The 17th "Unruly, Unbreakable, Cursed" international film festival in Gdynia has ended. A documentary produced by the IPN was awarded the main prize.
The festival is a unique event combining art and history, and attracting enthusiasts of both. It presents films from all over the world that portray various nations' difficult paths to independence, as well as individual stories about human resilience.The Institute of National Remembrance was one of the institutional partners of this year’s edition and has supported the event for many years now. This year’s edition was held under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, and the event was attended by the IPN Deputy President, Mateusz Szpytma. The “Unruly, Unbreakable, Cursed” International Film Festival presents works devoted to Poland’s 1939-1989 history.
The Golden Resistor, main award in the Best Documentary category, went to the IPN-produced documentary “A Thread of Hope”, directed by Maciej Fijałkowski. This is a story based on real events during the Martial Law, when Kazimiera Kwiek, inspired by the support of the then United States President Ronald Reagan for the Polish people, created a tapestry with religious motifs that became her personal gesture of solidarity. The tapestry was presented to President Reagan, who, in recognition and gratitude, sent the author a handwritten letter and donated the tapestry to the Pauline Fathers at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Częstochowa in Doylestown, PA.
The Janusz Krupski Award was granted to the IPN production “Popiełuszko: Testament of Freedom” by Jakub Kleba and Piotr Piotrowski, which sheds new light on Popiełuszko's teachings from the perspective of people who attended his sermons.
The Festival Director's Award went to the documentary film “The Three Deaths of Merian Cooper", directed by Rafał Sałata and produced by Anita Gargas. It’s a captivating story of an American middle-class boy, whose adventurous streak took him to a number of wars, including two world wars, and then to a successful career in the movie industry – but what matters most to Poland was the squadron Cooper formed with other American pilots and commanded in battle, helping us fight off the 1920 Bolshevik onslaught.