Escape from the 'Liberty' Cinema (DVD)

Wojciech Marczewski’s anti-totalitarian satire is a darkly comic examination of censorship which adapts the premise of Woody Allen’s The Purple Rose of Cairo to late 1980s Poland.

The film centres on a provincial film censor who is horrified to discover that the actors in a trite romantic weepie are refusing to perform their roles. With shades also of Keaton’s Sherlock, Jr. and Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, the film deftly combines political satire, social observation and surreal humour.

Directed by one of Poland’s leading intellectual - and much censored - filmmakers, this multi-award winning feature is a key film of the seismic political changes of 1989, and an enthusiastic manifesto for the freedom of the artist - and ultimately, of all humanity.

The DVD is presented in a director-approved HD digital transfer with restored picture and sound, and features an exclusive filmed interview with director Wojciech Marczewski, plus a booklet featuring a new essay on the film by film historian Michael Brooke.