O-Bi, O-Ba: The End of Civilization

Set in an unspecified future after a nuclear war has rendered the Earth uninhabitable, several hundred survivors take refuge inside a massive concrete dome. They await the arrival of a miraculous ark that, according to their leaders, will save them. Meanwhile, the dome begins to crack.

Piotr Szulkin developed a distinctive vision of science fiction cinema, using the conventions of the genre to articulate sharp political, social, and philosophical commentary. O-bi, O-ba: The End of Civilization remains one of the most significant achievements of 20th-century Polish genre filmmaking. Created during a time of deep political and social crisis, the film is steeped in the pessimism of its era, offering a catastrophic vision that can be read both as an allegory of the late Cold War and as a metaphor for life within an oppressive system.

Alicja Nowacka

Piotr Szulkin (1950–2018) – director, screenwriter, and production designer. Awarded at the Kraków Film Festival for his short film Meat, he became one of the defining voices of Polish auteur science fiction cinema. In films such as Golem, The War of the Worlds: Next Century, O-bi, O-ba: The End of Civilization, and Ga, Ga: Glory to the Heroes, he merged genre conventions with incisive political and social commentary.

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