Abstract

This article explores populist cinema in Poland after the Second World War, in the context of changes in Polish politics. Of particular interest is the period after 2015, when the term ‘populism’ entered into wide use in Poland and when we observe the production of a large number of films which can be described as ‘antipopulist’, mainly by female directors. The article focuses on two such films, directed by Agnieszka Holland: Spoor/Pokot (2017) and Zielona granica/Green Border (2023), trying to dissect their ideology. It argues that Holland in these films uses strategies associated with socialist realism, to discredit her ideological opponents, most importantly conservative Catholic provincials.