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Slavic Dept Lecture: "PRL Noir: Specters of Communism in Contemporary Polish Cinema"

Event Type
Lecture
Sponsor
Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
Location
2090B LCLB
Date
Oct 13, 2025   5:00 pm  
Speaker
Łukasz Wodzinski
Contact
David Cooper
E-Mail
dlcoop@illinois.edu
Views
80
Originating Calendar
Slavic Events

In his presentation, Prof. Wodzynski defines and examines the phenomenon of “PRL Noir”: a series of tele-cinematic returns to Poland’s socialist period (PRL standing for “People’s Republic of Poland”) that channel present-day anxieties over communism’s grim legacy through the highly stylized medium of crime drama. What makes these Polish productions distinct among the current wave of “global noir” films and television series? Can film noir—and crime drama more broadly—serve as a medium for cultural memory? Does “the specter of communism” still haunt East-Central Europe?

Lecture by Łukasz Wodzynski, Assistant Professor, Department of German, Nordic, and Slavic+, University of Wisconsin-Madison

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