“Runners” by Lukasz Borowski, US Premiere

The Margaret Mead Film Festival, the longest-running premiere showcase for international documentaries in the United States, is held at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. This year’s festival reflects stories of resilience–portraits of strength and action by people who are rising up, breaking new ground, and pushing their communities forward. The festival honors the legacy of Margaret Mead, whose groundbreaking approach to anthropology revealed how our histories, values, and viewpoints inevitably frame our encounters with other cultures and communities. As always, the Mead will feature intimate conversations with filmmakers and film subjects, as well as the presentation of the annual Margaret Mead Filmmaker Award.

“Runners” by Lukasz Borowski, a nearly 150 mile race brings out extremes of human experience, from pain to joy and everything in between. Follow three long-distance runners as they conquer one of Poland’s most gruesome ultramarathons: a 52-hour race through rocky, wooded terrain, climbing and descending through a treacherous and equally breathtakingly beautiful mountainous region. As the runners break down physically and emotionally, they discover what drove them to commit to this race and what motivates them to continue.

Lukasz Borowski is a director and screenwriter. Born in Lodz, he graduated from the Faculty of Law and Administration and the Lodz Film School, as well as the Wajda School’s DOK PRO Documentary Program in Warsaw. His first short documentary, Three Days of Freedom, has won over a dozen awards at film festivals in Poland and abroad. The documentary Runners is his first full-length film.