As part of the "Women (from) Behind the Camera" series, we want to look at women filmmakers — directors, screenwriters, cinematographers and editors — who yesterday and today decisively stepped behind the camera and appear from behind it, enriching the landscape of Polish and global cinema with a unique perspective.
We invite you in March to Kino Iluzjon (ul. Narbutta 50a), to the headquarters of the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute (room Ziemia Obiecana, ul. Wałbrzyska 3/5) and virtually, on the Ninateka service.
In 1971 art historian Linda Nochlin published the famous essay 'Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?'. That question can be paraphrased for cinema: why did women filmmakers for a long time function as pioneers and were sometimes omitted in narratives about film history? Alice Guy-Blaché, Fatma Begum, Maya Deren, Marta Flantz, Tang Shushuen and Mai Zetterling are only some of the authors who for decades broke through the glass ceiling.
In recent decades the creative voice of women filmmakers has become increasingly stronger — there are more of them, their films win awards and reach wide distribution, and the discussion about the 'female gaze' has gained a permanent place in the debate about the past, present and future of cinema. During the series we will screen films by women authors from different countries and eras to show the changing working conditions of women in the film industry.
KINO ILUZJON (ticketed screenings) — ul. Narbutta 50a
FINA HEADQUARTERS — Wałbrzyska 3/5 (Ziemia Obiecana hall) [free entry, registration required; form available a week before the screening]
Screenings will be accompanied by lectures and meetings with filmmakers, promoters and researchers of women's cinema. As part of the series we also plan 'Edyton' — a marathon of filling Wikipedia entries dedicated to Polish women filmmakers.
The work of women, often ignored or overlooked, will become visible on the screens of the Filmoteka.
![Film series poster for 'Materia Filmu [z taśmy]' at Kino Iluzjon, retro black-and-blue ribbon graphic over a desaturated vintage film still of smiling actors, event dates 02–06.2026 and weekly screening dates, formal typography and venue address.](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia-jammin-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com%2Fprocessed_events%2Ff6dcfa8b-bad6-4647-ac81-05484a44f3fc.jpg&w=3840&q=50)
