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Warsaw in newsreels from the uprising to reconstruction, August 1944- November 1947
Items from the German newsreel series Die Deutsche Wochenschau, War Pictorial News and the Allied Military Government newsreel Welt im Film, covering Warsaw from the brutal suppression of the Uprising to the Russian ‘liberation’ of the capital and scenes of the reconstruction of the city. Most of the newsreels are in German. A leaflet translation will be provided. 40mins
Battle for Warsaw (2006)
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A documentary about the Warsaw Uprising, an organised, armed resistance by the Poles of Warsaw against the German occupiers, which ran for 63 days from the 1 August 1944. Directed and produced by Wanda Kościa for October Films. 50mins
The Struggles for Poland: Bright Days of Tomorrow (1945-1956) (1988)
The world is transformed. Poland has new boundaries and territories. In a search for a communist utopia, Poland’s new leaders resort to Stalinist terror. A documentary history of Poland directed by Bołeslaw Sulik and produced by Martin Smith for David Naden Associates with WNET Thirteen New York, Norddeutscher Rundfunk and Channel 4. 60mins
One…Two…Three No. 11 (1953)
A Marshall Plan magazine film, includes a story on Polish ex-soldiers settling in the Dutch town of Breda;
Roving Report – People of Poland (1959)
An in-depth ITN news report, looks at four stories from contemporary Poland;
HMS Tiger Visits Gdynia During a Baltic Cruise (10/1959)
Scenes taken by a Royal Naval cameraman, covering various scenes as the ship hosts various fraternal visits by the people of Gdynia and the Captain lays a wreath at the memorial to the heroes of Westerplatte. (this film is mute).
Total running time 53mins
Cicha przystań (Silent Harbour) (1995)
A documentary about an old man and army veteran who at the end of the Second World War was a member of the secret organisation “Freedom and Independence”, set up to fight the communist regime. Despite having been tainted by association with such a controversial organisation, he survived the communist regime for 45 years by hiding and because of the inconspicuous nature of his work at a mortuary. Director and screenplay Mariusz Malec.
Słońce wschodzi raz na dzień (The Sun Rises Once a Day) (1967)
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This film ballad is a richly stylised tale about the dramatic fate of a small mountain village in 1945. The charismatic local leader, Haratyk, who has been fighting the Germans in a partisan unit, decides to treat Communist propaganda about the “power of the people” seriously. Through the combined efforts of all the inhabitants, he builds a mill and a school, but he soon finds himself in conflict with the Communist Security Service. As a result, Haratyk and the highlanders burn down the mill and head into the forest... Directed by Henryk Kluba.
Total running time 117mins
Rok 1946 (The Year 1946) (1947)
This documentary provides a summary of the most significant events of 1946 and in the official tone of the time. Directed by Jerzy Bossak.
Pułkownik Kwiatkowski (Colonel Kwiatkowski) (1995)
Set in 1945 this is a bravura comedy about a military doctor, who impersonates a Colonel in the Security Services and then arranges the release of political prisoners from Communist torture chambers. In spite of the tragic circumstances and the film’s rather bitter ending, the director Kazimierza Kutz, employs a spontaneous, even wild humour. Directed by.
Total running time 134mins
Dreszcze (Shivers) (1981)
Set in the 1950s, this film follows the experiences of little Tomek, the son of a recently arrested “enemy of the people”, who comes under the spell of the woman looking after him, a fanatical and beautiful communist determined to turn her young charge into a “new man”, who will be totally devoted to the party and the communist regime. Her attempts at indoctrination are strengthened by the boy’s erotic fascination with her. Director and screenplay: Wojciech Marczewski. 123mins
It Began on the Vistula (1961)
A documentary account from the perspective of Poles living in France, of Soviet domination of Eastern Europe from 1939. Directed by Barbara Gorska and Janusz Piekatkiewicz for the Association Internationale des Cineastes Libres, section Polonaise, Paris.
Witold Lanowski (1964)
A BBC news report on the campaign by a Second World War Polish fighter ace, to gain compensation from the US Governement for his unpaid services as a Thunderbolt pilot between October 1944 and August 1945. Report by Christopher Brasher for the BBC. Total running time 116mins
Matka Królów (Sons and Comrades) (1982)
The history of Łucja Król, a poor widow, and her four sons during the stormiest years of the twentieth century. Pre-war Warsaw, the German occupation, and Stalinism. The travails of Łucja family are intertwined with the life of a neighbour from their building, Wiktor Lewin, an educated, idealistic communist, who before the war was persecuted by the Polish police for his political views, during the war hid from the Germans due to his Jewish heritage, and after the war, began a successful career within the power structures of the new regime. Director and screenplay: Janusz Zaorski. 127mins
The Katyn Massacre in Documentaries and Newsreels
Im Wald Von Katyn (In the Forest of Katyn)
A German propaganda report on the mass graves of Polish officers in Katyn forest and of Russians at Vinnitsa in the Ukraine.
