Mr. X – Andrzej Wajda and His Production Team

When a state, perhaps out of fear of criticism, decides what art may be created and exhibited, artists are left with few strategies for survival. They can become cogs in the propaganda machine or work in secret and hope for better times. Or they can risk their careers and resist the impositions of political reality. Andrzej Wajda, one of Poland’s most important directors, chose this third path. He was not only a critical film and theater director but also served as artistic director of the “X” production group—thus becoming a mentor to the next generation of artists. 
The idea of dividing the Polish film industry into production groups (zespół filmowy) emerged in 1957 after Stalin’s death during a period of political thaw. Working in teams was intended to foster filmmakers’ creativity and encourage collaboration among them. Film school graduates encountered experienced, older filmmakers here who supported them in developing their own artistic language. 
Among these working groups, the production group “X,” founded in 1972, stood out in particular. Its artistic director was Andrzej Wajda; Barbara Pec-Ślesicka served as production manager, and Bolesław Michałek was in charge of dramaturgy. Under their leadership, the first films by directors such as Agnieszka Holland, Feliks Falk, Janusz Zaorski, Ryszard Bugajski, and Jerzy Domaradzki, who helped shape a “cinema of moral unrest” critical of both social and political conditions. However, their political activism, along with intensifying social crises and the success of the Solidarity movement, led to the dissolution of Production Group “X” as early as 1983. 
The retrospective Mr. X – Andrzej Wajda and His Production Team focuses not only on director Wajda but above all on the artistic director of “X,” who, over the course of eleven years, co-produced over 80 film projects and pushed them through, in some cases against considerable political resistance. From psychedelic literary adaptations to metaphorical historical dramas and moral plays: with “X,” Wajda explored a wide variety of paths that seismographically captured the Polish present and recorded it in such a way that both Poles and the international community recognized its significance. Bartek Tesarz (Translation: Rainer Mende)

The film series Mr. X – Andrzej Wajda and His Production Team curated by Bartek Tesarz, is part of the filmPOLSKA festival and the “History and Education” program focus, which is supported by the Fund for the Promotion of Culture of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.