The Story of An ‘Other’ Little Mermaid: Queer and Film in Poland

Is there a queer cinema in Poland or Eastern Europe? This event’s discussions between two cinema specialists will try to solve the puzzle.

Małgorzata Radkiewicz will give a historical account of queer in Polish cinema, while Anna Taszycka will tell us about some specific films like The Lure, a 2015 horror musical set in Poland in the 1980s.

The Lure tells the story of two mermaids, Golden and Silver. The mermaids meet some rock musicians on a beach, and follow them to a nightclub where they start working as strippers, captivating the audience. Director Agnieszka Smoczyńska likened the mermaids to immigrants, abused by the locals (used in the sex industry) on their way to their real goal: the west.

This event is chaired by Dr Urszula Chowaniec, Senior Teaching Fellow in Polish Language at SSEES.

Registration is free but essential, please register via Eventbrite.

This event is part of the UCL Festival of Culture, gender/queer and art/lit/film
in the other europe event series.

Organiser: Dr Urszula Chowaniec (u.chowaniec@ucl.ac.uk)

Supported and sponsored by:
UCL Grand Challenges, SSEES Centre for Study of Central Europe,  UCL Institute of Advanced Studies, UCL SSEES, UCL European Institute, qUCL