August 31 – September 21, 2023 Piotr Szulkin: An American Cinematheque Retrospective Series | GOLEM, FEMINA, THE WAR OF THE WORLDS: NEXT CENTURY, KING UBU, O-BI, O-BA: THE END OF CIVILIZATION and GA, GA: GLORY TO THE HEROES Los Feliz 3
ABOUT THE SERIES: The American Cinematheque is proud to present the films of Polish director Piotr Szulkin, as part of our ongoing ‘It Came From Outside the U.S.’ series, which spotlights some of the most visionary science fiction films from around the world. Along with author Stanisław Lem, filmmaker Piotr Szulkin (1950-2018) was one of Poland’s leading exponents of sci-fi. Following a series of shorts and screenplays in the 1970s, Szulkin made a striking feature debut with GOLEM, the first installment in what would be known as his Apocalypse Tetralogy. Together with follow-ups THE WAR OF THE WORLDS: NEXT CENTURY, O-BI, O-BA: THE END OF CIVILIZATION and GA-GA: GLORY TO THE HEROES, these dystopian visions follow protagonists painted into corners by scientific experimentation, extraterrestrial invasion, nuclear radiation and conscripted exploration, respectively. Despite the efforts of Polish censors, the parallels to life in a totalitarian state are unmistakable here – and are echoed in such post-Solidarity work as FEMINA and KING UBU.