„Dokumenty obrazowe” w polskiej refleksji i praktyce filmowej do roku 1927
“Visual documents” in Writings on Cinema and in Filmmaking in Poland Before 1927

Summary/Abstract: The first decade of the Polish cinema following the country’s regaining of independence in 1918 is marked by intensive discussions about the roles and functions of the national film industry. Many academics (from Polish studies, philosophy) and film critics addressed the issue of documentary filmmaking and the relation between the film image and reality. Theoretical reflections were accompanied by practical comments and pieces of advice on how to use documentaries for the purposes of political propaganda, education, popularization of Polish history, heritage and present development. Tracing these motifs in the writings on films of that time makes it possible to reconstruct a way of thinking about the medium as providing “visual documents” performing cognitive, educational, or propaganda functions. The year 1927 seems to be significant for two reasons; as the end of the decade of independent Poland and as the time when the sound era of cinema was about to start, and the silent film poetics of representation was going to change.

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