| Cinema of Poland | |
|---|---|
 Film festivalOff Plus Camera inKraków, 2012 | |
| No. ofscreens | 1,600 (2024)[1][2] |
| • Per capita | 3.2 per 100,000 (2011)[2] |
| Main distributors | United International Pictures 26.8% Forum Film 12.8% Imperial Cinepix 11.9%[3] |
| Produced feature films (2024)[1][4] | |
| Total | 62 |
| Number of admissions (2024)[1][6] | |
| Total | 49,500,000 |
| • Per capita | 1 (2012)[5] |
| Gross box office (2010)[6] | |
| Total | PLN 703 million (~€167.8 million) |
| National films | PLN 43.5 million (~€10.4 million) (6.2%) |
The history ofcinema in Poland is almost as long as the history ofcinematography, and it has universally recognized achievements, even though Polish films tend to be less commercially available than films from several other European nations.
AfterWorld War II, the communist government built anauteur-based national cinema, trained hundreds of new directors and empowered them to make films. Filmmakers likeRoman Polański,Krzysztof Kieślowski,Agnieszka Holland,Andrzej Wajda,Andrzej Żuławski,Andrzej Munk, andJerzy Skolimowski impacted the development of Polish film-making. In more recent years, the industry has been producer-led with finance being the key to a film being made.
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The firstcinema was founded inŁódź in 1899, several years after the invention of theCinematograph. Initially dubbedLiving Pictures Theatre, it gained much popularity and by the end of the next decade there were cinemas in almost every major town in Poland. Arguably the first Polish filmmaker wasKazimierz Prószyński, who filmed various short documentaries inWarsaw. Hispleographfilm camera had been patented before theLumière brothers' invention and he is credited as the author of the earliest surviving Polish documentary titledŚlizgawka w Łazienkach (Skating-rink in theRoyal Baths, also known asOn skating-rink[7]), made between 1894 and 1896, as well as the first shortnarrative filmsPowrót birbanta (Rake's return home) andPrzygoda dorożkarza (Cabman's Adventure), both created in 1902. Another pioneer of cinema wasBolesław Matuszewski, who became one of the first filmmakers working for the Lumière company - and the official "cinematographer" of the Russian tsars in 1897.
The earliest survivingshort film isPruska kultura (Prussian Culture) and the earliest survivingfeature film isAntoś pierwszy raz w Warszawie (Antoś for the First Time in Warsaw). Both of them were made in 1908, the first one by an unknown director and the second one byAntoni Fertner. The date ofAntoś'première, October 22, 1908, is considered the founding date of the Polishfilm industry. Soon Polish artists started experimenting with other genres of cinema: in 1910Władysław Starewicz made one of the firstanimated cartoons in the world - and the first to use thestop motion technique, thePiękna Lukanida (Beautiful Lukanida). By the start ofWorld War I the cinema in Poland was already in full swing, with numerous adaptations of major works ofPolish literature screened (notably theDzieje grzechu,Meir Ezofowicz, andNad Niemnem).
During World War I the Polish cinema crossed borders. Films made in Warsaw orVilnius were often rebranded with German-languageintertitles and shown inBerlin. That was how a young actressPola Negri (born Barbara Apolonia Chałupiec) gained fame in Germany and eventually became one of the European super-stars ofsilent film.
The first woman to direct a film in Poland and the only female film director of the Polish silent film era wasNina Niovilla.[8][9] She debuted in 1918 in Berlin,[8] and then directed her first Polish film[8] titledTamara (also known under the titleObrońcy Lwowa) in 1919.[8][9]
During World War II, Polish filmmakers in Great Britain created the anti-Nazi color filmCalling Mr. Smith[10][11][12] (1943) about Nazi crimes in occupied Europe and about Nazi propaganda. It was one of the first anti-Nazi films in history being both an avant-garde and a documentary film.[13]
In November 1945, the communist government founded the film production and distribution organizationFilm Polski, and put the well-knownPolish People's Army filmmakerAleksander Ford in charge. Starting with a few railway carriages full of film equipment taken from the Germans they proceed to train and build a Polish film industry. The FP output was limited; only thirteen features were released between 1947 and its dissolution in 1952, concentrating on Polish suffering at the hands of the Nazis.[14] In 1947, Ford moved to help establish the newNational Film School in Łódź, where he taught for 20 years.
The industry used imported cameras and film stocks. At first ORWO black and white film stock from East Germany and then Eastman colour negative stock and ORWO print stocks for rushes and release prints. Poland made its own lighting equipment. Because of the high costs of film stock Polish films were shot with very low shooting ratios, the amount of film stock used in shooting the film to length of the finished film. The equipment and film stock were not the best and budgets were modest but the film makers received probably the best training in the world from the Polish Film School. Another advantage was Film Polski's status as a state organisation, so its film-makers had access to all Polish institutions and their cooperation in making their films. Film cameras were able to enter almost every aspect of Polish life.
