PROMOTION OF A BOOK BY HANNA MARGOLIS: "WITH INVISIBLE HAND. ANIMATED FILMS BY WOMEN IN (MALE) ANIMATION STRUCTURES IN POLAND"

WHERE: Academy of Fine Arts - Lecture Hall 1, plac Jana Matejki 13, 31-157 Kraków
WHEN: October 25, 2024 (Friday), 11 AM
GUEST: Hanna Margolis

The book is based on a doctoral dissertation entitled Animated films by women in (male) cinematography structures in Poland in a comparative perspective, written under the supervision of Professor Monika Talarczyk, defended with honours at the Institute of Polish Culture at the University of Warsaw in 2022 and honoured with the Alicja Helman Award. It is a unique publication as it was created at the intersection of the professional practices of the author, an academic researcher who also worked as animation director for over a decade.

On these grounds, she created (not without self-reflective tones) a well-documented, comprehensive and compelling “investigative story”, analyzing the unknown and (embarrassingly) surprising image of women`s work in the Polish animation industry since 1940s until the present day, and ultimately deconstructing the myth of master original animation. At the same time, this book shows the production of the animated film as collective work – even when its female co-authors do not “go down in history”.

The dissertation by Hanna Margolis is an outstanding one (…), which “reads like a good detective story”. (…) This text is well thought out, mature, conceptually refined, and often revealing (…). I could go as far as to say that this book might have been written in Paris in the 1950s or 1960s and thanks to the value of the “archeology” it presents, immediately become an important voice whose resonance would impact the trajectories of the humanities.

from the review by prof. Marcin Adamczak

The dissertation is an impressive work, both in terms of research into the archives of Polish animation production from the post-war period until today and of the critical review of sources, analyses and final conclusions. Most importantly, however, we are dealing with an absolutely pioneering work.

from the review by prof. Marcin Giżycki

Hanna Margolis - film expert and art historian holding a PhD in humanities, director and scriptwriter of animated films. She specializes in animated films of the 20th and 21st centuries. Author of numerous academic publications on animated film, including the book “With Invisible Hand. Animated films by women in (male) animation structures in Poland” (published by Universitas) and “Original animation in the Polish People`s Republic. The Hidden Project by Kazimierz Urbanski” published by the Jagiellonian University Press. Winner of the first edition of the Alicja Helman Award for her doctoral dissertation on film studies in 2021 entitled “Animated films by women in (male) cinematography structures in Poland in a comparative perspective” (defended at the University of Warsaw under the supervision of Professor Monika Talarczyk.

An academic lecturer, experienced expert in animated film collaborating with film institutions (among others a member of the Young Animation Board at Munk Studio, expert of the Polish Film Institute), film festivals (as jury member and curator), as well as art institutions (as curator, for example “Czerwień zalewa kadr”, Zachęta Gallery, 2019).

HANNA MARGOLIS WILL TALK TO EWA CISZEWSKA

Ewa Ciszewska
Assistant professor at the Department of Film and Media Studies at the University of Lodz. Her latest publications focus on the management of cultural heritage within the scope of animation in Poland, the history of Polish animation, Polish and Czech cinematographic cooperation during the Polish People`s Republic and film education in Poland. She is interested in the history of the “Se-Ma-For” Studio of Small Film Forms in Lodz. Together with Professor Pavel Skopal, she investigates animated film studios in Central Europe. She is a member of the Polish Animation Research Group.