Lviv epic selected for Oscars

A World War II drama based on a true events that occurred in Lviv has been selected as Poland's candidate for the upcoming Oscars.

In Darkness is the work of acclaimed director Agnieszka Holland, known for such movies as Europa, Europa, Washington Square and The Secret Garden.

The film follows the exploits of Polish petty criminal Leopold Socha, who stumbles across a group of Jews hiding from the Nazis in the city's sewers.

He agrees to help them first for material benefit but later his conscience wins through, and he takes moral responsibility for saving the group.

Nevertheless, the odds are stacked against him, and the death penalty awaits those who help Jews.

As it is, the eagerly anticipated film is not the director's first foray into the subject of the Holocaust.

This theme continues to be a big artistic challenge as there are many questions that still remain unanswered, Holland said in an interview with Poland's PAP news agency.

For me, if only for personal reasons, Polish-Jewish relations are particularly important, she added.

Almost all members of my fathers family perished in the Warsaw Ghetto, whereas my mother, then a young girl, saved two escapees from the Ghetto with her friends, and was later given the Righteous among Nations medal.

Robert Wieckiewicz, who was recently tipped to play Lech Walesa in Andrzej Wajda's forthcoming biopic, takes the role of Socha.

The movie was shot in Germany and Poland. The release date has yet to be finalised.