On August 13, 1980 Lech Wałęsa was still an unknown electrician. Seventeen days later he was the leader of an anti-communist movement, which soon swelled to include 10 million people. Over the course of 17 days, he had become world-famous, a living legend. As long as Wałęsa was just a union representative and icon of the August strikes, he was forgiven his lack of education, churlish vocabulary, and plebeian image. However, the moment he became president all his vices and weaknesses increasingly began to irritate people. This image of a country bumpkin still follows him today and prevents us from seeing his political greatness.Like most people in Polish society, Lech Wałęsa grew up in a village. However, unlike most people, he has never been ashamed of his roots. On the contrary he has underscored his upbringing and drawn his strength from it. He has forged ahead like a tank, guided by his common sense and heedless of adversity. He has always put aside his complexes and any fears of embarrassing himself. Thanks to that he has been successful, but he has paid a high price, i.e. the unending criticism of him as a person.The concept for the film Wałęsa by Wałęsa is that Lech Wałęsa makes a film about himself. During a long interview he tells the director which elements should be included in a film about Wałęsa: things for which he should be praised, things that should not be discussed, and, to ensure the film is not a puff-piece, things for which he criticizes himself. The director will follow these recommendations “faithfully” and thus the film Wałęsa by Wałęsa will arise, at least that is the impression audiences will have. However, the director, while following Wałęsa’s recommendations, will present his own disquisition that will show Wałęsa as a visionary and hero, while at the same time calling attention to his cunning, craftiness, megalomania, his penchant for both democracy and dictatorship, his intolerance, and his immense good fortune.