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(Marek Piwowski, Krzysztof Zanussi, Wojciech Marczewski, 1970-1981; Second Run, 15)

This latest collection of key Polish films come from a decade that began with a relaxation of censorship and ended with the brutal clampdown that accompanied the suppression of Solidarity, the independent, non-governmental trade union, in a Gdańsk shipyard and the introduction of martial law in 1981. Each is accompanied by a booklet to put them in their historical context, and all three attack from different angles the communist regime in a period represented by what came to be called “the cinema of moral anxiety”.

Now widely regarded as Poland’s first cult movie, Marek Piwowski’s The Cruise (1970) is a broad satire on the absurdity of the whole communist system. It’s set on a pleasure steamer chugging down the Vistula and is clearly inspired by Gogol’s 1836 comedy The Government Inspector. In the play the mayor of a provincial town...

★★★★☆ "Polish films are... boring..." claims Engineer Mamon in Marek Piwowski's The Cruise (1970), widely considered the country's original 'cult' film. A tongue-in-cheek microcosm of the Communist state in which it was produced, it sits perfectly within the third volume of Second Run's excellent Polish Cinema Classics series alongside Krzysztof Zanussi's Camouflage (1977) and Wojciech Marczewski's Shivers (1981). Both of the latter filmmakers were featured in Volume 2 of the series and whilst neither film here quite matches the defining masterworks produced previously, this is another impressive triptych that proves Mamon wrong and showcases three distinct approaches to challenging the social order.

The director's offbeat humour may verge on the barking at times, but a Kinoteka film festival retrospective underlines his influence

Here's a guaranteed way to make some fast, easy cash: steal a dog and pamper it – trim its nails, brush its teeth, perm its coat. Slap on an imaginary dynasty and shop the elevated pooch to the nearest gullible mutt nut. Small dogs are easiest. Comb up, away from the eyes. Keep a sausage handy.

That's lesson one of Polish director Janusz Kondratiuk's How to Gain Money, Women and Fame? covered. His tips for picking up women and grabbing the limelight are equally bizarre. You can learn how to master all three at the ninth Kinoteka Polish film festival, which is holding a retrospective of Kondratiuk's films (alongside work from his brother, Andrzej) and a Q&A session with the director at the Riverside Studios in London on 27 March.