Ebook: The struggle for form: perspectives on Polish avant-garde film, 1916-1989

This is the first comprehensive English-language account of the Polish avant-garde film, from its beginnings in the early decades of the last century to the collapse of communism in 1989. Taking a broad understanding of avant-garde film, this collection includes writings on the pioneering work of the internationally-acclaimed Franciszka and Stefan Themerson; the Polish Futurists' (Jalu Kurek, Anatol Stern) engagement with film; the Thaw and animation (Jan Lenica and Walerian Borowczyk, Andrzej Pawlowski, Zbigniew Rybczynski); documentary (Natalia Brzozowska, Kazimierz Karabasz, Wojciech W.;Cover ; Title Page; Copyright; Contents ; Acknowledgments; Notes on Contributors; Introduction; 1. The Themersons and the Polish Avant-Garde: Warsaw -- Paris -- London; 2. 'The Inexpressible Unearthly Beauty of the Cinematograph': The Impact of Polish Futurism on the First Polish Avant-Garde Films; Excerpts from the 'Archives' of the Polish Avant-Garde; 3. The Search for a 'More Spacious Form': Experimental Trends in Polish Documentary (1945-1989); 4. Avant-Garde and the Thaw: Experimentation in Polish Cinema of the 1950s and 1960s.