The Stalinist-era Stakhanovite phenomenon (so-called “model workers” whose extreme capacity for work was an example for others) is revisited in Bricklayer (Murarz) (1973, 18 mins, Color, 35mm), which focuses on one such worker and his subsequent disillusionment. Kieslowski's own past (his father died of tuberculosis) colors the gently surprising X-Ray (Przeswietlenie) (1974, 12 mins, B&W, 35mm), which spotlights tuberculosis patients dreaming of a “normal life.” Inspired by his daughter's birth, Kieslowski set out to follow the struggles of a young couple about to become parents in the deeply moving, humanistic First Love (Pierwsza milosc) (1974, 52 mins, Color, Beta SP). Finding a home, getting married, earning an income: life in the “new Poland,” and bringing a new life into it, is revealed with all its obsessive rules and regulations in this early precursor to reality TV.