1970

Tomasz Wolski Polen 2021 70 min.

1970, two weeks before Christmas. Right at this time the communist regime in Poland decides to raise prices of some essential products. The result: one of the largest and bloodiest protests the country has ever seen. Behind the scenes, those in power plan the suppression and subsequent cover-up of the protest. Recently rediscovered telephone recordings are combined with stop-motion animation, forming a particularly original and, above all, exciting portrait of a power crisis.

DOCVILLE 2022
Fond of Footage
Internationale selectie

Wolski does not show the uprising from the protesters' point of view, but from the oppressors' perspective, based on the original recordings of telephone conversations. A refreshing choice. The voices you here are those of members of a crisis team of senior officials from the military and the Ministry of the Interior. Clumsily they try to assess the situation and discuss strategies to keep the protesters under control. Tension is audibly mounting, both on the street and in their office. The recordings show a mixture of confusion, fear, ruthlessness and inefficiency that can all be heard in the original conversations.