Wednesday 15th April, Rich Mix London and Close-Up Cinema

Life and Labour in Socialist Poland – Films from Enthusiasts: Archive

WHEN: Wednesday, April 15 from 6 pm to 7:30 pm
WHERE: Rich Mix London
FREE ENTRY: book here – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/life-and-labour-in-socialist-poland-films-from-enthusiasts-archive-tickets-1984394152328?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl

Enthusiasts: Archive emerged from a series of exhibitions in 2004 as a collaboration between Neil Cummings and Marysia Lewandowska. The artists carried out extensive research on moving image work created by amateur film clubs in Poland during the socialist period and in 2019 brought the works together into an accessible collection, placing them within the public domain. The project has not only brought together a valuable body of under-viewed work but its archive-as-artwork model has also challenged how an archive should be expected to function and how such collections can be reconfigured to become sites of generosity and creative exchange. 

This selection of films from Enthusiasts: Archive stretch across the socialist period and cover subjects including the country’s rapid post-war urbanisation, working life in these new cities and the emergence of dissent. A range of formal techniques are employed, including animation, live-action and chemical development. Whilst the influence of Polish film schools and studios in developing filmmakers, including from the Global South, has been the subject of recent academic discussion, these films are a testimony to the diverse amateur film cultures that existed in the country outside of the established industry.  

These films are licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0, as part of Neil Cummings & Marysia Lewandowska, Enthusiasts Archive, 2004-2018. With thanks to Neil Cummings and Marysia Lewandowska. 

Both Very Old (Bardzo starzy oboje)
Alfred Stefański (AKF Grunwald, Olsztyn) | 1968 | Poland | 7’ | digital | silent 

Three-Room Apartment (M3)
Jerzy Ridan (AKF Nowa Huta, Kraków) | 1969 | Poland | 4’ | digital | sound  

Gaze (Spojrzenie)
Tadeusz Wudzki, (AKF Pegaz, Warsaw) | 1974 | Poland | 5’ | digital | sound 

The Rockefellers (Rokefelerzy)
Jerzy Chmielewski (AKF Iks, Mikołów) | c. 1950s | Poland | 8’ | digital | silent 

Sisyphus (Syzyfowie)
Tadeusz Wudzki (AKF Wiedza, Warsaw) | 1971 | Poland | 6’ | digital | sound 

Contemporary Symphony (Współczesna Symfonia)
Maciej Korus, Jerzy Ridan (AKF Nowa Huta, Kraków) | 1971 | Poland | 6’ | digital | Polish spoken, English subtitles 

Symbiosis (Symbioza)
Tadeusz Junak (STK Rotunda, Kraków) | 1969 | Poland | 10’ | digital | silent 

Blockade (Blokada)
Leszek Boguszewski (AKF Sawa Warszawa) | 1981 | Poland | 11’ | digital | sound 

Together (Razem)
Krzysztof Janicki, Marek Barański (AKF Grunwald, Olsztyn) | 1977 | Poland | 4’ | digital | silent 

Humbug
Gerard Piszczek, Michał Kuczmiński (AKF Iks, Mikołów) | c. 1970s | Poland | 4’ | digital | sound 

Carousel (Karuzela) 
Krzysztof Szafraniec (AKF Nowa Huta, Kraków) | 1987 | Poland | 3’ | digital | sound 

More information can be found here: https://opencitylondon.com/events/life-and-labour-in-socialist-poland-non-fiction-films-from-enthusiasts-archive/

Woven (Utkane) as part of the Combined Programme: Woven

WHEN: Wednesday, April 15 8:30 pm
WHERE: Close-Up Cinema London
Book here – Combined Programme: Woven – Open City Documentary Festival

A 28 minute short film by Maria Oblicka & Alexander C. Trigg | 2026 | Poland | 28’ | digital | Polish spoken, English subtitles 

Woven places us behind the loom of Krystyna-Wojtyna Drouet and on the walks that serve as source material for the expressive, dappled tapestries she weaves there. Versed in natural dyeing methods, her landscape – gilded and lush – becomes her colour palette and the silent witness to the poetry she recites as she traverses it. A member of the Polish School of Textile art, and its last survivor, at 99 she remains deft and assured in her craft but unsure of her memory, paging through photos from decades past, confronted with the passages she no longer recognises.

The screening is part of a programme with 3 other films

Followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers.