Special Screenings

At the heart of Andrzej Wajda’s body of work, which primarily deals with the Second World War in Poland and Europe, stands the younger generation. His films focus on twenty-year-old protagonists called upon to join the war effort, forced to shape their lives in the shadow of fascism, violence, and bereavement. Marking the centenary of the birth of the greatest of all Polish directors, we ask: What would Wajda think of our generation in our region today? How are our peers—those who have been drafted, lost loved ones, protested, or been arrested—reflected in his films, and what can we learn about ourselves from the fate of his young protagonists?
In this special one-time screening, we will watch 'Samson' , accompanied by an introduction from Shani Kiniso (founder of 'The Intangible Cinema Project' and a survivor of the October 7th massacre) and Dr. Shmulik Duvdevani (Film scholar and critic, Steve Tisch School of Film and Television, Tel Aviv University). Together, they will evoke Wajda’s spirit and attempt to imagine what his films would look like if they were made here and now.

Warsaw, on the eve of World War II. Jakub Gold, a young Jewish student, gets caught in a brawl and is accused of accidentally killing an antisemitic student. He is sent to prison, but with the Nazi invasion of Poland and the bombing of the jail, he finds himself free, only to discover that the world outside has become a far more dangerous trap.