Rafał Syska (born July 18, 1974 in

Kielce Kielce (; ) is a city in south-central Poland and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the banks of the Silnic ...

) is a Polish film historian and associate professor in the Audiovisual Arts Department of

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

in Cracow. First he was specialized in the phenomenon of violence in cinema (Ph-D thesis ''Film and Violence. Ways of Film Violence Representation''), then he focused on strategies of authorship in American cinema (post Ph-D., habilitation dissertation ''Keep the Distance. Film World of

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, known for directing subversive and sat ...

'') and contemporary minimalistic slow-cinema, especially its neomodernism tendencies (e.g. works of

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, Sarunas Bartas,

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. Now he specializes in cinematic and narrative museology and exhibition studies. He was also an editor of the dictionary ''Film Dictionary'' and now he is a co-editor of a numerous-volume books: ''Masters of American Cinema'' and ''History of Cinema''. Syska was also a grant holder of the

Kosciuszko Foundation The Kosciuszko Foundation is a charitable foundation based in New York City. It was created by Stephen Mizwa to fund programs that promote Polish-American intellectual and artistic exchange. History The Polish American Scholarship Committee ...

, Stanislaw Estreicher Foundation, ''

Polityka ''Polityka'' (, ''Politics'') is a centre-left weekly news magazine in Poland. It had a circulation of 95,300 during 2021. ''Polityka'' has a slightly intellectual, socially liberal profile, setting it apart from the more conservative ''Wprost ...

'' Weekly Magazine and Foundation for Polish Science. He was a scholar visitin at Columbia University in New York in 2012. In years 1994-2004, he was co-creator of Etiuda&Anima International Film Festival in Kraków and twice he was its deputy director. He is a founder and editor-in-chief (2011-2018) of "EKRANy" bi-monthly film magazine. Syska was a curator of the exhibition Stanley Kubrick (2014) and Andrzej Wajda (2019) - both in the National Museum in Cracow and No End. Krzysztof Kieślowski Dialogs (2021) in National Centre for Film Culture. Since 2016 he is the director of the National Centre for Film Culture in

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

. He is also a member of Kyoto-Krakow Foundation Board. In 2016 he was a chairman of the board of National Film Archive in Warsaw.

Publications (selection)

Books: * ''100 thrillers'', Rabid, Kraków, 2002. * ''Film and Violence. Ways of Film Violence Representation'', Rabid, Kraków, 2003. * ''Film Dictionary'' (editor), Zielona Sowa, Kraków 2005. * ''Masters of American Cinema, vol. 1 Classics'', co-editor Łukasz A. Plesnar, Rabid, Kraków 2006. * ''Masters of American Cinema, vol. 2 Rebel and Nostalgia'', co-editor Łukasz A. Plesnar, Rabid, Kraków 2007. * ''Poetry of Pictures.

Films'', Rabid, Kraków 2008. * ''Keep the Distance. Film World of

'', Rabid, Kraków 2008. * ''History of Cinema, vol. 1. Silent Cinema'', co-editor

Tadeusz Lubelski Tadeusz Lubelski (born 1 July 1949) is a Polish film historian, theorist and critic specializing in Polish and French cinema, translator, professor of the humanities, member of the European Film Academy. A film academic, he was associated with ...

, Iwona Sowińska, Universitas, Kraków 2009. * ''Masters of American Cinema, vol. 3 Present Time'', co-editor Łukasz A. Plesnar, Rabid, Kraków 2010. * ''History of Cinema, vol. 2. Classical Cinema'', co-editor Tadeusz Lubelski, Iwona Sowińska, Universitas, Kraków 2011. * ''Adaptation of American Literature'', editor, EKRANy, Kraków 2013. * ''Neomodernism in Cinema'', Avalon, Kraków 2014. * ''History of Cinema, vol. 3. New Vawe Cinema'', co-editor Tadeusz Lubelski, Iwona Sowińska, Universitas, Kraków 2015. * ''History of Cinema, vol. 4. Cinema of the End of the Century'', co-editor Tadeusz Lubelski, Iwona Sowińska, Universitas, Kraków 2018. * ''Andrzej Wajda'', editor, National Museum, Kraków 2019. * ''Kawalerowicz Frames'', editor, National Centre for Film Culture, Łódź 2022. Essays (selection): * ''Terror Cinema'' n''Film Genre. Yesterday and Today'', Krzysztof Loska (ed.), Rabid Kraków 1998. * ''Aggression and Evil. Ways of 20th Century Destructivness'' n''Iconical Violence or New Sight'', Eugeniusz Wilk (ed.), WUŚ Katowice 2001. * ''Thriller as a Genre'' n''Around Film Genre'', Krzysztof Loska (ed.), Kraków 2002. * ''Revolution that has not come. Upon political context of Rainer Werner Fassbinder works'' n''Masters of European Cinema'', Grażyna Stachówna, Joanna Wojnicka (ed.), Kraków 2002. * ''Janusz Morgenstern. In the Trap of Present Time'' :''Authors of Polish Cinema'', Grażyna Stachówna, Joanna Wojnicka (ed.), Kraków 2004. * ''

. Wheel is Over'' n''Authors of European Cinema, vol. 3'', Alicja Helman, Andrzej Pitrus (ed.), Rabid, Kraków 2007. * ''

Michael Haneke Michael Haneke (; born 23 March 1942) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. His work often examines social issues and depicts the feelings of estrangement experienced by individuals in modern society. Haneke has made films in French, Ge ...

