El Lissitzky’s Red Wedge as the Hebrew letter Yud

The analysis undertaken in this paper sets out with El Lissitzky’s 1919 revolutionary poster entitled Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge. This artwork, composed of simple geometric figures, in which an acute-angled red triangle splits the form of a white circle, was used by Soviet propaganda to affirm the so-called ‘October events’. However, a thorough analysis of the poster, i.e. its sources, inspirations, borrowings and contexts, supports the hypothesis that the principal motif (the wedge) also constitutes a graphic equivalent of a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the letter yud, represented as a small comma or, significantly, an acute-angled triangle. Such a premise yields further consequences with regard to meanings, encompassing aspects related to the Jewish iconic tradition that involve mysticism, magic, and the kabbalah.The analysis undertaken in this paper sets out with El Lissitzky’s 1919 revolutionary poster entitled Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge. This artwork, composed of simple geometric figures, in which an acute-angled red triangle splits the form of a white circle, was used by Soviet propaganda to affirm the so-called ‘October events’. However, a thorough analysis of the poster, i.e. its sources, inspirations, borrowings and contexts, supports the hypothesis that the principal motif (the wedge) also constitutes a graphic equivalent of a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the letter yud, represented as a small comma or, significantly, an acute-angled triangle. Such a premise yields further consequences with regard to meanings, encompassing aspects related to the Jewish iconic tradition that involve mysticism, magic, and the kabbalah

Foreign film in Poland, 1964–1975: selection, import and audience. An introduction

The topic of this article is part of the broader research project on film distribution in the People’s Republic of Poland. An important base for this text is the archival resources of the Film Polski Export and Import Company, established in 1964, the year therefore chosen as the starting point of the analysis. The point of departure is 1975, when important changes in the film import volume occurred. The article comprises of sections dedicated, respectively, to pre-selection of feature films, new releases and films in circulation. The data on the number of released titles show that in almost the entire period under study, the total number of foreign films from other ‘people’s republics’ was lower in any given calendar year than the number of films from capitalist states. However, the fact that more films from communist countries were imported to Poland did not mean that the former had larger audiences and generated greater revenues.The topic of this article is part of the broader research project on lm distribution in the People’s Republic of Poland. An important base for this text is the archival resources of the Film Polski Export and Import Company, established in 1964, the year therefore chosen as the starting point of the analysis. The point of departure is 1975, when important changes in the lm import volume occurred. The article comprises of sections dedicated, respectively, to pre-selection of feature films, new releases and lms in circulation. The data on the number of released titles show that in almost the entire period under study, the total number of foreign films from other ‘people’s republics’ was lower in any given calendar year than the number of films from capitalist states. However, the fact that more films from communist countries were imported to Poland did not mean that the former had larger audiences and generated greater revenues

Siergiej Paradżanow – reżyser kina ukraińskiego

The article presents the films Sergei Parajanov made at the Kiev studio between 1955–1962: Andriesh, The First Lad, Ukrainian Rhapsody, Flower on the Stone and documentaries: Dumka, Golden Hands, Natalya Ushvij. The author focuses on the context of making films and their incorporation into the traditional conventions of Soviet cinema, as well as presenting the sources of the director’s interest in Ukrainian culture.The article presents the films Sergei Parajanov made at the Kiev studio between 1955–1962: Andriesh, The First Lad, Ukrainian Rhapsody, Flower on the Stone and documentaries: Dumka, Golden Hands, Natalya Ushvij. The author focuses on the context of making films and their incorporation into the traditional conventions of Soviet cinema, as well as presenting the sources of the director’s interest in Ukrainian culture

War drama as a living reality

Since 2014, the Russian aggression in Ukraine has prompted filmmakers to master a new genre of war drama to tell the stories of those who serve in the Ukrainian army or the territorial defense, as well as those who contribute to the war effort as volunteers. The article discusses Ukrainian war drama films: Cyborgs. Heroes Don’t Die, Call Sign Banderas, Mother of Apostles, Ilovaysk 2014. Donbas Battalion, Sniper. The White Raven. These films integrate war drama with other genres such as detective stories, adventure films, and psychological drama. They also refer to some archetypal themes and conflicts in order to frame the current experience of the war. However, it will be argued that these films do not simply reuse the existing genre models, but complicate them. They refresh war drama by prioritizing the concrete experience of the ongoing war against Russian aggression over the genre conventions. Ukrainian war drama shows not a game of war but the truth of war. It tells the real stories of the bravery of ordinary people who fight against Russian aggression.Since 2014, the Russian aggression in Ukraine has prompted filmmakers to master a new genre of war drama to tell the stories of those who serve in the Ukrainian army or the territorial defense, as well as those who contribute to the war effort as volunteers. The article discusses Ukrainian war drama films: Cyborgs. Heroes Don’t Die, Call Sign Banderas, Mother of Apostles, Ilovaysk 2014. Donbas Battalion, Sniper. The White Raven. These films integrate war drama with other genres such as detective stories, adventure films, and psychological drama. They also refer to some archetypal themes and conflicts in order to frame the current experience of the war. However, it will be argued that these films do not simply reuse the existing genre models, but complicate them. They refresh war drama by prioritizing the concrete experience of the ongoing war against Russian aggression over the genre conventions. Ukrainian war drama shows not a game of war but the truth of war. It tells the real stories of the bravery of ordinary people who fight against Russian aggression

Wasted lives and expulsions. A study of Beasts of the Southern Wild by Benh Zeitlin

