Lava: A Tale of Adam Mickiewicz’s ‘Forefathers’ Eve’

Directed by Tadeusz Konwicki, Lava is the first film adaptation of Adam Mickiewicz’s Forefathers’ Eve (Dziady), a successful attempt to do something that seems to verge on the impossible – to film the foremost Polish drama. Acclaimed writer and director Tadeusz Konwicki touched upon the subject of Forefathers’ Eve in his previous films: All Souls' Day and How Far Away, How Near. He often explored themes of death, communication with the dead, and the intersection of the past and present in his autobiographical film essays. It’s no wonder that at the end of his directorial career, Konwicki decided to take on Forefathers’ Eve. In Lava, he mined Mickiewicz’s work for elements that allowed him to set it in a wider historic context, and succeeded in doing so by weaving in archival footage recorded during World War II and footage of present-day Warsaw.

Lava is one of Konwicki’s most interesting films. Owing to Piotr Sobociński’s camerawork, good acting and the unexpected use of archival material, the film still feels fresh and remains an excellent example of a film adaptation of a work that seems unfilmable.
Tomasz Kolankiewicz

This screening will be presented together with The Art of Disappearing by Bartosz Konopka and Piotr Rosołowski.

• Director — Tadeusz Konwicki
• Writer — Tadeusz Konwicki based on Adam Mickiewicz’s Forefathers’ Eve
• Genre — drama
• Production — Poland
• Year of production — 1989