1. A TURBULENT DECADE: POLAND IN THE 1980S Cinema During Solidarity and Martial Law Periods

2. Poland in the 1980s. Solidarity.  The late 1970s: shortage of consumer goods, rising prices, low wages, suppression of protests.  September, 1980: Solidarity movement established in Gdańsk, at the Lenin Shipyards, with a recently fired electrician Lech Wałęsa as the leader.Solidarity  At this point, Solidarity is an independent trade union with economic and political agenda.

3. Solidarity  A mass strike breakes out in August 1980, with 21 demands including salary increase, legalization of independent trade unions, the right for free speech, the right to strike, rights for the Church, liberation of political prisoners, erecting a monument to the victims of 1970, etc.  Thousands of copies of the news-sheet Solidarnosc printed.

4. Solidarity  Solidarity spreads, 10 million people (including 80% of Poland’s workers) joining; becomes a non- violent revolutionary movement.  A half-million people country-wide strike in March, 1981.

5. Andrzej Wajda’s Man of Iron (1981) Film and/as Historyandas History

6. Man of Iron  Film made as history is happening;  Combines feature film techniques with those of a documentary;  Contains a pointed political message;  Explains the contemporary events to their witnesses.

7. Martial Law  The Soviet Union’s pressure on Poland. General Wojciech Jaruzelski put in power.  In December, 1981 Jaruzelski declares martial law. Strikes suppressed, censorship enforced, Solidarity banned, 5000 activists arrested.

8. Cinema Under Martial Law  Man of Iron and other Solidarity films prohibited for screening, Wajda made to resign from official posts.  Several directors emigrate, including Ryszard Bugajski and Agnieszka Holland. “”  Decline in cinema attendance. Pirated video market flourishes (banned and Western films; commercial movies).  Films by Kieslowski, Zanussi, Wajda made in collaboration with Western producers.  Popular films by Juliusz Machulski.

9. What Happened Next…  In 1983, the martial law is lifted, though the regime remains.  Lech Wałęsa receives the Nobel Peace Prize.  In 1989, Solidarity is made legal again; its representative, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, is elected Prime Minister. Collapse of communism in Poland. End of censorship, liberation of arts and cinema.  In 1990, Wałęsa is elected President.