Film&theatre

FILM

An open-air screening at the Market Square in Wrocław during the Era New Horizons festival.

The Polish Film School, or Polska Szkoła Filmowa, is a somewhat nostalgic term for the time when Polish cinema mattered most, both nationally and internationally

“One thing is certain, never before and never again was so much great talent revealed, so many great pictures made and cinema reached such an important position in culture, and was received by the public with so much passion engagement”, wrote the film critic Alicja Helman about the period between 1956 and 1961.

The phenomenon was created mostly by alumni of the Łódź film school who took advantage of a relatively relaxed political atmosphere in the country in 1956 and decided to talk about things that had been hitherto taboo in the communist country. The recent experience of Second World War and of stalinism, depicted frankly, beyond both communist and nationalist-conservative stereotypes, became subject for debut films by now classic directors such as Andrzej Wajda, Stanisław Różewicz and Andrzej Munk. Wajda’s Kanał, awarded the Special Jury Prize in Cannes in 1957, is a benchmark of the Polish Film School with its bitter portrayal of young people who have lost everything in the Warsaw uprising and are making their way through the city’s underground canals to escape from a besieged neighbourhood. Andrzej Munk chose a more ironic approach in his Bad Luck (Zezowate szczęście), a story of a Zelig-like figure who gets into all sorts of trouble throughout Poland’s tumultuous history.

The Polish Film School often looked into literary classics for inspiration, adapting famous Polish novels and novellas, and commissioned leading Polish novelists and playwrights to write scripts. Cinematography, often black and white was another strength of The PFS, which was allowed for not just by talent of cinematographers but also by the slow pace of production. The class of ’56 was just a beginning. More and more alumni of the Łódź school followed suit: Roman Polański, who shot only one film in Poland, Knife in the Water, before making Repulsion and Cul-de-sac in England, and Wojciech Jerzy Has, who still mesmerizes film lovers around the world with his cult classics: The Saragossa Manuscript and The Hour Glass Sanatorium.

If you feel like taking a trip back in time, visit the Cinematography Museum in Łódź, which collects posters, costumes, sets, film stills and other memorabilia, not just from the fifties and the sixties, but from the whole century-long history of Polish cinema. When in Warsaw, look out for The Best of Polish Movies – regular screenings of Polish classic with subtitles in English or Spanish, at the National Library.

Kuba Mikurda

Critic, translator, editor, works for the Department of Contemporary Culture at the Jagiellonian University

PERFORMING ARTS

Warsaw Central Station

Poland has more than 140 publicly funded and private theatres. The Polish School of Theatre, deeply immersed in Poland’s history and tradition, with a courageous critical approach to reality, has resulted in a truly rich theatrical scene

Jerzy Grotowski (1933–1999) is one of the foremost figures in the Polish School and is world renowned as one of the greatest reformers in the history of theatre. Grotowski transformed theatre into a research laboratory. He believed that the actor and spectator were the most important factors in a performance. In addition to his work in Poland, Grotowski conducted international workshops and towards the end of his life relocated to Pontedera, Italy, where in 1986 he established the Work centre of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards. In the peace and quiet of the Tuscan countryside, Grotowski carefully selected apprentices from around the world and conducted experimental research into his ‘ritual arts’. To this day Grotowski’s artistic heirs continue this research in artistic exploration.

Another internationally recognised artist is Tadeusz Kantor (1915–1990), the creator of Zero Theatre (otherwise known as ‘performance without action’), Informal Theatre (chance events and movements) and the Theatre of Death. Kantor treated props and actors on equal terms and staged his works as happenings.

The next years have witnessed the emergence of new generations of theatrical artists who have also been very well received in theatres throughout Europe. This group includes Krzysztof Warlikowski, Grzegorz Jarzyna, Krystian Lupa and Jan Klata. Warlikowski is a theatre and opera director, who specialises in theatre of the antiquity, William Shakespeare (11 plays) and contemporary drama. Warlikowski’s productions subtly address contemporary social issues. He is a student of Krystian Lupa’s, known throughout Europe for his treatment of the human condition in our Eurocentric- Christian world. Jan Klata uses classics of Polish literature to confront contemporary social phenomena.

Maciej Nowak

Director of the Raszewski Theatre Institute in Warsaw, recommends the most important Polish theatre and dance festivals

There are many theatre festivals in Poland and they are extremely popular among theatregoers throughout Europe. The festivals primarily serve to provide an overview of performances from all over Poland, but also to delineate general trends of development.

Warsaw Theatre Meetings