This sequel to Man of Marble––in a newly restored print that contains previously censored material––was inspired by the real-life political events taking place almost simultaneously at the Lenin Shipyards in Gdansk. Birkut, the central figure of the earlier film, has been killed in a strike action, but the young filmmaker is there as both witness and catalyst to the history-making scenes. Wajda interweaves contemporary newsreel footage—including speeches by a young Lech Walesa and images of the heroism of Anna Welentynowycz, the worker whose dismissal sparked the birth of the Solidarity movement—through a narrative that concerns the efforts of a radio reporter to frame Birkut’s son. The resulting film represents a potent blending of fiction and reality, art and life, and earned Wajda the top prize at Cannes.