FFC presents four films from different periods of Wajda’s career: ASHES AND DIAMONDS (1958), INNOCENT SORCERERS (1960), LANDSCAPE AFTER THE BATTLE (1970) and THE PROMISED LAND (1975). They explore the struggle over Poland’s political future after the Second World War, a young generation in search of a new way of life, life in the aftermath of the Holocaust, and the social upheavals brought about by industrialisation.
Wajda, who received an Honorary Academy Award for his lifetime achievement in 2000, repeatedly addressed Poland’s political, social and historical upheavals in his films. His diverse body of work established him as a chronicler of Polish history while shaping European cinema far beyond the borders of his home country.
Wajda’s Legacy Meets a New Generation
FFC does not, however, stop at looking back. Films by students and graduates of the Wajda School in Warsaw and Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF enter into dialogue with Wajda’s work. The films bring questions that shaped Wajda’s cinema into the present: How do filmmakers respond to political and social conflicts? How can cinema tell stories of responsibility and moral choices? And what remains of the “cinema of moral anxiety” for a new generation?
The focus is accompanied by a study project in the World Heritage Studies programme at Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU), which uses Wajda as a case study to explore film as cultural heritage and its role in Polish memory culture.
The Wajda focus is part of DON’T CALL ME VINTAGE!. Launched in 2024, the section brings significant works of Central and Eastern European film history back to the big screen while asking what they mean to audiences and cinema today.
36th FilmFestival Cottbus
3–8 November 2026
For further information, interview requests, film stills and screening opportunities, please contact Marthe Gärtner (m.gaertner@filmfestival-
FilmFestival Cottbus is primarily funded by Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and the City of Cottbus. We are also very grateful for the support of Creative Europe MEDIA, the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Sparkasse Spree-Neiße and the Federal Agency for Civic Education. Our media partners are radioeins and radio3.
