Fri, 12.04.2024
17:00–19:15
Film projection
Muzeum Warszawy
Documentaries About Warsaw: Capital’s Territories | Timeless Film Festival Warsaw
As part of the Timeless Film Festival Warsaw, in the Framing the City section, we will show seven documentaries about Warsaw in the mid-20th century.
The winding streets of the Old Town, witnessing the ongoing reconstruction of the city. The marginalized neighborhoods juxtaposed with those embracing modernity. The documentaries crafted by maestros serve as a testament to the evolving map of Warsaw, rising from both literal and metaphorical ruins of a bygone metropolis. However, the Warsaw of the first postwar decades has long vanished.
The films in the collection “Territories of the Capital” serve as a guide to this non-existent city, appealing to sentimental tourists seeking ghosts and shadows concealed within its nooks, alleys, and courtyards.
After the screening, we will talk about the pros and cons of rebuilding the city, the everyday problems of its inhabitants in the mid-20th century, and the culture and subcultures of that Warsaw. The discussion will be led by Błażej Brzostek – historian, researcher of social history and the history of cities, author of books.
Free admission. Entrance tickets for all screenings on a given day will be available one hour before the start of the first screening of that day. A maximum of two entrance tickets per screening can be collected.
The screening will be in Polish with English subtitles.
Accessibility: people with mobility disabilities
Brzozowa Street
Wojciech Jerzy Has, Stanisław Różewicz, 9 min, 1947, Poland
As Warsaw emerges anew from its ruins, life slowly returns to the old city streets. A debut film by Wojciech Has, brimming with empathy and subtle humor.
Warsaw Main Railroad Station
Jan Łomnicki, 9 min, 1958, Poland
“For all sorrows – Sunday on Warsaw Main,” sang Wojciech Młynarski. In Jan Łomnicki’s documentary, the bustling Warsaw Central Station epitomizes the city’s vibrancy, teeming with life. Amidst the crowd of captivating characters embarking on perpetual journeys, even Jacques Tati would have found himself comfortable.
From Powiśle
Kazimierz Karabasz, 10 min, 1958, Poland
A nostalgic portrayal of the Powiśle neighborhood steeped in memories of the past and yearning for bygone times. A documentary shot on the fringes of the “Black Series”, though abandoning interventionist ambitions in favor of poetic commentary.
Szczęśliwice
Włodzimierz Pomianowski, 8 min, 1960, Poland
Warsaw, seen from the vantage point of a central garbage dump, described as “the sovereign kingdom of dead things.” A reporter’s dispatch from a place hidden from residents and tourists.
9 Grzybowska Street, For Example
Kazimierz Karabasz, 24 min, 1991, Poland
The stories of three residents of an apartment building on Grzybowska Street ” – A bedroom like this, but in the heart of Warsaw,” they remark – serve as an attempt to universally capture the “here and now” of the Polish experience. A snapshot of post-transformation reality, lined with a sense of bitterness.
Ballad of the Wild West
Jan Budkiewicz, 11 min, 1960, Poland
In Jan Budkiewicz’s etude, the Wild West finds its parallel in the neglected streets of Warsaw’s Wola district, overrun by small factories, industrial plants, and auto repair shops. A world fading into history to the rhythm of a western ballad.
My Street
Danuta Halladin, 9 min, 1965, Poland
Twarda Street – renamed National Council Street during the Polish People’s Republic – seen through the eyes of its young inhabitants. Danuta Halladin’s characteristic childlike perspective, however, does not preclude a contemplation tinged with nostalgia and melancholy on the passing world.
Descriptions: Jakub Demiańczuk
More information about Timeless Film Festival Warsaw: timelessfilmfestival.pl