Set in Poland in 1983 and based on actual events, Leave No Traces concerns the case of Grzegorz Przemyk, a high school student beaten to death by authorities in a Warsaw police station. In order to prevent news of this incident from reaching the public, the government moves quickly to cover it up. Consequently, Jurek, a close friend of Grzegorz and the only eyewitness to the beating becomes the number one enemy of the state. Soon the regime invokes its entire power and security apparatus—the secret service, militia, the media, and the courts—to intimidate into silence Jurek and others close to the case, including his parents and Grzegorz’s mother. Jurek must fight to preserve the truth, but the odds are stacked against him. Matuszyński’s powerful film debuted in competition at the 2021 Venice Film Festival.