Afterimage

Afterimage (original title Powidoki) is Andrzej Wajda's final film, based on the real life of avant garde painter Władysław Strzemiński (1893-1952). Strzemiński was severely wounded in World War I, losing an arm and a leg, and in 1950 was expelled from his academic post on charges of "formalism" for not conforming to Socialist Realist doctrine, losing his livelihood and dying of tuberculosis. The film had its world premiere in the Masters section of the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2016. Wajda died at age 90 on October 9, 2016, about a month after the premiere. The film was selected as Poland's official Oscar submission at the 89th Academy Awards but didn't make the final shortlist, and holds an 86 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes. Who it's for: anyone curious about a director's final film, based on the real story of a communist regime expelling an artist from his academic post and driving him to starvation. Who it's not for: viewers wanting a happy, hopeful artist biography, since the film directly depicts how a regime destroyed a person.