In 1939 Janusz Klarner reaches the Nanda Devi East peak in the Himalayas. Everything that happened later seems to have been a consequence of this act. Breaking of taboos cannot be forgotten in a country that is being reborn in the new communist order.

The Disappearance of Janusz Klarner

In 1978 Włodzimierz Puchalski sets off for Antarctica to fulfil his dream. The structural axis of the film is Puchalski's sea voyage to Antarctica, which was aborted by his death on 19 January 1979 on King George Island. It is interwoven with Puchalski's relationship with his daughter.