We Film the People!

This film is a game of chess between two skilled teams: The Polish filmmakers versus the State and the communist Party representatives. Throughout the 70’s filmmakers trained and funded by the State managed to make movies that openly criticized the system they were meant to serve. Most directors chose not to go into exile. Despite constraints imposed by the Party, Polish cinema went through its golden age during that time. Such filmmakers as Andrzej Wajda, Krzyszstof Kieslowski, Agnieszka Holland and Marcel Lozinski succeeded in making their films by negotiating with the political leaders who needed Polish cinema to break free from the Soviet model and represent Poland worldwide. The films of that era were a great public success and they activate the Poles’ desire for freedom.