Anna, a young and beautiful woman, takes lonely walks along the beach, when one day she attracts the attention of Jan, a film director.

September 13, 1944. On the right bank of the Vistula, a group of young people is getting ready to cross to help the fighting Warsaw. Tadeusz, a young poet with amputated legs meets Katarzyna. Two officers of the Home Army and the AL, Polish and Soviet soldiers come here. A fight ensues with the Nazis trying to get out of the encirclement. Katarzyna is raped by one of them in front of the powerless Tadeusz. . . Two boats are sinking crossing the Vistula. Tadeusz falls into the river with a wheelchair ...

University student Anna and her boyfriend Tomek use a precious photograph to trace and unveil the complex wartime and post-war past of their parents.