One of Zakopane's most illustrious former residents, Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz, aka Witkacy, is set to arrive on the silver screen. The multi-talented artist, whose lurid portraits foreshadowed the psychedelic era, and whose "Theatre of the Absurd" preceded Samuel Beckett by a generation, committed suicide in 1939 amidst the double invasion by Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. Or so the official story goes. Director Jacek Koprowicz is not so sure. His film will explore the great what-if of whether Witkacy cheated death. He points to several cryptic clues, such as posthumous postcards and disappearing dentures.
2009 marks the 60th anniversary of Witkacy's death, and there will be major tributes to the artist, both in Poland and abroad. Organisers of the "Polish season in the UK" plan to feature Witkacy as one of the main draws of the programme.
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