The first film produced in Poland following the World War II wasZakazane piosenki (1946), directed byLeonard Buczkowski, which was seen by 10.8 million people (out of 23,8 total population) in its initial theatrical run.[15] Buczkowski continued to make films regularly until his death in 1967. Other important films of the early post-World War II period wereThe Last Stage (1948), directed byWanda Jakubowska, who continued to make films until the transition from communism to capitalism in 1989, andBorder Street (1949), directed by Aleksander Ford.
By the mid-1950s, following the end ofStalinism in Poland, Film production was organised into film groups. A film group was a collection of film makers, led by an experienced film director and consisting of writers, film directors and production managers. They would write scripts, create budgets, apply for funding off the Ministry of Culture and produce the picture. They would hire actors and crew, and use studios and laboratories controlled by Film Polski.
The change in political climate gave rise to thePolish Film School movement, a training ground for some of the icons of the world cinematography, e.g.,Roman Polański (Knife in the Water,Rosemary's Baby,Frantic,The Pianist) andKrzysztof Zanussi (a leading director of the so-calledcinema of moral anxiety of the 1970s).Andrzej Wajda's films offer insightful analyses of the universal element of the Polish experience - the struggle to maintain dignity under the most trying circumstances. His films defined several Polish generations. In 2000, Wajda was awarded an honoraryOscar for his overall contribution to cinema. Four of his films were nominated forBest Foreign Language Film award atAcademy Awards with seven other Polish directors receiving one nomination each: Roman Polański,Jerzy Kawalerowicz,Jerzy Hoffman,Jerzy Antczak,Agnieszka Holland,Jan Komasa andJerzy Skolimowski.[16] In 2015, Polish filmmakerPaweł Pawlikowski received this award for his filmIda. In 2019, he was also nominated to the award for his next filmCold War in two categories -Best Foreign Language Film andBest Director.[17]
It is also important to note that during the 1980s, the People's Republic of Poland instituted themartial law to vanquish and censor all forms of opposition against the communist rule of the nation, including outlets such as cinema and radio. A notable film to have emerged during this period wasRyszard Bugajski's 1982 filmInterrogation (Przesluchanie), which depicts the story of an unfortunate woman (played byKrystyna Janda) who is arrested and tortured by the secret police into confessing a crime she knows nothing about. Theanti-communist nature of the film brought about the film's over seven-year ban. In 1989, the ban was repealed after theoverthrow of the Communist government in Poland, and the film was shown in theaters for the first time later that year. The film is still lauded today for its audacity in depicting the cruelty of the Stalinist regime, as many artists feared persecution during that time.[18][19]
In the 1990s,Krzysztof Kieślowski won a universal acclaim with productions such asDekalog (made for television),The Double Life of Véronique and theThree Colors trilogy. Another of the most famous movies in Poland isKrzysztof Krauze’sThe Debt, which became a blockbuster.[20] It showed the brutal reality of Polish capitalism and the growth of poverty. A considerable number of Polish film directors (e.g.,Agnieszka Holland andJanusz Kamiński) have worked in American studios. Polish animated films - like those byJan Lenica andZbigniew Rybczyński (Oscar, 1983) - drew on a long tradition and continued to derive their inspiration from Poland's graphic arts. Other notable Polish film directors include:Tomasz Bagiński,Małgorzata Szumowska,Jan Jakub Kolski,Jerzy Kawalerowicz,Stanisław Bareja andJanusz Zaorski.
Among prominent annual film festivals taking place in Poland are:Warsaw International Film Festival,Camerimage,International Festival of Independent Cinema Off Camera,New Horizons Film Festival as well asGdynia Film Festival andPolish Film Awards.
The Communist government invested resources into building a sophisticated cinema audience. All the cinema were state owned and consisted of first run premiere cinema, local cinema and art house cinemas. Tickets were cheap and students and old people received discounts. In the city of Lodz there were 36 cinemas in the 1970s showing films from all over the world. There were the Italian films of Fellini, French comedies, American crime movies such as Don Siegel's "Charley Varrick" . Films were shown in their original versions with Polish subtitles. Anti-Communist and Cold War films were not shown, but a bigger restriction was the cost of some films. There were popular film magazines like "Film" and "Screen", critical magazines such as "Kino". This all helped to build a well informed film audience.
ThePolish Film Academy was founded in 2003 inWarsaw and aims to provide native filmmakers a forum for discussion and a way to promote the reputation of Polish cinema through publications, presentations, discussions and regular promotion of the subject in the schools.
Since 2003, the winners of thePolish Film Awards are elected by the members of the academy.
Several institutions, both government run and private, provide formal education in various aspects of filmmaking.
Two museums devoted to the history of Polish film are located inŁódź:
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