Walesa to return to Congress for film screening

Lech Walesa. Photo: wikipedia

The event, which is scheduled to take place on 4 December, echoes his historic address to Congress on 15 November 1989, amid the collapse of the Iron Curtain.

The screening is being co-organised by the Polish Embassy in Washington and a group of US senators.

“I will have the honour of welcoming Walesa back to Capitol Hill,” enthused Democrat senator Barabara Mikulski.

The senator also recalled the very beginnings of the Solidarity movement in August 1980 with the workers' strike at the Gdansk shipyard.

“When Lech Walesa leapt over the wall at the Gdansk shipyard, he took the whole world with him,” she said.

“Solidarity brought hope and democracy to Poland, and was an inspiration to many people around the world.”

Andrzej Wajda's film ends with footage of Walesa making his November 1989 speech to Congress.

“When I recall the road we have travelled I often think of that jump over the fence,” Walesa told Congress.

“Now others jump fences and tear down walls. They do it because freedom is a human right.”

Robert Wieckiewicz, who played the title role in Wajda's Walesa: Man of Hope, will also attend the screening.

The film is Poland's official candidate for the Best Foreign Language Film at the next March's Oscars. America's Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is due to announce the nominations on 16 January. (nh)

Source: IAR