Images of Jews in Polish Postwar Cinema. Between Stereo­type and Representation

In the history of Polish cinema after the Second World War images of Jews were connected with two kinds of stereotypes. To be more precise, Jews were either depicted as victims or strangers. It is worth mentioning that the first kind of stereotype was more popular and more often created by a wide range of Polish film directors. I will, however, mainly refer to the films which are based on the image of Jews as strangers – somebody who has a special position in society because s/he is neither a friend nor an enemy but a person “in between”. Due to that fact his or her (also sexual) identity is unclear, sometimes undefined, often problematic.
Dr. Kamila Żyto ist Filmexpertin und hat einen Lehrauftrag am Institut für zeitgenössische Kultur in Łódź, an der Universität Łódź und der Musikhochschule in Łódź. Sie arbeitet außerdem mit der Jugendfilmakademie in Łódź, dem Polnischen Filminstitut und der DKF Film School zusammen. Im Fokus ihrer wissenschaftlichen Interessen stehen polnische Filme mit besonderem Schwerpunkt auf polnisch-jüdischen Beziehungen, amerikanische Filme (Film Noir, klassische Hollywoodfilme der vierziger und fünfziger Jahre und zeitgenössische Filme des Neo-Noirs) und spanischsprachige Filme, vor allem das Werk von Carlos Saura.
Moderation: Professor Dr. Mikołaj Jazdon