The British About the Poles, or Polish Cinema in British Reviews From „Sight & Sound” of the 1950s and 1960s
Abstract
Polish cinema began to appear in the British film press (“Sight & Sound”) roughly from the mid-1950s. The first mentions of Polish films can be found earlier (for example The Final Stage by Wanda Jakubowska), but it is the Canal and Ashes and Diamonds by Andrzej Wajda that open up British critics to Polish cinematography. During the showing of documentary films at the Free Cinema, films from the “black series” are presented, and Lindsay Anderson directs comments towards the editorial team of the “Film”. In 1967 Anderson makes The Singing Lesson in Poland together with students from the Warsaw National Drama School. How did the Polish journalists (e.g. Bolesław Michałek) writing for the British press present Polish cinema? How did the British critics perceive this cinema and did they see us as allies in the ideological battle for film? What can a review of British film journals tell us about Polish cinema? The article attempts to answer these questions.
Keywords:
Sight & Sound, Bolesław Michałek, Polish cinema, foreign pressReferences
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Authors
Karolina Kosińskakwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences Poland
Absolwentka kulturoznawstwa (specjalność filmoznawcza) w Instytucie Sztuk Audiowizualnych Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego. Pracę magisterską dotyczącą form buntu w kinie brytyjskim obroniła pod kierunkiem prof. dr. hab. Tadeusza Lubelskiego w 2002 roku. Pracę doktorską na temat postaci androgynicznej w brytyjskim filmie i kulturze popularnej obroniła w 2008 roku (promotor: prof. dr hab. Andrzej Pitrus) również w ISzA UJ. Od 2003 roku redaktorka „Kwartalnika Filmowego”.
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