-gangster is Marcin Kruk, whose pregnant wife was collateral damage in a mafia car-bomb several years back with Blacha being his main suspect. Fortunately Blacha holds Marcin's journalistic work in very high regard, hence agrees to an exclusive interview in a secluded hotel in the Hel peninsula. There he retreads his criminal life...