Editing Cinema of Poland (section)

===After WWII===

In November 1945, the communist government founded the film production and distribution organization [[Film Polski]], and put the well-known [[Polish People's Army]] filmmaker [[Aleksander 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.<ref name="Haltof2002">Marek Haltof (2002). ''[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/965534.Polish_National_Cinema Polish national cinema.]'' Berghahn Books, p. 49. {{ISBN|157181275X}}.</ref> In 1947, Ford moved to help establish the new [[National 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 was ''[[Zakazane piosenki]]'' (1946), directed by [[Leonard Buczkowski]], which was seen by 10.8 million people (out of 23,8 total population) in its initial theatrical run.<ref name="Haltof">{{cite book | author =Marek Haltof | title =Polish national cinema | year =2002 | pages =49–50 | publisher =Berghahn Books | isbn=978-1-57181-276-6 }}</ref> Buczkowski continued to make films regularly until his death in 1967. Other important films of the early post-World War II period were ''[[The Last Stage]]'' (1948), directed by [[Wanda Jakubowska]], who continued to make films until the transition from communism to capitalism in 1989, and ''[[Border Street]]'' (1949), directed by Aleksander Ford.

By the mid-1950s, following the end of [[Stalinism 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 the [[Polish 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 (film)|Rosemary's Baby]]'', ''[[Frantic (film)|Frantic]]'', ''[[The Pianist (2002 film)|The Pianist]]'') and [[Krzysztof Zanussi]] (a leading director of the so-called ''[[cinema 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 honorary [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] for his overall contribution to cinema. Four of his films were nominated for [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]] award at [[Academy Awards]] with seven other Polish directors receiving one nomination each: Roman Polański, [[Jerzy Kawalerowicz]], [[Jerzy Hoffman]], [[Jerzy Antczak]], [[Agnieszka Holland]], [[Jan Komasa]] and [[Jerzy Skolimowski]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Oscar Winners 2020: See the Full List|url=https://oscar.go.com/news/winners/oscar-winners-2020-see-the-full-list|work=oscar.go.com |access-date=10 February 2020 |year=2020}}</ref> In 2015, Polish filmmaker [[Paweł Pawlikowski]] received this award for his film ''[[Ida (film)|Ida]]''. In 2019, he was also nominated to the award for his next film ''[[Cold War (2018 film)|Cold War]]'' in two categories - [[Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]] and [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Oscar Winners 2019: See the Full List|url=https://oscar.go.com/news/winners/oscar-winners-2019-live-updates-to-come|work=oscar.go.com |access-date=7 March 2019 |year=2019}}</ref>

It is also important to note that during the 1980s, the People's Republic of Poland instituted the [[Martial law in Poland|martial 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 was [[Ryszard Bugajski]]'s 1982 film ''[[Interrogation (1982 film)|Interrogation]]'' (''Przesluchanie''), which depicts the story of an unfortunate woman (played by [[Krystyna Janda]]) who is arrested and tortured by the secret police into confessing a crime she knows nothing about. The [[anti-communist]] nature of the film brought about the film's over seven-year ban. In 1989, the ban was repealed after the [[Revolutions of 1989#Reform in Poland|overthrow 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.<ref name="Los Angeles Times">{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-09-26-ca-912-story.html |title=MOVIE REVIEW - 'Interrogation': Janda's Arresting Performance - Los Angeles Times |access-date=2009-09-23|work=Los Angeles Times | first=Sheila | last=Benson | date=1990-09-26}}</ref><ref name="Przesluchanie">{{cite web|url=http://www.secondrundvd.com/release_more_int.php |title=Second Run DVD - Interrogation |access-date=2009-09-24|work=Second Run DVD}}</ref>
{{Culture of Poland}}

In the 1990s, [[Krzysztof Kieślowski]] won a universal acclaim with productions such as ''[[Dekalog]]'' (made for television), ''[[The Double Life of Véronique]]'' and the ''[[Three Colors]]'' trilogy. Another of the most famous movies in Poland is [[Krzysztof Krauze]]’s ''[[The Debt (1999 film)|The Debt]]'', which became a blockbuster.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200810160306/http://www.eurochannel.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&Itemid=355&id=355&lang=en&view=article Presentation of the Polish cinema on Eurochannel website]</ref> It showed the brutal reality of Polish capitalism and the growth of poverty.  A considerable number of Polish film directors (e.g., [[Agnieszka Holland]] and [[Janusz Kamiński]]) have worked in American studios. Polish animated films - like those by [[Jan Lenica]] and [[Zbigniew 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]] and [[Janusz 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 as [[Gdynia Film Festival]] and [[Polish Film Awards]].

====Cinema audience====

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.