Animated Films
In 2004 Polish animated films celebrated their 55th birthday and to celebrate, we would like to show you a selection of animated films. This selection contains films from both the classical period of the old Polish school of animated films (Jan Lenica, Jerzy Kucia, Miroslaw Kijowicz, Stefan Schabenbeck, Zbigniew Rybczynski), as well as the modern ones, directed by the younger generation (Piotr Dumala, Tomasz Baginski, Zbigniew Szymanski, Marek Skrobecki and Pawel Weremiuk).
The first Polish animated films were made in the late 1940s but it was artists of the 1960s that mostly influenced its artistic style. Artists started to experiment with materials: cut-outs and puppets. They applied deep metaphors in their animated films, which is why these films could easily comment on everyday life, but also acquired universal meaning at the same time. In the 1970s new artists were inspired by photography, combining various techniques, yet it is the surreal view of the then socialist reality that is their main common feature.
Our selection is aimed at showing the various techniques applied by the artists. Starting with the ‘plain’, traditional animated film, through to the combination of animated and feature films, and finally to computer-generated films. You will get to see some of the most famous Polish animated films: Academy Award winner Tango by Zbigniew Rybczynski and Academy Award nominee The Cathedral by Tomasz Baginski. Also shown will be Ichthys by Marek Skrobecki, which won awards at many film festivals including Krakow, Ottawa and Zagreb.