Thursday, March 26, 2026 at 8:00 PM
2220 Arts + Archives, Los Angeles
"Lightstruck is elated to present two full evenings of rarely screened animated shorts from one of the most significant centers of experimental animation production and creativity in the history of the medium: Poland. Spanning the early 1960s to the late 1980s, these two programs (March 26 and April 16) will showcase an incredibly eclectic selection focusing on little-known masterworks and deep-cut revelations, all screening in recent restorations. Poland has an extraordinary animation history marked by radical experimentation in technique and texture, investigating dark and complex themes inspired by social critique and surrealist visions alike. Spanning stop motion, cutout, cel, paint on glass, and hand-drawn approaches, these programs extend to include exceptional techniques such as Zbig Rybczyński’s hyper-complex optical printing, Piotr Dumała’s exquisite renderings on plaster slabs, and Julian Antonisz’s unhinged cameraless animation produced on ingenious, visionary devices of his own making. A morbid and uneasy humor often punctuates these works, which pulse with rich, emotional, and dramatic narratives and themes matched only by the exceptional imagination and talents of their authors. We selected the films for these programs with an emphasis on shorts not generally available on home media, and spanning a particularly diverse array of styles, aesthetics, techniques, and sensibilities. Widely celebrated artists like Rybczyński, Antonisz, Ryszard Czekała, and Jerzy Kucia will be represented by lesser known (but magnificent) offerings, while deeply memorable obscurities from Jacek Kasprzycki, Zofia Oraczewska, Ryszard Antoniszczak, and Ewa Bibańska will further illuminate Poland’s incredible spectrum of animation genius. Programs by Zena Grey and Mark Toscano. Notes by Mark Toscano. Films courtesy of Wytwórnia Filmów Dokumentalnych i Fabularnych (+ thanks to Stanisław Bardadin) and Filmoteka Narodowa – Instytut Audiowizualny (+ thanks to Adrian Smykowski and Julia Bachman)."