Warsaw bids farewell to Academy Award-winning Polish film director
Hundreds of Warsaw residents, artists and people of culture bid farewell during a mourning Mass at St. Jack Church in Warsaw to Academy Award-winning Polish film director Andrzej Wajda who died at the age of 90 on Oct. 9.
"The generation of our great teachers is leaving us (...) We will not be able touch them, to hear their voice and their wise advice, we will not see their new works (...), Father Andrzej Luter said in a homily and stressed that Wajda used to teach us "wise and critical patriotism".
Deputy PM and Culture Minister Piotr Glinski, Senate deputy Speaker Bogdan Borusewicz, former presidents Aleksander Kwasniewski and Bronislaw Komorowski, Warsaw Mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz as well as popular Polish actors, many of whom played in Wajda's movies, were in the crowd.
Wajda will be buried at the Salwator Cemetery in Krakow (southern Poland) on Oct. 19. The private funeral will be preceded by a Requiem Mass at the Church of the Holy Trinity.
One of the most outstanding Polish filmmakers, Wajda directed dozens of films throughout his life. These include Ashes and Diamonds, The Promised Land (nominated for an Oscar for best foreign language film in 1975), Man of Marble, The Maids of Wilko (1979 Oscar nomination), Man of Iron (1981 nomination), Pan Tadeusz, Katyn (nominated in 2007), and Walesa: Man of Hope.
Wajda's last film, Afterimage, premiered in September at the 41 Film Festival in Gdynia, and will be Poland's official entry for an Oscar in the best foreign language film category next year.
Wajda received an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2000. He also won awards such as the Golden Lion and the Golden Bear, in addition to the Palme d'Or, the Felix European Film Award, and the Japanese Kyoto award. (PAP)
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