1. The Divided Nation. The War and the Post-War Revival. Polish History and Cinema

2. Polish History  Animated history of Poland Animated history of Poland  Crash-course in Polish history Crash-course  The three factors solidifying the tormented nation: 1. History and national classics. 2. Language. 3. Religion (Roman Catholicism).

3. Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1635

4. Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772

5. Poland Partitioned by Prussia, Austria and Russia in1775

6. The Congress of Vienna: The Free City of Kraków in 1815-1846

7. Poland in 1919: Independence after the Russian Revolution and the Treaty of Versailles

8. Poland in 1920: the victory over the Red Army

9. Poland in 1939

10. Poland in 1939 after the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact

11. Europe in 1942, German occupation

12. After the War: Poland in 1945

13. Poland Now

14. Occupied Warsaw. “Only pigs watch flicks.”

15. Warsaw Fighting Back  Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1943. Brutally suppressed, 13 thousand people died. 50 thousand survivors exterminated in death camps. Reflected in Polish films: Border Street (1948) by Aleksander Ford, A Generation (1955) and The Holy Week (1995) by Andrzej Wajda, The Pianist (2002) by Roman Polanski, and many more.

16. Warsaw Fighting Back  Warsaw Uprising on August 1, 1944.  Organized by Polish resistance Home Army (Armia Krajowa).  Lasted for 63 days. 16 thousand resistance fighters died, along with about 200 thousand civilians.

17. The End of the Uprising  Unsupported from outside, the uprising collapsed. Surrendered on October 2, 1944.  In January, 1945 Warsaw liberated by the Soviet Red Army and the Polish First Army.  By January 1945, 85 % of Warsaw was destroyed.  Documentaries. Documentaries

18. Warsaw in 1944 Decades later

19. Rebuilding Film Industry  Nationalization of film industry (state-controlled cinema). 409 cinemas opened throughout Poland.  Film Polski established (organization for production and distribution of Polish films).  Łódź Film School created (1948). Andrzej Munk and Andrzej Wajda among its first graduates.  Financial support from the government. Steadily growing production since 1947 (though only 7 films released up to 1950). Polish-made projectors and film.  Downsides: many experienced filmmakers died or emigrated; Soviet ideological pressure; Communist censorship.

20. First Post-War Films  The experience and memories of the war provided themes and inspiration.  The first post-war feature film: Forbidden Songs (1947&49)by Leonard Buczkowski. Two versions: censorship applied. Forbidden Songs  The Last Stage (1947) by Wanda Yakubowska and Border Street (1948) by Aleksander Ford.Last Stage  The first post-war comedy:The Treasure (1948) by Leonard Buczkowski.The Treasure

21. Maintaining the National Spirit and Dealing with History Through Cinema “[N]ational cinema, which speaks a verbal language no outsider would understand, may speak a language of images with such force that even censorship could not cope.” Andrzej Wajda