Polish-Soviet War in Film and Cinema: A New Perspective Based on the Films For You, O Poland (1920) and Miracle on the Vistula (1921)

The Polish-Soviet War, particularly the Battle of Warsaw (13–25 August 1920), soon became a subject of legend and myth. Irrespective of its fundamental political significance, the defeat of the Red Army was glorified as salvation for both Poland and Europe in military, ideological and metaphysical terms. Conducted beyond academia, the narrative was forged mainly by veterans, the Catholic Church and various forms of literature and art. Due to government subsidies, documentary and feature films also conveyed a normative notion of these dramatic events and their participants. This article focuses on cinematic works like Dla Ciebie, Polsko [For You, o Poland, PL 1920], and Cud nad Wisłą [The Miracle on the Vistula, PL 1921] produced in order to commemorate the war between the Poles and the Bolsheviks. Taking the iconic turn, this article scrutinises the cinematic self-portrait of the Polish nation that had already been ‘imagined’ as a bulwark of European culture in the East by earlier literary works. Spotlighting protagonists who were given a place in the pantheon of national heroes, it also asks about those who were denigrated or marginalised like women and Jews. Finally, using quantitative methods and Geographical Information System (QGIS) as a tool, the article juxtaposes the maledominated, ethnically and confessional homogeneous ‘imagined nation’ with the film entrepreneurs and actual cinema audiences characterised by their diversity

Mapowanie kin w Warszawie rządzonej przez Rosjan

Starting with the first film shows in late 1895, Warsaw experienced a considerable rise of cinema. Like in other places worldwide, this development was conditioned as much by the place’s particularities as by the time. Thus, the article illuminates the growth and scope of the local cinema market against the larger geopolitical context. Furthermore, using a sample for 1911, it maps the cinemas in QGIS, revealing spatial patterns and correlations.Już od pierwszych pokazów filmowych w końcu 1895 r. Warszawa przeżywała znaczny rozkwit kina. Tak jak na całym świecie rozwój ten był uwarunkowany w równym stopniu specyfiką miejsca, jak i czasu. Niniejszy artykuł prezentuje rozwój i zakres lokalnego rynku kinowego na tle szerszego kontekstu geopolitycznego. Dodatkowo, bazując na przykładzie z 1911 r., mapuje kina w QGIS, ujawniając przestrzenne wzory i korelacje

Mapowanie kin w Warszawie rządzonej przez Rosjan

Już od pierwszych pokazów filmowych w końcu 1895 r. Warszawa przeżywała znaczny rozkwit kina. Tak jak na całym świecie rozwój ten był uwarunkowany w równym stopniu specyfiką miejsca, jak i czasu. Niniejszy artykuł prezentuje rozwój i zakres lokalnego rynku kinowego na tle szerszego kontekstu geopolitycznego. Dodatkowo, bazując na przykładzie z 1911 r., mapuje kina w QGIS, ujawniając przestrzenne wzory i korelacje.Starting with the first film shows in late 1895, Warsaw experienced a considerable rise of cinema. Like in other places worldwide, this development was conditioned as much by the place’s particularities as by the time. Thus, the article illuminates the growth and scope of the local cinema market against the larger geopolitical context. Furthermore, using a sample for 1911, it maps the cinemas in QGIS, revealing spatial patterns and correlations

Polish-German film relations in the process of building German cultural hegemony in Europe 1933-1939

The article presents Polish-German film relations in the framework of Nazis cultural diplomacy between 1933 and 1939. The Nazi effort to create a cultural hegemony through the unification of the European film market under German leadership serves as an important point of reference. On the example of the Polish-German relationship, the article analyses the Nazi “soft power” in terms of both its strength and limits. Describing the broader geopolitical context, the article proposes a new trail in the research on both the film milieus and the cinema culture in Poland in the 1930s. In mythological terms, it belongs to cultural diplomacy and adds simultaneously to film history and New Cinema History