DzieŃ kobiet

The social criticism and non-conformism for which Polish film was once renowned have now become scarce commodities. Polish filmmakers, perhaps due to the realisation that the world is by and large “unreformable”, are increasingly turning to the microcosm of the interpersonal in search of the first signs of change. Sure enough the works of the past two decades speak time and again of those left behind by the cruelty of the free market economy, rarely however has a film tackled the issue in such a head-on and specific manner as DZIEŃ KOBIET: The supermarket chain “Motylek” (“Butterfly”), in which the protagonist Halina is promoted to store manager before being abandoned by the system for being overly humane, is instantly recognisable to practically every local as Poland's ubiquitous grocery discount chain “Biedronka” (“Ladybug”)... nobody has gone so far in exposing the ills of Polish society for a long time now. Even here in Germany, where the scandals surrounding discount chains go on and on, this is an issue that has largely remained untouched: so unsettled by the exploitation in the Third World, we tend to turn a blind eye to what is happening on our own doorstep... In order for the status quo to change we need films like this.