From the Workshop of the Film Form to Martial Law : On the Intersecting and Bifurcating Paths of Paweł Kwiek’s and Józef Robakowski’s Cinematographic Work in the 1970s and the 1980s

Abstract

Józef Robakowski and Paweł Kwiek both played significant roles in expanding experimental film paradigms within the Workshop of the Film Form (WFF)—the most important Polish experimental film group of the 1970s. While neither opposed the Socialist regime, both resisted institutional, social, and political structures driving its film culture. The chapter highlights the subtle political engagement of Robakowski’s work alongside his attempted reforms at the Łódź Film School, activities that the martial law of 1981 dramatically halted. It also addresses Kwiek’s collaborations with the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and how, informed by architect Oskar Hansen, he challenged authorities to open up channels of genuine communication with society, highlighting a social purpose for experimental filmmaking in the process.