Die Deutsche Wochenschau Nr. 672 (21/7/1943)
German newsreel item on the mass graves at Katyn and Vinnitsa.
The Graves of Katyn.
Post-war documentary on the Katyn massacre, by the Polish Association of Former Soviet Political Prisoners.
Total running time 40mins
Katyń – A Documentary (2007)
Józef Gebskì film takes a thorough look at the Katyn massacre. He searched through the Polish, Russian, German and American archives to reveal som of the hidden - and often manipulated – truths behind the killings. In the 1990s, Gebskì took part in the exhumation work of these mass graves. He speaks with Polish and American historians, such as Zdzslaw Perszkowski, a prisoner in Kzelelsk and a participant in the search for Polish graves. 77mins
The Struggles for Poland: In this Life (1900-1979) (1988)
The Roman Catholic church in Poland and its struggle to combat atheism and Bolshevism. The moral and political dilemmas that have shaped the most powerful church in Europe. Directed by Bołeslaw Sulik and produced by Martin Smith for David Naden Associates with WNET Thirteen New York, Norddeutscher Rundfunk and Channel 4. 60mins
Prymas. Trzy lata z tysiąca (The Primate) (2000)
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The year is 1953. An all-out war is being waged in Poland against the Catholic church – the one institution that has not yet been subjugated by the communist regime. Political show trials of priests and bishops are being held and growing pressure is being placed on the church, including arrests, surveillance and anti-clerical propaganda. When the primate, Cardinal Wyszyński, protests strongly against these illegal attacks in his famous "Non possumus" letter, the communists decide to take a drastic step and arrest him. He is kept in total isolation in an abandoned monastery and surrounded by spies. The Security Service prepares a plan to discredit him: during a special meeting of bishops, a person impersonating Cardinal Wyszyński will announce his resignation as the Church’s primate. Director: Teresa Kotlarczyk. 100 mins
The Struggles for Poland: Sweepers of Squares (1956-1970) (1988)
Riots in the streets. Russian tanks encircle Warsaw. Hungary 1956. Czechoslovakia 1968. A workers’ revolt brings change. Directed by Paul Robinson and produced by Martin Smith for David Naden Associates with WNET Thirteen New York, Norddeutscher Rundfunk and Channel 4. 60mins
Cwał (At Full Gallop) (1995)
A tragicomedy – The Stalinist period in Poland is viewed through the eyes of a boy raised by an eccentric aunt (a role played excellently by Maja Komorowska), who through her intelligence, imagination, and sense of humour manages by some miracle to ignore the dreary reality around her and teach her ward how to gallop through life... Director and screenplay: Krzysztof Zanussi. 103min
Jeden dzień w PRL (One Day in the People’s Polish Republic) (2005)
A documentary shot on September 27, 1962, a day in which nothing of note happened in the Polish People’s Republic. The weather report predicted scattered clouds. More than 1600 new citizens were brought into the world, and around 600 died. A day like any other. The People’s Tribune carried on its front page an interview with the Vice-minister of the Chemical Industry, as well as information about a celebratory concert by musicians from the USSR, which had been attended by representatives of the party and the government. The Iskra publishing house had released a new book on the life of Vladimir Lenin. In Warsaw Life, they wrote that numerous shipments of ersatz coffee were being held due to questions about its quality. From these banal facts, however, a fascinating mosaic forms before our very eyes. Thanks to scrupulous documentation obtained from dozens of archives, Maciej Drygas manages to tell the story of an average day in Poland, hour by hour. Along side this rich narration is a goldmine of knowledge about life in the Polish People’s Republic comprised of police reports, personal letters, keepsakes, official records, radio broadcasts, and newspaper articles. These seemingly modest means allow him to achieve a moving impression of a past that in returning becomes a reality. The most radical de-mythologization of the Polish People’s Republic that one can imagine. Director and screenplay: Maciej Drygas.
Tam i z powrotem (There and Back) (1978)
A moving documentary description of one day in the life of a “peasant-worker” living in a village and commuting to the FSO automobile factory in Warsaw. The portrait of the drudgery of his job stands in shocking contrast to the indifferent, at times even cheerful narration of the film’s hero.Director: Grzegorz Skurski, cinematography: Piotr Kwiatkowski.
