A biographical film drawing on historical narratives often plays an identity role, evoking heroes from the past who are important to the contemporary audience. Despite the fact that the number of biopics has been growing from one decade to the next, they feature only a marginal presence of leading female protagonists of political significance, whose fortunes would encourage the audience to identify with the values they represent. This absence is complemented by co-productions, which thanks to links with foreign film industries enable the inclusion of non-domestic perspectives or the production of works that would otherwise not find sufficient support from domestic institutions or the creative community. Using the example of Volker Schlöndorff’s Strike (Strajk — Die Heldin von Danzig, 2006), a German biographical film about the life of Anna Walentynowicz, it is possible to trace the reasons for the absence of female protagonists in Polish cinema and to identify the reasons why foreign filmmakers show an interest in them. This was furthered by including the evolution of biopics in both Polish and foreign cinema, by reflecting on the role women play within contemporary historical narratives, and by analysing the phenomenon of domestic traditions shifting into a transnational context.
