Polish film has long enjoyed an outstanding reputation but its best known protagonists tend to be male. This book points to the important role of women as key characters in Polish films, such as the enduring female figure in Polish culture, the "Polish Mother," female characters in socialist realistic cinema, women depicted in the films of the Polish School, Solidarity heroines, and women in the films from the postcommunist period. Not less important for the success of Polish cinema are Polish women filmmakers, four of whom are presented in this volume: Wanda Jakubowska, Agnieszka Holland, Barbara Sass and Dorota Kdzierzawska, whose work is examined.

Elzbieta Ostrowska currently teaches film at the University of Alberta (Canada). Publications include,The Cinema of Andrzej Wajda. The Art of Irony and Defiance (co-ed. with John Orr, Wallflower 2003),Gender-Film-Media (co-ed. with Elzbieta Oleksy, Rabid 2001),Gender w kinie europejskim i mediach (ed., Rabid 2001)Przestrzen filmowa (Rabid 2000),Gender in Film and the Media. East-West Dialogues (co-ed. with Elzbieta Oleksy, Michael Stevenson, Peter Lang 2000),Kino ma sto lat (co-ed. with Jan Rek, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Lódzkiego 1998).

List of Illustrations Acknowledgements

IntroductionEwa Mazierska andElzbieta Ostrowska

PART I: THE POLISH MOTHER

Chapter 1. The Myth of the Polish MotherJoanna Szwajcowska

PART II: WOMEN ACCORDING TO MEN

Chapter 2. Filmic Representations of the Myth of the Polish MotherElzbieta Ostrowska

Chapter 3. Polish Superwoman: a Liberation or Victimisation?Elzbieta Ostrowska

Chapter 4. Caught between Activity and Passivity: Women in the Polish SchoolElzbieta Ostrowska

Chapter 5. Agnieszka and Other Solidarity Heroines of Polish CinemaEwa Mazierska

Chapter 6. Witches, Bitches and Other Victims of the Crisis of Masculinity: Women in Polish Postcommunist CinemaEwa Mazierska

Chapter 7. Between Fear and Attraction: Images of Other WomenElzbieta Ostrowska

PART III: WOMEN BEHIND THE CAMERA

Chapter 8. Wanda Jakubowska: the Communist FighterEwa Mazierska

Chapter 9. Barbara Sass: the Author of Womens FilmsEwa Mazierska

Chapter 10. Agnieszka Holland: a ScepticElzbieta Ostrowska

Chapter 11. Dorota Kêdzierzawska: Ambivalent FeministEwa Mazierska

Filmography Bibliography Index