EVENINGS WITH WAJDA by GQ Poland

Evenings with Wajda by GQ Poland is a signature series of open-air film screenings devoted to the work of Andrzej Wajda — one of the most important directors in Polish cinema, and a filmmaker whose work spoke in a uniquely compelling way about freedom, emotions, identity, and human relationships. As part of GQ Poland’s summer program at Centrum Praskie Koneser, we return to films that not only defined Polish visual culture but also shaped how we think about contemporary sensibility, lifestyle, and relationships.
This is intelligent, emotional, and timeless cinema — stories of ambition, longing, love, choices, and change. Themes that remain relevant regardless of the era.
The program includes films particularly resonant for GQ’s contemporary audience: Innocent Sorcerers, Everything for Sale, The Maids of Wilko, and Hunting Flies.

HUNTING FLIES

Feature film
Directed by: Andrzej Wajda
Poland 1969

Age rating: adults only

Włodek (Z. Malanowicz) feels overwhelmed by his wife and mother-in-law, who rule the household. He is expected to take the initiative in getting an apartment, raising the family’s standard of living, and looking after the child. His father-in-law has retreated into the role of observer. Włodek escapes from home into the arms of a Polish studies student he has met by chance. He does not expect the young woman to have a very specific plan for him. Irena (M. Braunek), through the right connections and motivation, wants to awaken in him the ambitions of a Russian-language translator. As it turns out, the would-be Russianist has no desire to pursue any career whatsoever. The film, directed by Andrzej Wajda from a short story by Janusz Głowacki, was interpreted — in line with the creators’ own suggestions — as an expression of the crisis following the breakdown of their personal relationships with women. The distorting mirror of satire revealed in grotesque form both women who treat men instrumentally on the path to their own careers, and men incapable of being partners capable of impressing them. The part in “Hunting Flies” was Małgorzata Braunek’s first major role. Her image in praying-mantis sunglasses and a wide smile became iconic. Hanna Skarżanka and Ewa Skarżanka played the mother-in-law and the wife of the main character. In the party sequence at Nieporęt, well-known cultural figures appear: Marek Grechuta, Jacek Fedorowicz, and Krzysztof Krawczyk fronting the band Trubadurzy. Alongside “Roly Poly” (1968) and “The Revenge” (2002), this film is a rare example of comedy in Wajda’s body of work — in this case, a satire of contemporary mores.

Plac Konesera
21 August 2026
Free admission