Still from Wojciech Słota i Marek Kłosowicz's "Art of Freedom"
The documentary about Poland's world-class climbers of the 1980s wins Second Prize at the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival
Showing the unsurpassed fervor and original climbing styles of Jerzy Kukuczka, Krzysztof Wielicki, Wanda Rutkiewicz, Wojciech Kurtyka and Andrzej Zawada, Art of Freedom shows them set themselves apart with remarkable endurance and an avid team spirit, and pays tribute to their 20-year reign in the highest mountains of the world.
Jerzy Kukuczka was the first Pole and the second climber to conquer all of the Himalayas 8,000-meter peaks, in 1987. Krzysztof Wielicki followed in his footsteps two years later. Poland's greatest female Himalayist, Wanda Rutkiewicz, conquered eight of these peaks, partially on new trails. Their feats were accomplished in Poland's crisis-ridden 1970s and '80s, when the nation suffered skyrocketing prices and lacked basic food supplies. Underfunded and ill-equipped, the Polish climbers unrelenting spirit allowed them to overcome these obstacles and fulfill their dreams. "I could never reconcile myself to the fact of returning with nothing", Jerzy Kukuczka reminisces. "I always tried one last time. Even in spite of reason, but always according to a confidence from within."
The documentary is directed by Wojciech Słota and Marek Kłosowicz and produced by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, as part of the Guide to the Poles series, films that show aspects of life under the communist regime that gave Poles hope in their fight against the regime. Art of Freedom covers the Polish climbers' difficult escapades and most spectacular ascents.
The 2012 Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF) screens 48 films chosen from 261 international entries. The festival also features the Polish director Eliza Kubarska's 2012 Co Się Wydarzyło Na Wyspie Pam / What Happened on Pam Island. The film recalls Kubarska's expedition to climb the world's tallest sea cliff, the 1,500 metre Thumbnail in Greenland's southern fjord region.
Sources: culture.pl, KIMFF
Editor: Marta Jazowska