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GODSPEED, LOS POLACOS! THURSDAY

  • South Shore Arts 1040 Ridge Road Munster, IN, 46321 United States (map)

Film Screening and Q & A 

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 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 crosshairs after they leverage their newfound fame to fight for democracy in the Eastern Bloc.

Earlier Event: July 16
47th Annual Griffith Park Full of Art
Later Event: July 22
South Shore Summer Music Festival