Skip to Main Content

 Admission is always freeOpen today: 10:00  to 5:00  Directions             Play Artle            

                  -  Visit                      - Visit
                    - Getting Here
                    - Accessibility
                    - Tours, Guides & Maps
                    - Food & Drink
                    - Gallery Shops
                    - Visitor Policies 
                  -  Collection                      - Collection
                    - Highlights
                    - Search the Collection
                    - Artists Search
                    - Acquisition Highlights
                    - Stories
                    - Games 
                  -  Exhibitions                      - Exhibitions
                    - Current
                    - Special Installations
                    - Upcoming
                    - On Tour
                    - Past 
                  -  Calendar                      - Calendar
                    - Films
                    - Performances
                    - Talks
                    - Guided Tours
                    - After Hours
                    - Fun for Kids
                    - Festivals
                    - Workshops 
                  -  Learn                      - Learn
                    - Teachers
                    - Families
                    - Teens
                    - Adults
                    - Learning Resources
                    - Music Programs
                    - Film Programs 
                  -  Conservation                      - Conservation
                    - Projects
                    - Publications
                    - Resources 
                  -  Research                      - Research
                    - The Center
                    - Publications
                    - Make an Appointment
                    - Archives
                    - Library
                    - NGA Online Editions 
                  -  Support                      - Support
                    - Donate Now
                    - National Membership
                    - Circle Membership
                    - Leadership Groups
                    - Planned Giving
                    - Major Giving
                    - Gifts of Art 
                  -  Shop                      - Shop
                    - Books
                    - Jewelry
                    - Apparel & Accessories
                    - Kids
                    - NGA Custom Prints 
                  -  Play Artle

Home>Artists, Amateurs, Alternative Spaces: Experimental Cinema in Eastern Europe, 1960-1990>The Workshop of the Film Form and Beyond

**Introduction**

**List of Films Shown in the Series**

**History's Shadow**

***Innocence Unprotected***

***Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania***

**Documentaries with a Human Face****

***Gypsies*****; *One Day More***

***Black Film***

***Trace;**10 Minutes Older***

***235 000 000***

**Balázs Béla Studio (BBS)**

***Long Distance Runner;**New Year’s Eve***

***Four Bagatelles; Private History***

**City Scene / Country Scene**

**OHO Films**

***Game;**Litany of Happy People***

***Pression;**Centre***

***Self-Fashion Show***

***Hello, Berlin!***

***Death of Metalosaurus***

**The Workshop of the Film Form and Beyond**

***Winding Paths*; *Market;**I'm Going***

***Open Form;**1,2,3...Cinematographer's Exercise***

***Video A;**The Space Transmission; 30 Sound Situations***

***Clapper; Transformation*****

**The Enthusiasts Archive**

**Experimental Film in Croatia and Serbia****

***K3*; *Straight Line;**Encounter***

***Termites; Kariokinesis;**Twist-Twist***

***Acceleration; Ping-Pong;**Personal Cuts ***

***The Seal; Anthony's Broken Mirror***

***Raven*; *Vowels*; *The First Photo of Me...***

**Censored and Salvaged**

***Endless Day***

***Centaur***

**Artists, Collectives, Communities****

***Cinéforms*;*Somnambulists***

***Boxing*;*The Hands***

***White People***

***Groping One's Way*;*Puppets***

***Drawings*; *Transformations: Potter’s Bull*****

**Found Footage and Home Movies****

***The Flipside of the Coin***

**Medium Experiments: From Film to Video**

***The Square*; *Media*; *Kalah***

***Painted in the Air*; *Checkmate*****

***Searching for Balance*; *Prophecy***

***Video Manual*;*Image Is Virus*****

***DM/1978 Talks to DM/2010*; *Cut** ***

**Credits and Acknowledgments**

Banner stills L to R: *1, 2, 3...Cinematographer's Exercise**, Open Form – Game on an Actress's Face**,* and *Market*, all courtesy Filmoteka Muzeum**

# Workshop of the Film Form and Beyond: Shorts from 1970s Poland

Workshop of the Film Form members, photomontage by Film Form Studio,courtesy Adam Mickiewicz Institute

