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I still get very excited when Poland makes it into the news, especially when it is the New York Times Arts section. Located in general proximity to Russia and its ballet, Italy and its renaissance-era treasures, and France and its fashion week, people often forget that Poland, as well as other smaller European countries, celebrate the arts, too. However, even the smallest mention of my home country brings me joy, because it shows that people are still being reminded of Poland’s great art and rich history.

This fall, a famous Polish director, Andrzej Wajda, released his latest film, Walesa: Man of Hope. The film follows the story of the leader of Poland’s solidarity movement, Lech Walesa, and the work he did to bring the country out of the grips of communism. Wajda also depicts other moments of glory in Poland’s history, such as Karol Wojtila’s return to Poland as Pope John Paul II in 1979 and Walesa’s Nobel Peace Prize in 1983.

The film’s leading actor, Robert Wieckiewicz, comments that in Polish history “there are very few moments that one can really be proud of.” He also adds that Wajda as a director hopes his film “reminds the world that this huge revolution” — the toppling of communism throughout the Soviet bloc — “started in Poland, that Poland was first, before the fall of the Berlin Wall.”

However, this is not an original storyline; rather, Poles retell the story of communism and how they broke free all of the time. Interrogation is a 1982 film directed by Ryszard Bugajski with such anticommunist themes, it was banned by the country’s communist regime until 1989. Regardless, the film was passed around in illegal VHS form throughout the 1980s, garnering a huge fanbase and promoting anticommunism. Finally, in 1990, it was entered into the 1990 Cannes Film Festival, where its leading actress, Krystyna Janda, won Best Actress.

All this makes me wonder if Poland is living in the past and retelling the same stories, rather than cherishing its history. Perhaps if we let go of our story of escape and focused on having freedom at last, we would produce more revolutionary art. Maybe we’d be in the New York Times more often.