
During the Cold War, Poland’s youth looked for any way to break away from the monotony of life under Communist rule. In the City of Krakow, a group of university students formed a kayaking club as a tool to explore their local rivers and avoid participation in Communist parades and rallies. After experiencing the thrill of Poland’s one and only class III rapid, club members Zbigniew Bzdak, Andrzej Pietowski, Jurek Majcherczyk, and Piotr Chmielinski (who would go on to be the first person to paddle the Amazon river source to sea) set their sights on the impossible – leaving the Eastern Bloc to paddle whitewater.
Godspeed, Los Polacos! tells the story of five kayakers on the edge of adulthood who skillfully pull the strings of the Soviet system, and find themselves on an expedition in the Americas with a six-wheeled military truck, homemade equipment, and little to no whitewater skills. The story follows their epic two-year journey that culminates in the record-breaking first descent of the world’s deepest canyon, and finds the kayakers in Soviet cross-hairs after they leverage their newfound fame to fight for democracy in the Eastern Bloc.
Join The Explorers Club on Wednesday, October 19th for a live screening of the riveting exploration film “Godspeed, Los Polacos!”. Following the film, there will be a conversation with Expedition Members and Club Fellows Andrzej Pietowski and Piotr Chmielinski alongside Director Adam Nawrot and Producer Sonia Szczesna.
Check-in will begin at 6:00 pm, with a beer, wine, and cheese reception from 6:00 – 7:00 pm.
This will only be an in-person screening at Explorers Club Headquarters, there will be no live stream of this event.