Established in 1970 as an academic club at the Film School in Łódź, the Workshop of the Film Form was hugely influential in Poland for establishing the paradigm for investigations of “film as film” throughout the decade. Made up of an extended group of filmmakers with a broad range of interests, the WFF included most prominently Józef Robakowski, Wojciech Bruszewski, Paweł Kwiek, and Ryszard Waśko. Many workshop members later became major figures in Polish art and film. While at the workshop, they undertook experiments with the structure of cinematic production, aiming to release it from narrative and literary confines. Their work proved to be a highly subversive force in Polish experimental film as well as a center of creative rebellion at the workshop, which remained in existence until 1977. This program focuses on films that came out of the WFF, though it also includes two films—**Winding Paths**and **Transformation—**that were made by film students in Łódź but predate and postdate the workshop, respectively.

The WFF was remarkable both for the degree of freedom its members enjoyed and the quality of the professional equipment to which they had access. “Within the Studio the members were able to create their very own educational and research curriculum independent of the school’s requirements—whilst at the same time benefiting from its financial help and technical infrastructure. This is the reason why, as art historian Łukasz Ronduda points out, ‘the majority of their radical films were shot in the ‘Hollywood’ format of 35mm.’”

The influences that brought members together—from their earlier participation in amateur film clubs to their admiration for the prewar avant-garde filmmaker Stefan Themerson—also highlight the workshop’s pedigree as an “alternative space.” Additionally, the WFF, like the Balázs Béla Studio in Budapest, was notable for the degree to which it promoted collaboration between filmmakers and artists and encouraged filmmakers to work **as**artists, even bringing their work into the walls of the Łódź Art Museum.

Thanks to the research and publications of several curators and art historians, most notably Ryszard Kluszczyński and Łukasz Ronduda, informative texts, including those in English, are available on the legacy of the Workshop of the Film Form. Interested readers should look to them for broader context on the WFF as a cultural phenomenon.[1] Within this web feature, the introduction to the Medium Experiments program also offers additional information on the WFF members’ work in the medium of video. Numerous WFF films can also be seen either in part or in full in the on-line Filmoteka Muzeum, hosted by the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, which offers free access to hundreds of Polish artists’ films. Clicking on the film titles in this program will take the reader to the Filmoteka Muzeum pages on which the films can be watched.  — Łukasz Mojsak and Ksenya Gurshtein

 

1. Useful publications include Ryszard Kluszczyński,*Workshop of the Film Form, 1970–1977*, exh. cat. (Warsaw, 2000) (in Polish); Galen Joseph-Hunter, Łukasz Ronduda, and Lori Zippay, eds., *The Workshop of the Film Form, 1970–1977,*exh. cat.**(Warsaw, 2004); and**Łukasz Ronduda,*Polish Art of the 70s* (Warsaw, 2009). (back to top)

### Stay connected

Learn more about our exhibitions, news, programs, and special offers.

About
          - About the National Gallery
          - Stories
          - Press
          - FAQs
          - Contact Us

Plan a Visit
          - Getting Here
          - Accessibility
          - Today's Tours
          - Food & Drink
          - Calendar
          - Downloadable Map

Get Involved
          - Donate
          - Membership
          - Volunteer
          - Opportunities
          - Shop Online

Resources
          - Search the Collection
          - Conservation
          - Library
          - Archives
          - The Center
          - Film Programs
          - Music Programs
          - Audio/Video
          - Open Access Images

Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily

**West Building**6th St and Constitution Ave NW*Enter or exit from Constitution Avenue, 4th Street, or 7th Street. The Madison Drive entrance is currently closed.*

**East Building**4th St and Constitution Ave NW*Enter and exit from 4th Street.*

**Sculpture Garden**7th St and Constitution Ave NW*Enter and exit from 7th Street, Constitution Avenue, or Madison Drive.*

We are closed on December 25 and January 1.

*The National Gallery of Art serves the nation by welcoming all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity.*

          -  Twitter 
          -  Facebook 
          -  Instagram 
          -  Pinterest 
          -  YouTube 

© 2024 National Gallery of Art   Notices   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy