“White Courage” is a story of stormy love and brotherly dispute set during World War II. Here we follow the fate of two highlander families. The war history of Podhale is full of individual dramas, emotions, sacrifices, but also betrayal that brings shame to subsequent generations. The creators put on the line: love for a woman, blood ties and loyalty to tradition, community and homeland.
“White Courage” – watch the trailer
The cast of the film “White Courage” included, among others: Filip Pławiak, Sandra Drzymalska, Jakub Gierszał, Julian Świeżewski, Adam Woronowicz and Wiktoria Gorodecka. The director and cinematographer is Marcin Koszałka, twice nominated for Polityka’s Passports. The cinema premiere of the film costing PLN 16 million (which is a huge budget for Polish conditions) is scheduled for March 8 this year.
The director and cinematographer division is the so-called people of the mountains: director, co-writer of the script and cinematographer Marcin Koszałka is a mountain climber and alpinist, author of mountain cinematography Marcin Polar is a cavers, while Andrzej Marcisz, alpinist, second director and co-author of cinematography for mountain sequences and climbing.
– Thanks to their resilience, Polish highlanders survived various turmoil and difficulties. This is one of the toughest communities in Europe. They are strong, proud and can endure a lot. For centuries they have resisted extreme poverty and the plagues of deadly famine. For centuries, they have been subjected to military powers capable of crushing their culture and oblivion. For centuries, subsequent rulers have tried to use the beauty of highlander folklore for their own purposes. Poles saw them as ideal Catholic patriots. The Nazis saw them as a long-lost German tribe. The highlanders resisted every ideological colonization. I think that few people ask themselves at what cost – both as individuals and as a community – they were able to save their independence. They undoubtedly paid a great price for it – this is what Koszałka says about the heroes of his film.
What is the movie “White Courage” about?
The end of the 1930s in Podhale. A talented mountaineer, a descendant of an outstanding highlander family, Jędrek Zawrat likes life on the edge. When he climbs, he chooses the most difficult paths, when he loves, he is ready to sacrifice everything. His chosen one is the beautiful Bronka, but as a result of a family decision, the girl’s hand is given to the older of the Zawrat brothers, the staid and serious Maciek.
Proud Jędrek leaves his hometown to seek oblivion among the Krakow bohemia. On his way, he meets a German scientist and mountaineer Wolfram, who propounds a theory that the Highlanders come from the ancient Germanic tribe of the Pragoths. When war breaks out, the Germans offer cooperation to the inhabitants of Podhale. Maciej Zawrat, supported by many prominent families, strongly rejects this proposal. However, convinced by Wolfram, Jędrek, hoping to regain his beloved and save his community from the destruction of war, cooperates. Jędrek and Maciej, entangled in history, forced to make the most difficult choices, loving the same woman, will stand on opposite sides of a dispute that will decide not only their personal fate, but the future of the entire region.
Ziobro talks about a “leftist provocation”, the Institute of National Remembrance distances himself
Even at the stage of work on the film, “White Courage” was controversial. Former Minister of Justice Zbigniew Ziobro, in an interview for right-wing media, called the production a “leftist provocation.” In March 2021, Solidarna Polska MPs demanded in the Sejm that Prime Minister Piotr Gliński present information about the Koszałka film. Then Gliński commented on Twitter: “I would like to inform you that the film about highlanders, about which the Minister talks so extensively, has not yet been created, it is at the script stage, it has been consulted with the Institute of National Remembrance and it also talks about Tatra couriers.”
However, in the first half of December last year, the Institute of National Remembrance distanced itself from the film, emphasizing in a statement that the Institute of National Remembrance “was in no way involved in the creation process” of the production. “No employee of the Institute of National Remembrance is an official historical consultant of the film. Although, at the request of the creators of the film, an employee of the Branch of the Institute of National Remembrance in Krakow – an expert in the field of 20th-century history of Podhale, including the issue of Goralenvolk – critically assessed several preliminary versions of the script, pointing out many errors regarding historical context, but the Institute of National Remembrance has no influence on whether the filmmakers took these comments into account,” one can read in a statement signed then by the spokesman of the Institute of National Remembrance, Dr. Rafał Leśkiewicz.
What is goralenvolk?
The German campaign to create a separatist movement among the highlanders in Podhale, carried out in the years 1939-1944, consisted in an attempt to isolate the so-called highlander (Podhale) nationality as allegedly non-Polish. Goralenvolk was supposed to be one of the ways to destroy the national unity of Poles. The direct organizers of the action, carried out on behalf of the German authorities, were two residents of Zakopane: Reichsdeutsch Witalis Wieder and Volksdeutsch Henryk Szatkowski.
A group of activists from the pre-war Highlanders’ Association also cooperated with the Germans and joined the Highlanders’ Committee in 1942. The so-called teaching was introduced highlander language (not Polish) in two schools in Zakopane, highlander “nationality” was distinguished during the census, special identity cards were issued (so-called highlander kenkartas), and an attempt was made to create a “highlander legion” (with SS units). A small number of people were persuaded to cooperate. In total, 18 percent received highlander ID cards. entitled.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
