Cenzura filmów zagranicznych w Polsce Ludowej lat 1945-1956. Rekonesans
The Censorship of Foreign Films in People’s Poland, 1945-1956: An Overview

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with the hitherto poorly researched issue of foreign film censorship in the first decade of People’s Poland. In the introduction, the author draws attention to its specificity in relation to the censorship of Polish films. He emphasises the need for a complementary analysis of information from the Film Rental Office and the Main Office for the Control of Press, Publications, and Public Performances. The conflict between these institutions – as evident from files in the Archive of Modern Records – focused on the committee which qualified foreign films. Then, based on files from regional censorship offices in Poznań and Rzeszów, the author demonstrates the scale of the phenomenon, focusing on the “verification action” of 1953 and censorship activities connected with the political situation in the USSR. The conclusion underlines the role of censorship in monitoring the audience’s reactions and addresses the problem of illegal screenings.

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