The documentary, entitled 1939 Oblężenie Warszawy (The 1939 Siege of Warsaw), won the “Golden Resistor” award of the 14th “Defiant, Unvanquished, Enduring” Film Festival, which closed in the northern city of Gdynia on Saturday.
The production, directed by Eugeniusz Starky, tells the story of Julien Bryan, an American photojournalist and filmmaker who made the world aware of Poland’s suffering at the hands of German forces in the early days of World War II, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
Meanwhile, The Mauritanian, an American-British drama directed by Kevin Macdonald, was announced the best international feature film, and a Ukrainian production entitled Plai was named as the winner in the international documentary category.
Plai, directed by Eva Dzhyshyashvili, tells the story of a family living in the shadow of Russia's war in Ukraine, according to festival organizers.
In another honour, publisher and film producer Mirosław Chojecki, a former anti-communist dissident, collected the "Platinum Resistor" lifetime achievement award during the closing night, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
More than 100 documentaries and feature films from various countries were screened during this year's festival, which celebrates Poland’s postwar anti-communist resistance heroes and its struggle for freedom from 1939 to 1989.
The annual event also included exhibitions, panel discussions, book launches and meetings with eyewitnesses of historical events.
Polish Radio was a media partner of the festival.
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Source: IAR, PAP