WHEN: Thursday, April 14, 2011 7:00pm – 9:00pm
WHERE: South Dining Room, 2nd floor, Hart House, 7 Hart House Circle, Toronto, ON
*SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER: Former MP Jesse Flis*
Jesse Flis is an extraordinarily active member of the Polish-Canadian community and directly participated in the events documented by the film.
Ten Hungry Men – the true story of ten hunger strikers who, on Canadian soil, played a small, yet significant role in the eventual collapse of the Soviet and communist regimes.
The 60 minute documentary is a collaborative effort between Producer Myra Dziama and Director/DOP Richard Pawlowski, Ten Hungry Men follows ten complete strangers who are united by a common cause — to protest the repression their families in Poland faced under Martial Law — as they endure a hunger strike in front of the Polish Consulate in Toronto. Despite many attempts at exit visas for their wives and children, they were declined the basic right that free and democratic people around the world take for granted: the right to live with their families in a country of their choice.
Now, more than two decades later, Ten Hungry Men combines archival footage from the 1983 event with present-day interviews to remind us of the human willpower, determination and courage behind the diverse multicultural history of our country and the passion for freedom that makes us all proud to be Canadian. Seven of the original ten hungry men appear in the production along with community leaders and former politicians, Jesse Flis, Yuri Shymko and Chris Korwin-Kuczynski.
Ten Hungry Men also features a rare interview with the founder of the Solidarity movement in Poland, Lech Walesa, who spoke with the producers while they were filming on-location in Poland.
Their fight was not only for the freedom of their families but also, symbolically, for the freedom of all who face repression and human rights violations.
