Polish cinema has exercised an independent voice for more than 20 years, challenging political censorship and breaking the old production monopoly of the previous communist government. During this time, Polish movie makers have enjoyed the same freedoms and possibilities as their French or German counterparts, producing 500 feature films and several thousand documentaries. These works are paradoxically less well known internationally than the Polish films made behind the "iron curtain"—when cultural exchange with the western world was controlled exclusively by communist authorities. Polish Cinema Now! facilitates the discovery of this relatively unknown group of works with 11 engaging essays by leading experts from both Poland and abroad. Richly illustrated, this book contains a two-DVD set of short films.