POLISH FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

BIAŁA ODWAGA

2024 / 116 min / color

Late 1930s in the Podhale region of Poland. Jędrek Zawrat, a descendant of a prominent highlander family, is a talented mountaineer and likes living on the edge. When he climbs, he chooses the most difficult routes. When he loves, he’s ready to sacrifice everything. The woman he’s chosen is the beautiful Bronka, but a family decision gives her hand to his older brother. Proud Jedrek abandons his hometown and seeks oblivion amongst the bohemians of Krakow. On his way there, he meets a German scientist and mountaineer named Wolfram who puts forth the theory that highlanders are descended from an ancient Germanic tribe. When war breaks out, the Germans offer the people of Podhale an opportunity to cooperate. Maciej Zawrat, supported by many prominent families, rejects the offer. Jedrek, on the other hand, hoping to win back his beloved and save his community from wartime destruction, agrees to collaborate. Caught up in a tangled history and in love with the same woman, the two brothers end up on opposite sides of a dispute that will determine not just their own fates, but the future of the entire region. By choosing to tell this story, Marcin Koszałka breaks a long-standing taboo around the difficult subject of Goralenvolk. The protests that flared up in Poland long before the film’s release are a testament to how historically sensitive this issue is.