The War Trilogy

Ashes and Diamonds

+ KINOTEKA Polish Film Festival Opening + intro by Tomasz Kolankiewicz, Director of Polish National Film Archive

Popiół i Diament

One of Martin Scorsese’s most beloved films, Andrzej Wajda’s piercing drama stars iconic Polish actor Zbigniew Cybulski as a tragic hero in Poland in the aftermath of the Second World War.

  • Director

    Andrzej Wajda

  • With

    Zbigniew Cybulski, Ewa Krzyżewska, Wacław Zastrzeżyński

  • Poland 1958. 104min

  • 35mm

  • Certificate

    12A

  • English subtitles

In the last days of the Second World War, Maciek, a Polish resistance fighter, is tasked with the assassination of a Communist official. When he meets Krystyna, he is offered a glimpse of a world beyond war and destruction, and questions his assignment. Wajda’s classic drama, which cemented his position as a world-class filmmaker, features an iconic central performance by Cybulski – the ‘Polish James Dean’ – who contributes immeasurably to this probing look at the complex post-war future for a new nation and its people. It’s essential viewing.

The film will be presented on an imported 35mm print for this screening. The screenings on Sun 15 Feb and Tue 24 Feb will be on Digital (restoration).

Also available on BFI Player