Opowieść o człowieku, który wykonał 552% normy (A Story of a Man who Fulfilled 552% of the Norm) (1973)
A documentary film about a miner, Bernard Bugdol, a shock worker from the end of the 1940s, when the regime in Poland introduced the Soviet model of “competition”, which forced workers to perform murderous feats of labour. Bernard and Rudolf Bugdol, miners from the Śląsk Mine in Chrobaczew achieve 552% of the norm. Bernard Bugdol’s account concerns this record, people’s reactions to it, the 20-year long careers of the Stalinist directors of the “Wujek”, “Karol”, “Zabrze” and “Łagiewniki” mines, as well as the mines’ work safety and health inspector. Commendations, family gatherings, a wife’s account of the bitter fame of her husband, as well as the responses of miners who are sceptical about such a high norm having been achieved. Director: Wojciech Wiszniewski, Cinematography: Witold Stok, Tomasz Tarasin, Cezary Makowski, Wojciech Kozłowski.
Total running time 93mins
Nie płacz (Don’t Cry) (1972)
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A visually extraordinary film about a group of friends saying their goodbyes before leaving for war. Their last hours as civilians and conscripts: one last swim together with the boys, and then off to the train platform and the trains that will take them to their units – an atmosphere of exaltation, rebellion, nostalgia... A study of the last moments of freedom. The film was not released until 1989.Director and screenplay: Grzegorz Królikiewicz, Cinematography: Stanisław Niedbalski, Witold Stok, Jacek Tworek.
Marcowe migdały (March Caresses) (1989)
The heroes of the film are students at a school in the provinces somewhere in Poland. They experience youthful emotions, first loves, family troubles, school friendships. Suddenly the dirty side of politics enters their lives: the Communist regime is "cleansing" Poland of Jews. One of their friends, Marcyś – must leave the country. Although the impulse to start the Anti-Semitic campaign was a rivalry between various factions in the government apparatus, its deplorable effects touch all of society. The anti-Semitic propaganda aimed at "agents of Zionism" bears poisonous fruit, creating an atmosphere of collective aggression. Piwowarski’s film paints the absurdity and meanness of these political machinations from the perspective of a small town. Director and screenplay: Radosław Piwowarski, Cinematography: Zdzisław Najda, in the lead roles: Olaf Lubaszenko, Piotr Siwkiewicz, Stanisław Budny.
Total running time 98mins
Requiem for 500,000 (1962)
A Polish documentary about the creation and destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto, 1939-43. Directed by Jerzy Bossak and Waclaw Kazmierczak, for Film Polski, Warsaw Documentary Film Studios.
Poland (1968) A fiercely nationalistic documentary about Poland, sketching its history, war experience and Soviet occupation. Directed by Julien Bryan and produced by Walter Carroll.
Rachela na dworcu gdańskim (Rachel at Gdansk Train Station) (2006)
The facts surrounding the events of March 1968 are well known. Yet we know little about the state of mind of the people who were the target of this anti-Semitic campaign. The choice of Sweden as the location for a meeting of March emigrants is not accidental. Sweden was the country that received those emigrants who resisted the campaign the longest in the hope of holding out and surviving it in order to remain in the country that they saw as their homeland. This homeland, however, did not want them... "Rachel at Gdanski Station" is a verse from Natan Tenebaum’s poem "Chochoły". This poem itself became an "emigrant" even before its author. It was published by Radio Free Europe. Gabryela Bromberg, Józef Dajczgewand, Michał Moszkowicz, Natan Tenebaum, Leszek Kantor... never truly accepted how they were treated by the "People’s State". Director: Ewa Szprynger, Cinematography: Mirosław Basaj.
Total running time 107mins
The Struggles for Poland: The Workers’ State (1970-1980) (1988)
Under communist supervision, Poland becomes an industrial society but the children of People’s Poland create Solidarity. The tremors reverberate around the world. Directed by Dai Vaughan and produced by Martin Smith for David Naden Associates with WNET Thirteen New York, Norddeutscher Rundfunk and Channel 4. 60mins
Człowiek z marmuru (The Man of Marble) (1976)
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The year is 1976, Agnieszka, a young and very ambitious director decides to make a film about a Stalinist shock worker, the bricklayer Mateusz Birkut, who in 1952 laid 30,000 bricks during one shift along with his five-man crew during the building of Nowa Huta. While searching through archival and documentary material, she discovers a human drama behind the propaganda facade. It turns out that Birkut goes from being favored by the regime to becoming a critic of it. He falls out of favour and ends up in prison. Her boss at the television station forbids her to continue her research and confiscates the film. In spite of this, Agnieszka does not give up. She searches out and finds the son of Birkut, Maćka... One of the most famous Polish films, which offered the first reckonings with the Stalinist era of "mistakes and deviations". The anti-system message carried by this work in some sense foreshadowed the rise of Solidarity. Krystyna Janda’s legendary role in the film was the beginning of her great acting career. Director: Andrzej Wajda, Screenplay: Aleksander Ścibor-Rylski, Cinematography: Edward Kłosiński, in the lead roles: Jerzy Radziwiłłowicz, Krystyna Janda, Michał Tarkowski, Piotr Cieślak. 153mins