PODRÔZ

Our model was the Czech New Wave: Miloš Forman, Věra Chytilová.... The French Nouvelle Vague [films] too.… we could watch them in Poland. In fact, at the School we saw all kinds of films. Whether or not they were bought by Poland or shown to the public, we could watch them. The films were not even subtitled. There was a paper with the translation, which was read to us. Once I even improvised a translation for a French film. We found a way. The State understood that students needed to be up to date with what was going on in the world.

That was the extraordinary thing about Poland. There was an artists’ club, a journalists’ club, an artists’ restaurant, in every city. Naturally, they were full of informers. But they still existed.

AbdelKADER LAGTAA, 2018