Off-cinema attacks!

As yet another Great Polish Director makes a cinema adaptation of a Polish literary classic, many are asking when will Polish directors make a film about contemporary life in Poland, and in a way that is neither worthy but dull, nor sensationalist a la Hollywood? Is there anything contemporary Polish cinematography can offer young people apart from schoolbook adaptations? Perhaps the answer lies in the so-called 'OFF-Cinema '.

The Oldies
Andrzej Wajda is a great director, no-one can deny this. But light comedies, such as his latest release, The Revenge, are definitely not his field. Though this film did not receive any help from the Committee of Cinematography, the great generation of polisn film directors, Wajda, Kieslowski, Zanussi, were lucky, in the past, that the state could help finance their film productions through a system of "returnable subsidies". But that system of financing declined as the state has gradually withdrawn its help. Two years ago, the finances of the Cinematography Committee collapsed. But still the great names have no problem finding funding for their projects. They have little difficulty finding money for high-budget adaptations of classics such as Pan Tadeusz and With Fire and Sword from film studios and producers both at home and abroad. And these are works that all Poles feel obliged to see, no matter whether they are worth seeing or not.

Not Us
On the other hand, some films by younger artists, who do not have the benefit of state subsidies or connections with cinema financiers, must fly in the face of the mainstream. Yet either film distributors are not interested, or simply the turnout at the box-office is very low. No wonder that no one wants to see them, since these films focus mostly on miserable, despondent, thirty-something-year-old people. These sad stories are usually served up in a highly artistic, complex way that only makes them even more pretentious and dull.

Silly But Funny
And films strictly about adolescents, like the recently released The Hacker or earlier It's Us? Unfortunately these productions resemble more an American teenage TV series than Polish reality. At least action comedies such as Luck! or Boys Don't Cry receive pretty good reviews and, what is more, are popular with a young audience. There's no denying that they are rather silly, but one can at least have some fun watching them. The ticklish question remains: Who, or what, will revive Polish cinematography?

OFF-Cinema
The answer is - the independent cinema. Some really good, low-budget productions are being made. Completely unknown, yet resolute directors make cheap, indie-films, which penetrate different subcultures and age groups. Their films are presented at several "art-house" film festivals, such as Oskariada or Independent Cinema (Gdynia Polish Film Festival). Money for these films comes either from artists, their families and friends or from several independent film groups.

Some of these productions are extremely provocative (Naked Guys); others are regarded as excellent pieces of state-of-the-art cinematography. There are scores of parodies, comedies. dramas, experimental films, documentaries and short features - unfortunately few of them reach a wider audience. The art-house productions made in the last two years somehow have found their way to the audience and critics: Kallafiorr, blok.pl, Cause Life Has A Meaning and the recently released Louder Than Bombs and Edi.

A good film can't be made if it's supposed to please every cinema-goer. And the younger audience is the most varied and demanding one. That is why young people should be presented with different types of productions. They should be given the chance to choose between Polish high-budget productions and innovative "off-films".

Who knows, perhaps they will choose Louder Than Bombs instead of The Revenge?