Winner of the 1981 Cannes Palme d'or, Man of Iron is one of the finest examples of committed, activist filmmaking, inspirational not only for its immediate subject-the rise of Poland's Solidarity movement, complete with an appearance by Lech Walesa-but for its dissection of issues facing citizens of any country: how to live, how to create, and how to rebel in the face of oppression. In a loose sequel to Man of Marble, Wajda follows an alcoholic reporter-once a rebel, now an uncomfortable cog in the system-as he's browbeaten into digging up dirt on the leader of a shipyard workers' movement. What he discovers instead is the history of a man, and a movement, ready to emerge into power. Made during a brief thaw in Poland's totalitarian regime, Man of Iron benefits from Wajda's seamless integration of a fictional narrative with events as they were actually happening; like Solidarity itself, it was banned during the subsequent government crackdown.