Animation Around Europe: Polish School of Animation 1

“Polish School of Animation” is a term which was introduced by foreign authors to define an artistic movement initiated in the 1950s by Jan Lenica and Walerian Borowczyk. The films of the first and second generations of “the school” are characterized by pessimism and thus representative for the Polish culture which struggled to regain its cultural and political independence. As a result, the artistic output of those generations was focused on the subject of freedom. Polish “school” never ceased to be experimental and constantly searches for a new language of expression and animation techniques. After more than sixty years from the first achievements of the ”school”, Polish animation again impresses with its abundance of talents, who are very much engaged in a creative dialogue with Polish masters of the past. This becomes clear after watching the following films awarded during the first competition of Polish short animations ANIMA.PL held at the International Film Festival Etiuda&Anima 2017. Bogusław Zmudziński Artistic Director of the IFF Etiuda&Anima

Dom (House)

Regie Director: Walerian Borowczyk, Jan Lenica / Polen / 1958 / 00:12:00 min. / Produktion Production: Wytwórnia Filmów Dokumentalnych Warszawa, Studio Filmowe „Kadr”

Labirynt (Labyrinth)

Regie Director: Jan Lenica / Polen / 1961 / 00:14:15 min. / Produktion Production: Studio Miniatur Filmowych w Warszawie

Czerwone i czarne (Red and Black)

Regie Director: Witold Giersz / Polen / 1963 / 00:06:30 min. / Produktion Production: Studio Miniatur Filmowych w Warszawie

Wszystko jest liczbą (Everything Is a Number)

Regie Director: Stefan Schabenbeck / Polen / 1966 / 00:07:30 min. / Produktion Production: Studio Małych Form filmowych Se-Ma-For w Łodzi

Hobby (Hobby)

Regie Director: Daniel Szczechura / Polen / 1968 / 00:07:00 min. / Produktion Production: Studio Małych Form Filmowych Se-Ma-For w Łodzi

Apel (The Roll-Call)

Regie Director: Ryszard Czekała / Polen / 1970 / 00:07:15 min. / Produktion Production: Studio Miniatur Filmowych

Droga (Road)

Regie Director: Mirosław Kijowicz / Polen / 1971 / 00:04:30 min. / Produktion Production: Studio Miniatur Filmowych w Warszawie

Refleksy (Reflections)

Regie Director: Jerzy Kucia / Polen / 1979 / 00:06:00 min. / Produktion Production: Studio Filmów Animowanych w Krakowie

Tango (Tango)

Regie Director: Zbigniew Rybczyński / Polen / 1980 / 00:08:00 min. / Produktion Production: Studio Małych Form Filmowych Se-Ma-For w Łodzi

Solo na ugorze (Solo in a Fallow Field)

Regie Director: Jerzy Kalina / Polen / 1981 / 00:07:00 min. / Produktion Production: Studio Miniatur Filmowych w Warszawie

Katedra (The Cathedral)

Regie Director: Tomasz Bagiński / Polen / 2002 / 00:06:30 min. / Produktion Production: Platige Image