About the film

The agreement reached at the Round Table between the democratic opposition and the communist authorities led to the legalising of Solidarity movement and holding the first free general election since World War II. It turned out to have been the commencement of political, economic and social shifts no one had been able to foresee. The situation forced the former opposition to take charge of rebuilding the economically devastated state which inevitably led to loosing public support. The year 1989 was a thrilling time, a time when the Poles confronted a new and unknown reality. The “1989” documentary is an author’s look on the transition triggered by the Round Table. Michał Bielawski’s film portrays the morale of the people in that period with the use of both official and underground archival footage, photographs and eyewitness accounts.