The film won several awards, including a distinction at the Prix Italia; the Grand Prix during the Man in Danger Media Festival in Łódź; the Grand Prix during the Monte Carlo International Television Festival, as well as the Prix Europa.
Maciej Drygas’s 2005 documentary Jeden Dzień w PRL / One Day in the Polish People’s Republic is an in-depth view of the reality of the time: a picture of a totalitarian system that is more intriguing than the hundreds of books and films dealing with those issues. It is a film consisting entirely of archival footage at film and television studios, and private collections, is an attempted reconstruction of one day of life in communist Poland. ‘On this day,‘ the director said, ‘nothing special in the People’s Republic of Poland. The weather forecast predicted moderate rain. More than 1,600 people came into the world, about 600 died. It was a day like any other.‘
The day in question was Thursday, 27 September 1962. The front page of the state-owned Trybuna Ludu daily newspaper posted an interview with the deputy minister of the chemical industry, as well as information about the gala concert of artists from the Soviet Union, which was attended by representatives of the communist party and government. Publisher Iskra released a book on the life of Vladimir Lenin. At noon a routine meeting between party member Zenon Kliszek and Bishop Michał Klepacz was held in the main building of the Polish United Workers’ Party. It later turned out that Kliszko had a hidden microphone under the table, and the whole conversation was recorded on tape. Therefore this became part of the film.
The film was awarded the Silver Dragon at the Kraków Film Festival, a Special Jury Award for Maciej Drygas at the International Documentary Film Festival of Tai Pei, as well as Platinum Remi Award in the socio-economic issues category for Maciej Drygas at Worldfest Independent Film Festival in Houston.
Filmography:
- 1991 Usłyszcie Mój Krzyk / Hear My Cry. Awards: Felix – European Film Award – for best documentary, 1991, Silver Dragon at the Cracow Festival of Documentaries and Short Films, 1991, Main Award at the Media Festival “Man under Threat” in Łódź, 1991, Andrzej Munk Award 1991, Silver Sesterce at the International Documentary Film Festival in Nyon, 1991, Grand Prix at the International Documentary Film Festival in Melbourne, 1991, Golden Gate Award at the International Film Festival in San Francisco, 1991.
- 1994 Stan Nieważkosci / Weightless. Awards: Prix Italia ‘94; Grand Prix at the Media Festival in Lódź, 1994; First prize at the Balticum Film and Television Festival in Bornholm, 1995; Grand Prix at the International Monte-Carlo TV Festival, 1995; Prix Europa’95; First Prize at the International Film Festival in Strasbourg, 1995; Grand Prix and Press Award at the Ismailia Festival For Documentary And Short Films, 1995)
- 2002 Głos nadziei / Voice of Hope
- 2005 Jeden Dzień w PRL / One Day in People’s Poland (Silver Dragon at the national competition of the Krakow Film Festival, 2006)
- 2009 Usłysz Nas Wszystkich / Hear Us All
Source: Young Polish Cinema, published by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, June 2007