Much like the man it honors, Andrzej Wajda's "Korczak" maintains a steely surface tranquility in the face of unspeakable events. - Vincent Canby, the New York Times, 1991. Hailed by Steven Spielberg as "one of the most important European pictures about the Holocaust", Korczak by Andrzej Wajda is being released on a DVD and Blu-ray in the United States. 2012 marks theYear of Janusz Korczak (Henryk Goldszmit, 1878-1942), the Polish-Jewish physician, pedagogue and childrens rights activist; author of classic children's novels and journalist, who perished in Treblinka together with a group of 200 of his orphaned wards and staff. In 1990, Wajda directed a compelling black and white film about Korczak's life, based on a screenplay by Agnieszka Holland, with riveting performance by Wojciech Pszoniak and the unforgettable cinematography of Robby Muller. As the head of ghettos orphanage, despite the surrounding horror, Korczak coaches, educates and prepares his students for life with tireless commitment, sense of mission and an unshakable spirit, fighting for their well-being in the face of ever more hopeless circumstances. Betty Jean Lifton, author of The King of Children: A Biography of Janusz Korczak, wrote in the NY Times: Korczak - who created Children's Republics for Polish as well as Jewish orphans - hoped that his life and work would be a bridge between the Poles and Jews, a fragile dream shared by generations of assimilated Jews before Germany invaded Poland in 1939. Now we have a renowned Polish director's attempt to show Korczak's struggle to maintain his human values in that inhuman time, a struggle that ended with his proudly defiant march with the children to the train that would take them to Treblinka. Korczak Poland / Germany 1990 Written by Agnieszka Holland Directed by Andrzej Wajda Cinematography by Robby Muller Music by Wojciech Kilar Production Design by Allan Starski Produced by Kadr Film Studio Cast: Wojciech Pszoniak (Janusz Korczak), Ewa Dalkowska (Stefa Wilczynska), Teresa Budzisz-Krzyzanowska (Maria Falska), Marzena Trybala (Esterka), Piotr Kozlowski, Zbigniew Zamachowski, Aleksander Bardini.
