Warsaw Documentary Film Studio
Encyclopedia
The Warsaw Documentary Film Studio (Wytwornia Filmow Dokumentalnych in Polish
) is a Polish film
production company.
Founded in 1950 as a unit of the film monopoly P. P. Film Polski, the institution has operated as both school and producer for Poland's leading documetary
filmmakers.
Throughout the '50s, the studio produced documentaries and newsreels for Polish Newsreels (Polska Kronika Filmowa). The studio also produced material for the Polish national television network, Telewizja Polska
, as well as numerous promotional and commercial films for industry. At the beginning of the 1960s, the studio began developing its ability to produce feature films. Initially it only produced a handful of feature films annually, but output quickly increased and in the 1970s production reached 20 feature films a year.
The celebrated Polish director Andrzej Wajda
produced a number of his best films at the facility, including Man of Marble
, Man of Iron
, Landscape After Battle and The Wedding
. Krzysztof Kieślowski
also made use of the studio, producing his renowned television miniseries
The Decalogue
here in 1988. Other notable television programs produced at the studio include Nights and Days
(Noce i dnie) by Jerzy Antczak
, Polish Roads (Polskie drogi) by Janusz Morgenstern
and Home
(Dom) by Jan Lomnicki, among others.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
) is a Polish film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
production company.
Founded in 1950 as a unit of the film monopoly P. P. Film Polski, the institution has operated as both school and producer for Poland's leading documetary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
filmmakers.
Throughout the '50s, the studio produced documentaries and newsreels for Polish Newsreels (Polska Kronika Filmowa). The studio also produced material for the Polish national television network, Telewizja Polska
Telewizja Polska
Telewizja Polska Spółka Akcyjna is Poland's public broadcasting corporation...
, as well as numerous promotional and commercial films for industry. At the beginning of the 1960s, the studio began developing its ability to produce feature films. Initially it only produced a handful of feature films annually, but output quickly increased and in the 1970s production reached 20 feature films a year.
The celebrated Polish director Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Wajda is a Polish film director. Recipient of an honorary Oscar, he is possibly the most prominent member of the unofficial "Polish Film School"...
produced a number of his best films at the facility, including Man of Marble
Man of Marble
Man of Marble is a 1976 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It chronicles the fall from grace of a fictional heroic Polish bricklayer, Mateusz Birkut , who became the Stakhanovite symbol of an over-achieving worker, in Nowa Huta, a new socialist city near Kraków...
, Man of Iron
Man of Iron
Man of Iron is a 1981 film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It depicts the Solidarity labour movement and its first success in persuading the Polish government to recognize the workers' right to an independent union....
, Landscape After Battle and The Wedding
The Wedding (1972 film)
Wesele is a motion picture made in 1972 in Poland by Andrzej Wajda as an adaptation of a play by the same title written by Stanisław Wyspiański in 1901. Wajda also directed "Wesele" for the theatre....
. Krzysztof Kieślowski
Krzysztof Kieslowski
Krzysztof Kieślowski was an Academy Award nominated influential Polish film director and screenwriter, known internationally for The Double Life of Veronique and his film cycles The Decalogue and Three Colors.-Early life:...
also made use of the studio, producing his renowned television miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
The Decalogue
The Decalogue
The Decalogue is a 1989 Polish television drama series directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski and co-written by Kieślowski with Krzysztof Piesiewicz, with music by Zbigniew Preisner...
here in 1988. Other notable television programs produced at the studio include Nights and Days
Nights and Days
Nights and Days is a 1975 Polish film directed by Jerzy Antczak. This epic family drama was based on Maria Dabrowska's novel Noce i Dnie, and was described by The Washington Post as "Poland's Gone With the Wind"...
(Noce i dnie) by Jerzy Antczak
Jerzy Antczak
Jerzy Antczak is a Polish film director. His film Nights and Days was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was entered into the 26th Berlin International Film Festival....
, Polish Roads (Polskie drogi) by Janusz Morgenstern
Janusz Morgenstern
Janusz "Kuba" Morgenstern was a Polish film director and producer.Janusz Morgenstern was born in 1922 to a Jewish family in the village of Mikulińce near Tarnopol , to Dawid Morgenstern and Estera .He debuted as a director with the film Goodbye, See You Tomorrow...
and Home
Home
A home is a place of residence or refuge. When it refers to a building, it is usually a place in which an individual or a family can rest and store personal property. Most modern-day households contain sanitary facilities and a means of preparing food. Animals have their own homes as well, either...
(Dom) by Jan Lomnicki, among others.