Henryk Szaro’s A Strong Man, lost during World War II and found in a Belgian film archive in 1997, is regarded as the peak achievement of pre-war Polish cinema. It is also one of the last films of the silent era.

 

This psychological drama, adapted from Stanisław Przybyszewski’s 1912 novel of the same title, shows subsequent stages of moral decay on the example of a journalist overcome with lust for fame and money. In order to achieve his goal, the protagonist will stop at nothing.

 

The film will be accompanied by two talented artists: pianist Piotr Orzechowski and saxophonist Kuba Więcek. While both musicians have often performed together, this will be their first silent film score.

ABOUT THE FILM

  

A Strong Man (Mocny człowiek), Poland 1929, dir. by Henryk Szaro, 78 mins

Starring: Gregori (Grzegorz) Chmara, Agnes Kuck, Julian Krzewiński, Maria Majdrowicz, Artur Socha, Stanisława Wysocka, Bolesław Mierzejewski, Janina Romanówna, Aleksander Zelwerowicz, et al. 

 

The protagonist, Henryk Bielecki (Gregori Chmara), is a modest journalist who dreams about fame and big money. In a bid to finally achieve success, he steals the manuscript of A Strong Man from his friend, the writer Jerzy Górski (Artur Socha), in order to publish it under his own name. Henryk will stop at nothing to achieve his goal. Regarded as an extremely talented writer, he soon gains fame and publicity, becoming a popular socialite. Only an affair with Nina Ligęza (Maria Majdrowicz) and love eventually lead him towards an internal transformation. 

 

 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

 

PIOTR ORZECHOWSKI (PIANOHOOLIGAN) is a pianist, composer, and frontman, one of the most interesting and acclaimed jazz artists of the young generation. He graduated from the Music Academy in Krakow and the prestigious Berklee College of Music. Orzechowski received numerous awards, mentions of honour and artistic scholarships, most notably the 1st Prize of the Montreux Jazz Solo Piano Competition (2011). He released a number of albums, including Experiment: Penderecki (Decca/Universal, 2012), Hopasa, recorded with his own band High Definition Quartet (EmArcy/Universal, 2013), 15 Studies for the Oberek (Decca/Universal, 2014), and 24 Preludes & Improvisations (Decca/Universal, 2017). He worked with Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Avishai Cohen, Randy Brecker, Victor Mendoza, Adam Bałdych, Vladislav “Adzik” Sendecki, Krzysztof Knittel, Paweł Mykietyn, Agata Zubel, and Marcin Masecki (Bach Rewrite, Decca/Universal, 2013), among others.

 

KUBA WIĘCEK is an alto and soprano saxophonist and composer. In spite of his young age (b. 1994), he is already one of the most recognizable jazz musicians in Poland. He studied in Amsterdam and at the prestigious Rytmisk Musikkonservatorium in Copenhagen. Więcek honed his jazz skills under the supervision of such jazz giants as Lee Konitz, Steve Lehman and David Binney. He played in Asia, North America and Europe, and worked with Mike Stern, Ralph Alessi and Gilad Hekselman. As his inspirations, the artist lists various types of jazz, 20th century classics, Brian Eno, Tom Waits, Bon Iver and Kanye West as well as electronic music and hip-hop. In 2017, he released his debut album Another Raindrop (Polish Jazz series, vol. 78), which brought him two important awards in the following year: the Fryderyk award (Debut of the Year) and Polish Radio 3’s Mateusz Award in the Jazz Debut category. He plays in a trio with Michał Barański on bass and Łukasz Żyta on percussion, and in a duo with Piotr Orzechowski.