France honours film director Krzysztof Zanussi

Krzysztof Zanussi (R) with French Ambassador Pierre Buhler: photo - PAP/Rafal Guz

Ambassador to Poland Pierre Buhler decorated Zanussi at the French Embassy in Warsaw, on what was the 31st anniversary of the introduction of martial law by Poland's then communist authorities.

Zanussi was a leading proponent of the so-called “Cinema of Moral Anxiety” of the seventies and early eighties that probed the chinks in Poland's communist reality.

He spent the martial law period (December 1981 – July 2003) in France.

“In Krzysztof Zanussi's films, the individual's dreams of freedom are confronted with the problems of everyday life, which gives them their universal character,” Buhler reflected, as cited by the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

“As a creator you have always rejected the temptation to make cinema for a mass audience and popular culture,” he added.

“Today, France pays tribute to your work, which is our common heritage.”

Zanussi spoke warmly yesterday about his time in France, when he was awarded with a lower rank of the Order of Arts and Letters.

“I chose France because I knew that it was the only country in Europe that has a place for exiled artists,” he said.

“French society has great tolerance and understanding for them, hence my sincere gratitude,” he said. (nh)