Pilot Pirx’s Inquest

A rarely screened adaptation of a story by the great Polish science fiction author, Stanislaw Lem, Pilot Pirx’s Inquest follows his most famous character, the everyman of the space age turned heroic space pilot. Here he is sent on a mission to Saturn to evaluate ‘nonlinears’, androids which are supposedly indistinguishable from humans. He knows one of the crew members is a robot, but he doesn’t know which one, leading to a dangerous game with his secret opponent. Presented in collaboration with the Polish Cultural Institute to celebrate Stanislaw Lem’s centenary.

‘I took advantage of the fact that Lem said after “The Investigation” [a previous screenplay] that he could entrust me with his other works. It was he who suggested that I consider Pirx. I liked the idea, I only had the problem of which story to choose, adapting most of them would present enormous logistical difficulties. Wajda tried to make “Return from the Stars”, but it was beyond the capabilities of our cinematography at the time. I decided on “The Trial”, started writing the script, and went to Krakow to consult with Lem… I was successful with Pirx because of Messrs. Ścibor-Rylski, Konwicki and Karwański from the Pryzmat Film Studio.’

Director Marek Piestrak from an interview on kultura.onet.pl