Documentary Films About Polish Transformation from State Socialism to Capitalism

Abstract

This article discusses Polish documentary films made after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, till 2005. I focus on films concerning class issues, not least because the changes which happened in 1989 were as political as they were economic in their character, leading to creating a distinct class stratification: winners and losers. I examine here films made in the 1990s till the mid-2000s, as it can be argued that after this period, the transformation was completed. I focus on films concerning labour and labour relations, as this was the part of life which changed most after the fall of state socialism and affected ordinary people most profoundly, and class issues, more broadly. I am particularly interested in how the changes of the 1990s affected individual and group identities of Poles, especially identities pertaining to age, education and place of living.