Gloomy or Glam? New Polish Cinema and Photography

Polish cinema is often seen as dark, cryptic, and often depressing with its focus on history. Yet, Martin Scorsese says, “Humour and tragedy are very close in Polish cinema”. New Polish cinema is becoming transnational and liberated, especially after the political transformation of 1989 and, more recently, the 2005 law regulating the film industry. What is Poland like in these new visions? What fascinates the young filmmakers and photographers? This presentation will identify some of the stylistically and thematically different images of Poland in films and photography which combine gloomy with glam and individual perspectives with trends and genres.

Dr. Justyna Budzik is an assistant professor in the Department of Film and Media Studies at the University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland. Her Ph.D. thesis “The Sensorium of Cinema. Towards an Anthropology of the Cinematic Sensation” was awarded the 2013 Inka Brodzka-Wald Prize for the best dissertation of the year in modern humanities. In July 2015 she published “Film Miracles and Magic Tricks. Sketches from the Archaeology of Cinema”.