About - Freedom on the Fence

Freedom on the Fence
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A Digital Documentary Project

A note from the Producer
I am often asked, Why Poland? I became interested in Polish posters in 1998, when my colleague, Anka Kolodziej, and I received a grant from Oregon State University to work on an exchange project with students from OSU and The Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts. This project lead to my fascination with Polish posters and I began to consider ways in which I could collaborate with Polish artists on a project. A film documentary seemed to be the best way to capture the extraordinary stories of the artists, with the visual power and beauty of the posters.

In November 1998, Director Glenn Holsten and I traveled to Poland to meet with artists, curators, teachers and collectors. This initial pre-production trip was very successful and exciting for everyone involved. The artists we spoke with were very enthusiastic about our project and all of them felt there was a great need for this important piece of Polish history to be documented on film.

In July 2002, Glenn, videographer Jeff Hino and I interviewed artists, curators, and poster dealers in Warsaw and Cracow, including a rare interview with the undisputed master of the Polish School of Posters, Henryk Tomaszewski. While in Warsaw, we screened and selected rarely seen archival footage that will bring life to the powerful stories gathered in our interviews. Such footage includes dramatic scenes of post war Warsaw, imagery of posters on the streets of Poland in the 50s 60s and 70s, and scenes of the classrooms and studios of Polish poster artists. Our filming will be completed in the fall of 2003, following interviews in New York with other key players in the story. I am currently fundraising for post-production of the project, with a goal to complete the project by summer 2004.

Broadcast/Distribution/Outreach Plans
The documentary is being produced for a general public television audience. The film may be of particular interest to Polish Americans (there are over 6.5 million persons of Polish ancestry living in the United States), as well as the general public interested in art/design history, cultural history and politics. The documentary will also be made available for purchase to high schools, colleges and universities, to be used in art/design history, cultural studies and history curricula.

Audience
The documentary will be broadcast on public television. It is being produced for a general public television audience, although the film may be of particular interest to Polish Americans (there are over 6.5 million persons of Polish ancestry living in the United States), as well as the general public interested in art/design history, cultural history and politics. In addition, the film will be made available to both high schools and colleges, to be used in art/design history, cultural studies and history curricula. The Polish poster is a particularly compelling art form that is internationally awarded and respected in design communities, yet it is not widely known about in the United States, making it a unique story of interest.

DVD
A DVD will be created as a companion to the program, which will enable the user to go into more depth with the interviews, as well as access many examples of Polish posters. This DVD will, in effect, triple the amount of program content, and enable users to more fully examine an individual artists' body of work. It will contain extensive interviews with artists featured in the documentary and explore the historical period in greater depth.

Director, Producer, Andrea Marks