– In Feeling of Guilt'' n''New Audiovisual – New Paradigm of Culture?'', Eugeniusz Wilk, Iwona Kolasińska-Pasterczyk (ed.), Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, Kraków 2008. * ''

– Looking'' n''Authors of European Cinema'', Alicja Helman, Andrzej Pitrus (ed.), Rabid, Kraków 2009. * ''Marlowe from the Beyond. „The Long Goodbye” by Robert Altman'' n„Studia filmoznawcze” nr 29, Sławomir Bobowski (ed.), Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego, Wrocław 2009. * ''The Beginning of American Cineman'' n''History of Cinema, vol. 1, Silent Cinema'', Tadeusz Lubelski, Iwona Sowińska, Rafał Syska (ed.), Universitas, Kraków 2009. * ''

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

. Sad Cinema About Death'' n''Masters of American Cinema, vol. 3., Present Time'', Łukasz Plesnar, Rafał Syska (ed.), Rabid, Kraków 2009. * ''Experience of the internal cinema. Narration in

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...

'' n:"Kwartalnik filmowy" 71-72/2010. * ''Don Kichote by

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

: Unfinished Journey onto the Moon'' n:''From Cervantes to Perez-Reverte. Adaptation of Spanish Literature'', ed. Alicja Helman i Kamila Żyto, Warszawa: Kino Rabid 2010. * ''Theory of Meaning by

David Bordwell David Jay Bordwell (; July 23, 1947 – February 29, 2024) was an American film theorist and film historian. After receiving his PhD from the University of Iowa in 1973, he wrote more than fifteen volumes on the subject of cinema including ''Na ...

'', "EKRANy" 1-2,3/2012. * ''Neomodernism. Slow-Motion Cinema'', "EKRANy" 1-2/2012. * ''Internal Women World. Early Works by

Chantal Akerman Chantal Anne Akerman (; 6 June 19505 October 2015) was a Belgian film director, screenwriter, artist, and film professor at the City College of New York. Akerman is best known for her films (1974), (1975), and '' News from Home'' (1976). The ...

'', "Kwartalnik filmowy" 79/2012. * ''Nostalgia for

Tarkovsky Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (, ; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter of Russian origin. He is widely considered one of the greatest directors in cinema history. His films explore spiritual and metap ...

. Films of

and

Alexandr Sokurov Alexander Nikolayevich Sokurov, PAR (; born 14 June 1951) is a Russian filmmaker. His most significant works include a feature film, ''Russian Ark'' (2002), filmed in a single unedited shot, and ''Faust'' (2011), which was honoured with the G ...

'' n:''Film Zone. Cinema of

Andrey Tarkovsky Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky (, ; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter of Russian origin. He is widely considered one of the greatest directors in cinema history. His films explore spiritual and metap ...

'', ed. Iwona Anna NDiaye, Marek Sokołowski, Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek, Toruń 2013. * ''Split screen – History of Shattered World'', "EKRANy" 2013, 5 (15). * ''Time-lasting.

Gilles Deleuze Gilles Louis René Deleuze (18 January 1925 – 4 November 1995) was a French philosopher who, from the early 1950s until his death in 1995, wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes o ...

in Contemporary Cinema'', "EKRANy" 2014, 2 (18). * ''Art-hard core'', "EKRANy" 2014, 3-4 (19-20). * ''We Are All Kubricks'', "Dekada Krakowska" 3/4 (13/14) 2014. * ''No-film, nie-cinema'' :„EKRANy” 5/2016, s. 4-10. * ''Smart cinema. Wise cinema from indie-world'' n:„Kwartalnik filmowy” 93-94/2016, s. 130-139. * ''Unvisible heroes of back stage. RKO and Orson Welles'' n:''Orson Welles. Works – Reception – Heritage'', Paweł Biliński (ed.), Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego, Gdańsk 2016, s. 59-72. * ''Comic books in museums and galleries. Paradoxes of presence and absence of comic books in museum practices'', in: „Kultura popularna”, 2019 nr 4 (62), s. 28-41. * ''Intensity of the Moment'' n:Rafał Syska (ed.), ''Fotosy:– Renata Pajchel'', Narodowe Centrum Kultury Filmowej, Łódź 2018. * ''“Reaganmatography”. American Cinema in 1980s.'' n:''History of Cinema, vol. 4: Cinema of the End of Century'', co-editor Tadeusz Lubelski, Iwona Sowińska, Universitas, Kraków 2018, p. 81-160. * ''Greece'' n:''History of Cinema, vol. 4: Cinema of the End of Century'', co-editor Tadeusz Lubelski, Iwona Sowińska, Universitas, Kraków 2018, p. 1189-1204. * ''Comic books in museums and galleries. Paradoxes of presence and absence of comic books in curatorial practices'', in: „Kultura popularna”, 2019 nr 4 (62), p. 28-41. * ''SnorriCam. A New Look at the Face'' :''Post-technological Experiences. Art-Science-Culture'', Michał Krawczak (red.), Adam Mickiewicz University Poznan 2019, p. 180-187. * ''To Touch a Movie: Technical Conditions of the Phenome-non of Film in a Museum'' n:„Kwartalnik Filmowy” 113 (2021), p. 68-90. * ''Film in a Space. Polish Cinema in Galleries and Museums'' :''Polish Cinema Now. From Mainstream to Experiment'', Marta Giec, Artur Majer (ed.), PWSFTviT w Łodzi, Łódź 2021, p. 261-282. * ''At a Desk of Pulawska street. Kawalerowicz as a Leader of Film Unit „Kadr”'' n.''Kawalerowicz Frames'', Rafał Syska, Anna Wróblewska (ed.), Narodowe Centrum Kultury Filmowej, Stowarzyszenie Filmowców Polskich, Łódź-Warszawa 2022, p. 93-112.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Syska, Rafal 1974 births Living people Academic staff of Jagiellonian University 21st-century Polish historians Polish male non-fiction writers People from Kielce