Made in 1957, Canal is one of the finest achievements of what is known as the Polish school of filmmaking of the 1950s and 1960s.
The movie is set in the dying days of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising and tells the story of a decimated detachment of insurgents making a failed attempt to break away from an encirclement by German troops, while moving through an underground system of sewers, half filled with water and excrement.
Canal will be shown in Venice on August 15 ahead of the annual International Film Festival, whose 77th edition is scheduled to open on September 2.
The film won Wajda a Special Jury Award and a Gold Medal for best young director at the Cannes Festival in 1957.
Canal is among 12 features in the Venice festival's classics section, which includes productions such as Jean Renoir’s Toni (1935), Vittorio de Sica’s Miracle in Milan (1951) and Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979).
They will be shown with Italian subtitles, in digitally remastered versions.
Wajda, who won an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2000, died on October 9, 2016 at the age of 90.
His most acclaimed films include A Generation, Ashes and Diamonds, The Maids of Wilko, The Promised Land, Danton, Man of Marble, Man of Iron and Katyn.
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Source: PAP