Blackness and race in the PRL | A familiar "Other"
Film screening pt. 2 and 3

  • Blackness and race in the PRL | A familiar \

    Abdelkrim Derkaoui and Mustapha Derkaoui with his wife Khadija in Lodz. Courtesy of Lea Morin

The Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw invites to a film screening as part of the “Hope is of a different color” film program.

Film screenings pt. 2: BLACKNESS AND RACE IN THE PRL - 60 minutes

Lekcja 41 [Lesson 41], 1966, 7 min.

Documentary directed by Abdellah Drissi, academic advisors: Jerzy Bossak and Kazimierz Karabasz.
A Polish language lesson for students from around the world. The challenges of mastering grammar and proper pronunciation involving a fragment of Adam Mickiewicz’s Romantic-era poem Pan Tadeusz. Students include Miguel Sobrado, a future sociologist and professor at the University of Costa Rica.

Adopcja [Adoption], 1968, 4 min.

Documentary by Mustapha Derkaoui, academic advisors: Jerzy Bossak and Kazimierz Karabasz.
The film’s heroine is Agnieszka, a young girl living in a Łódź orphanage. As the black child of a Polish mother and Kenyan father she has little chance of being adopted in Poland.

Zofia i Ludmiła [Zofia and Ludmiła], 1971, 9 min. 

Documentary directed by Mohammed Ben Said, academic advisors: Kazimierz Karabasz and Adolf Forbert
The daily life of a pair of Roma girls. At home, they are responsible for taking care of the younger children while at school they are ostracized by classmates.

Ale nadzieja jest w innym kolorze [But hope is of a different color], 1972, 7 min.

Documentary directed by Abdelkader Lagtaa.
A portrait of a multigenerational Roma family living in Łódź. Young Kola shows promise as a musician. Kola’s mother must care for his younger siblings and their father who’s being held at a prison in Łęczyca. 

Antropologia [Anthropology], 1982, 5,5 min.

Documentary by Djamel Benkhaled, academic advisor: Andrzej Brzozowski.
Scenes from an anthropological study of foreign students in Poland. Study participants from the Global South hesitatingly pose questions about the study’s purpose – exposing the Eurocentric point of view informing the study of humankind.

Nadzieja [Hope], 1989, 10 min.

Documentary by Faycal Hassairi, academic advisor:
The film’s protagonist is an artistically-inclined Arab archeology student at the University of Lodz. He discusses stereotypes about Arabs in Poland and the Poles’s aversion to foreigners. 

Nord-Sud, 1990, 10 min.

Documentary by Faycal Hassairi, academic advisor: Kazimierz Karabasz.
The relationship of a Polish woman and an Arab man, as seen by the woman and her parents. Romantic infatuation mixes with disillusionment, racial prejudice with Slavic and Catholic pride.

Prolog [Prologue], 1979, 14 min.

Documentary by Eduardo Coronado Quiroga, academic advisor: Kazimierz Karabasz.
An artistic impression of the Łódź urban environment intermixed with Polish-language lessons and foreign students’ accounts of their experiences in Poland.

Film screenings pt. 3: A FAMILIAR ‘OTHER’ - 55 minutes

Wieczorna klasówka [Evening test], 1966, 7 min.

Documentary directed by Kaweh Pur Rahnama, academic advisors: Jerzy Bossak and Kazmierz Karabasz.
A math test at a night school for Łódź textile plant workers. A close examination of the adult students’ efforts.

Wacław A., 1969, 5,08 min.

Documentary directed by Abdelkader Lagtaa, academic advisor: Kazimierz Karabasz.
The title character is an older man who plays the fiddle at bars. The locales’ nightlife atmosphere contrasts with the amateur musician’s lyrical solitude. The violinist, Wacław Antczak is a Łódź tailor and non-professional actor who appeared in a number of director Marek Piwowski’s short and feature films.

Dom rencisty [Retirement Home], 1969 3 min.

Documentary by Mohammed Ben Said.
Daily routines at a retirement home. Observation of everyday tasks and activities are juxtaposed with shots of elderly residents contemplating their lives.

Marta, 1969, 6 min.

Documentary directed by Idriss Karim, academic advisor: Kazimierz Karabasz.
The life of a Łódź textile factory worker with an alcoholic husband and three sons. Her days are a relentless onslaught of work and caring for her children.

Elżbieta K., 1973, 12 min.

Documentary directed by Idriss Karim, academic advisors: Jerzy Bossak and Kazimierz Karabasz.
The confessions of a young single mother working as a model for sculptors. Her loneliness leads her to take up self-observation.

Małżeństwo Nastarowiczów [Mr. and Mrs. Nastarowicz], 1975, 3,5 min.

Documentary directed by Ali Ghayoum, academic advisor: Kazimierz Karabasz
The title characters are contemplating having a child. Their doubts are amplified caused by their disabilities: the husband has as lost some of his fingers, the wife is blind.

Ciało [Body], 1984, 6 min.

Documentary by Samir Ibrahim Zedan, academic advisor: Andrzej Brzozowski
The film’s protagonist is a disabled young man who uses meditation, music and literature in an attempt to overcome his body’s limitations.

More about the film program: "Hope is of a different color"