Essential Polish Animation Limited Edition (UK Import) [Blu-ray]

Essential Polish Animation Blu-ray gathers 27 landmark works from one of the most innovative movements in European cinema. Emerging in the late 1950s, Polish animation flourished in the cultural thaw following Stalin’s death, as artists embraced collage, poster art, surrealism, and jazz-influenced rhythms to redefine the possibilities of the medium.

Pioneers such as Walerian Borowczyk and Jan Lenica helped usher in a golden age that would win major international acclaim at Cannes, Annecy, Oberhausen, and even the Academy Awards, with Zbigniew Rybczyński’s Tango earning an Oscar. Spanning breakthrough shorts of the 1950s through the close of the classic era in the 1980s, this two-disc collection captures the bold experimentation, political undercurrents, and striking visual invention that made Polish animation a global force.

Complete list of films

• Banner of Youth (Borowczyk, Lenica, 1957)
• Love Requited (Borowczyk, Lenica, 1958)
• The Changing of the Guard (Halina Bielinska, Wlodzimiez Haupe, 1959)
• New Janko the Musician (Jan Lenica, 1960)
• A Little Western (Witold Giersz, 1960)
• Playthings (Kazimierz Urbanski, 1962)
• Labyrinth (Jan Lenica, 1962)
• The Chair (Daniel Szczechura, 1963)
• The Red and the Black (Witold Giersz, 1964)
• Everything is a Number (Stefan Schabenbeck, 1967)
• Horse (Witold Giersz, 1967)
• Cages (Miroslaw Kijowicz, 1967)
• The Stairs (Stefan Schabenbeck, 1968)
• The Son (Ryszard Czekała, 1970)
• Journey (Daniel Szczechura, 1970)
• Roll Call (Ryszard Czekała, 1970)
• Road (Miroslaw Kijowicz, 1971)
• The Banquet (Zofia Oraczewska)
• Barrier (Jerzy Kucia, 1977)
• A Hardcore Engaged Film. Non-camera (Julian Józef Antoniszczak, 1979)
• Reflections (Jerzy Kucia, 1979)
• Tango (Zbigniew Rybczyński, 1980)
• Solo in a Fallow Field (Jerzy Kalina, 1981)
• The Source (Jerzy Kucia, 1982)
• Chips (Jerzy Kucia, 1984)
• A Gentle Woman (Piotr Dumała, 1985)
• Parade (Jerzy Kucia, 1987)