The period from the late 1970s to the fall of Communism in 1989 was one of both enormous challenges and astounding richness for Polish filmmaking. Reined in by the constraints of an ever more vigilant censorship, gifted filmmakers focused on the less apparent, more everyday sides of totalitarianism, depicting the comic, tragic or even tragicomic struggle by individuals for dignity, prestige, or petty advantage in the face of the system's stagnation and internal decay.

Dubbed by critics "The Cinema of Moral Anxiety," major works from this period that are featured in this series include Krzysztof Zanussi's Camouflage (1977), Andrzej Wajda's Rough Treatment (1978), Feliks Falk's Top Dog (1978), Krzysztof Kieslowski'sCamera Buff (1979), and Stanislaw Bareja's subversive comedy Teddy Bear (1980). Also included are works that were banned outright and often remained unseen until years later: Marcel Lozinski's How Are We to Live? (1977/1981) - a 'mockumentary' about a socialist training camp for young marrieds that presages Borat; Agnieszka Holland'sremarkable A Woman Alone (1981/1987), and Ryszard Bugajski's harrowingInterrogation (1982/1989), starring Krystyna Janda.

Presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Polish Cultural Institute in New York, in association with the Polish National Film Archive, as part of Performing Revolution in Central and Eastern Europe, a performing arts festival marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of Communism in Central and Eastern Europe, presented by The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in partnership with key New York City cultural organizations and academic institutions, November 2009 - March 2010.

Walter Reade Theater 
165 W. 65th Street, New York, NY 
Tickets: $11; seniors: $8; FS members, students, children: $7; Tel: 212.875.5601