Pan Tadeusz: The Last Foray in Lithuania

(Pan Tadeusz, Andrzej Wajda, Poland/France 1999, 147 min., 35mm, Polish w/subtitles)

100 Years of Polish Independence. To celebrate a hundred years of Polish independence and add an illuminating postscript to last year’s Andrzej Wajda retrospective, we present one of the Polish master’s most ambitious and popular films. Pan Tadeusz is a grandiose historical spectacle, both epic and lyrical, based on the eponymous work by the famed Polish national poet Adam Mickiewicz, depicting the nation’s struggle to define its own identity after centuries of complicated relations with its neighbors and historical European superpowers. Special screening of a 35mm print that was recently kindly donated to our collection by the New York Polish Film Festival. Presented in collaboration with the Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies, University of Rochester.