The author analyzes the mutual determinants of the ecological and social crisis. The starting point is Zygmunt Bauman’s concept of wasted lives and the concept of expulsions proposed by Saskia Sassen, referring both to activities destroying specific areas and the communities inhabiting them. This frame includes films showing various scenarios of a dystopian future in which individual characters or entire groups have been consumed and expelled by the aggressive Capithalocene and doomed to live in the dustbin of contemporary civilization. The article focuses on the production Beasts of the Southern Wild directed by Benh Zeitlin. The author looks at the reality and, at the same time, the symbolism of the film’s wall/dam; communities living on both sides of it, relationships between nature and culture, or rather (in posthumanist terms it is written as one word – natureculture); the methods and consequences of excluding and expelling human and non-human beings used by the mechanisms of late capitalism

Wspomnienie Urszuli Tes

W pierwszy dzień świąt Bożego Narodzenia, 25 grudnia 2021 roku, w swoim rodzinnym domu na Lubelszczyźnie zmarła dr Urszula Tes, autorka kilku tekstów wydrukowanych na łamach „Images”. Ostatni z nich, a zarazem jeden z ostatnich w całym jej dorobku, opublikowany został pośmiertnie właśnie w niniejszym numerze czasopisma. Chcąc sprostać wyjątkowym okolicznościom tej publikacji, postanowiliśmy wzbogacić ją o garść krótkich wspomnień pochodzących od osób bliżej związanych z jej zmarłą autorką, nietuzinkową postacią polskiego filmoznawstwa

Obrazy stalinizmu w twardym jądrze i na peryferiach. Kłopoty ze Sceną Faktu TVP (2006–2010)

The text refers to the part of the performances of TVP’s Fact Stage (2006–2010), devoted to the Stalinist period, as well as to its journalistic and scholarly reception. In no small part, it is a polemic with the position and reasoning expressed in Mariusz Mazur’s article TV Theater: Fact Stage – a specific vision of history. On such historical politics polemically. The author points to the need to interpret the phenomenon of Fact Stage as it really was, to understand its genesis, social conditions and cultural context. However, he rejects the method of contrasting the works in question with the abstract and normative postulates formulated by Mazur. Finally, the article points to the religious (morality play and passion play) sources of the conception of Fact Stage performances.The text refers to the part of the performances of TVP’s Fact Stage (2006–2010), devoted to the Stalinist period, as well as to its journalistic and scholarly reception. In no small part, it is a polemic with the position and reasoning expressed in Mariusz Mazur’s article TV Theater: Fact Stage – a specific vision of history. On such historical politics polemically. The author points to the need to interpret the phenomenon of Fact Stage as it really was, to understand its genesis, social conditions and cultural context. However, he rejects the method of contrasting the works in question with the abstract and normative postulates formulated by Mazur. Finally, the article points to the religious (morality play and passion play) sources of the conception of Fact Stage performances

Total conversion mods: expanding beyond the original game

The goal of this article is to outline selected aspects of the phenomenon of game modding, with particular emphasis on mods known as total conversion mods. The text mentions the features of such mods which are both fundamental and most characteristic, in order to establish the necessary context for further discussions concerning the differences between total conversion mods and other types of mods. The article aims to address the question of the legitimacy of approaching total con- version mods as independent text by presenting the most important features of such mods and their application and discussing how they function in the chosen example, i.e. ST: New Horizons, so that the following question may be posed: Do the changes introduced to the original game’s gameplay and mechanics in a given conversion mod justify regarding it as a separate game text?The goal of this article is to outline selected aspects of the phenomenon of game modding, with particular emphasis on mods known as total conversion mods. The text mentions the features of such mods which are both fundamental and most characteristic, in order to establish the necessary context for further discussions concerning the differences between total conversion mods and other types of mods. The article aims to address the question of the legitimacy of approaching total con- version mods as independent text by presenting the most important features of such mods and their application and discussing how they function in the chosen example, i.e. ST: New Horizons, so that the following question may be posed: Do the changes introduced to the original game’s gameplay and mechanics in a given conversion mod justify regarding it as a separate game text

Kondycja posthistoryczna. Rzecz o telewizji, nowych mediach i polityce

In the text, the author deals with extensive issues of media-politics relations. Using the conceptual apparatus developed by Vilém Flusser, he shows through specific examples (the Romanian revolution, the presidential elections in the United States) the transformations in the social imagination that have occurred as a result of technological changes – primarily the transition from “television reign” to “taking control” by the so-called new media. He also looks to the future, forecasting how an autonomous technology (e.g. artificial intelligence) may soon further complicate the social and political context of the contemporary times.In the text, the author deals with extensive issues of media-politics relations. Using the conceptual apparatus developed by Vilém Flusser, he shows through specific examples (the Romanian revolution, the presidential elections in the United States) the transformations in the social imagination that have occurred as a result of technological changes – primarily the transition from “television reign” to “taking control” by the so-called new media. He also looks to the future, forecasting how an autonomous technology (e.g. artificial intelligence) may soon further complicate the social and political context of the contemporary times

Wygnani z raju - analiza toposu domu w filmach Andrieja Zwiagincewa

The topos of ‘home’ is one of the most important motifs in Andrey Zvyagintsev’s films. The director perceives ‘home’ as a material and symbolic term. It applies to the place where a family lives and to the house of God. The article refers to Eliade’s well-known concept of home, but also to the more modern one created by Zbigniew Kadłubek, who writes about oikology in the context of faith. The article reveals the richness of mythical, cultural, religious and artistic references. Each film exposes different images of ‘home’, but they use common metaphors, such as the fall, destruction and the apocalypse. Contemporary man, turned away from God, recreates the mythical thread of exile and ceases to have a safe place to be in the world. In such works as The Banishment, Leviathan, Elena, and Loveless, the director fully showed the consequences of losing the spiritual dimension of life. The proposed interpretations of Zvyagintsev’s films expand the reception of his work in Poland