Abstract

Polish film has long enjoyed an outstanding reputation but its best known protagonists tend to be male. This book points to the important role of women as key characters in Polish films, such as the enduring female figure in Polish culture, the "Polish Mother," female characters in socialist realistic cinema, women depicted in the films of the Polish School, Solidarity heroines, and women in the films from the postcommunist period. Not less important for the success of Polish cinema are Polish women filmmakers, four of whom are presented in this volume: Wanda Jakubowska, Agnieszka Holland, Barbara Sass and Dorota Kędzierzawska, whose work is examined.

Elzbieta Ostrowska currently teaches film at the University of Alberta (Canada). Publications include, The Cinema of Andrzej Wajda. The Art of Irony and Defiance (co-ed. with John Orr, Wallflower 2003), Gender-Film-Media (co-ed. with Elzbieta Oleksy, Rabid 2001), Gender w kinie europejskim i mediach (ed., Rabid 2001) Przestrzen filmowa (Rabid 2000), Gender in Film and the Media. East-West Dialogues (co-ed. with Elzbieta Oleksy, Michael Stevenson, Peter Lang 2000), Kino ma sto lat (co-ed. with Jan Rek, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Lódzkiego 1998).

Ewa Mazierska is Professor of Contemporary Cinema, Department of Humanities, University of Central Lancashire. Her publications include numerous articles in Polish and English and several books, such as Dreams and Diaries: The Cinema of Nanni Moretti (Wallflower Press, London, 2004) and From Moscow to Madrid: Postmodern Cities, European Cinema (IB Tauris, 2003, London) (both co-authored with Laura Rascaroli). She also co-edited Relocating Britishness (MUP, 2004).

“… an important contribution to film studies not only in Poland, but in Eastern and Central Europe in general. The authors demonstrate that women are both revered and despised in Polish culture, a phenomenon Mazierska and Ostrowska attribute to the persistence of overt patriarchy in both social relations and culture. This system of thought, they aver, has ‘shaped and policed the lives of Polish women’ for generations.”  ·  Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television

“…well researched and elegantly written. It should be of great interest to scholars interested in both Polish cinema criticism and feminist studies.”  ·   Slavic Review

“This important book utilizes temporary feminist discourse on women’s cinema with debates specific for the Polish cinematic, cultural, and socio-political context…Carefully researched and lucidly written, the book offers a new perspective on Polish cinema and will no doubt be the primary source for any scholar interested in gender issues in the Polish context.”  ·   Marek Haltof in Canadian Slavonic Papers

“Combining freshness of focus with close, penetrating analysis, Women in Polish Cinema is a contribution to East European film studies at once innovative and exemplary.”  · Kinema