CANOANDES

GODSPEED, LOS POLACOS!

PRESS KIT FILM OVERVIEW

TITLE Godspeed, Los Polacos!

TIME 88 Minutes

LANGUAGE English

LOGLINE Five university students risk it all to fight for democracy in the Eastern Bloc after claiming the first descent of the world’s deepest canyon. SYNOPSIS

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, Piotr Chmielinski (who would go on to be the first person to paddle the source to sea), and Jurek Majcherczyk set their sights on the impossible - leaving the Eastern Bloc to paddle whitewater.

Godspeed, Los Polacos! tells the story of five university students on the edge of adulthood who skillfully pull the strings of the Soviet system, and find themselves on a kayaking 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 new found fame to fight for democracy in the Eastern Bloc. DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

The film is set 40 years in the past, but it could not be more timely. Godspeed, Los Polacos! resonates in the current political climate, and seeks to offer some perspective on the fight for justice in the world. It hopes to remind us that even though the journey is tiring and seemingly never-ending, it does not last forever; and that maybe like the Canoandes, we may even look back on this time with nostalgia, and call it the best adventure of our lives. TEAM BIO

Director Adam Nawrot and producer Sonia Szczesna are first generation Polish-American filmmakers interested in the greater political circumstances surrounding their parents’ immigration to the United States. Their debut film Godspeed, Los Polacos! explores the rise and fall of communism in the Eastern Bloc, and bridges the gap between adventure, history, and activism. THE EXPEDITION FIRST DESCENTS

MEXICO Amacuzac River, 1979 Balsas River, 1979 Mixtexo River, 1979 Pescados River, 1979 Atoyac River, 1980 Moctezuma River, 1979 Santa Maria River, 1979 Rio Grande de Santiago, 1979

USA Marble Canyon, 1979 Wind River, 1979

GUATEMALA Aguacapa River, 1980

NICARAGUA Rio Grand de Matagalpa, 1980

COSTA RICA Reventazon River, 1980 Pacuare River, 1980

PANAMA Santa Maria River, 1980 Chirigui River, 1980

ECUADOR Napo River, 1980 , 1980

PERU Maranon River, 1981 PROMO IMAGES Colca River, 1981 Apurimac River, 1981 https://tinyurl.com/godspeedlospolacos Vilcanota River, 1981

ARGENTINA Gallegos, 1981 CONTACT US

SOURLAND STUDIOS [email protected] 732 837 8220 848 391 5214

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