Leave No Traces

In the communist police state of Poland in the 1980s, the young poet Grzegorz Przemyk, who is celebrating passing his school-leaving exams with his friend Jurek Popiel, is arrested on the street in Warsaw for no reason. They are ordered to show their identity cards, but Grzegorz refuses to obey martial law. Because of his resistance, he is brutally beaten up by the police. It remains unclear who dealt him the final, fatal blow. The only eyewitness is Jurek Popiel, who decides to fight for justice and bring the police to justice. The state apparatus, including the Ministry of the Interior, initially underestimates the extent of the incident. At the funeral, however, an impressive demonstration of solidarity by 20,000 people in Warsaw shows the broad support - and the BBC reports on the true background to the crime throughout Europe. The authorities then decide to use all available means against the witness and against Grzegorz's mother, the opposition poet Barbara Sadowska, in order to intimidate her and prevent Jurek from testifying in court.—Arte