Institutions and Companies

Producers

 

Polish cinematography has been developing dynamically in recent years. More films are being made, and they are being watched by a growing number of viewers. About 100 companies deal with film production.

 

Most of the production companies were established in the last decade (Apple Film Production, STI Studio Filmowe, Filmcontract, ATM), and new ones are constantly being opened. These include such firms as Paisa, Gremi, Aurora, Skopia Film or Otter Films. In 2008 was created Munk Studio, which handles production of works made by young filmmakers, and the recently formed branch of Dutch Zentropy Lars von Trier, led by Małgorzata Szumowska.

 

A wide range of services

 

The biggest production companies such as Akson Studio and Opus Film release four to six films annually. In recent years, many companies have focused on providing specialised services. There are companies focusing on co-operation with foreign entities (for instance Yeti Films), documentary films (Contra Studio, Eureka Media, Kalejdoskop, Otter Films), and popular cinema (Van Worden, MTL MaxFilm). Among the leading animation studios are Se-Ma-For and Studio Miniatur Filmowych.

Film studios

The traditional film studios still play an important role such as Zebra, Kadr, Tor, OKO, Kalejdoskop, Kronika or Perspektywa. They are still among the most active producers. The strong production companies are also The Documentary and Feature Films Studio (WFDiF) in Warsaw, The Educational Film Studio (WFO) in Lodz and Alvernia Studios, the first private film studio in Poland, which has become co-producent of many international co-productions.

The film studios such as The Chimney Pot, TPS and Propaganda are specialized in post production and digital reconstruction of films.

 

Cinema on TV

 

In recent years Polish Television has been an important film source. Due to uncertainty over the future of public television, it is difficult to say what future contribution it will have in supporting national film production. Commercial television companies are also active producers, particularly Polsat and TVN. They focus on sitcoms and high-budget films aimed at mass audiences.

 

Distributors

In Poland the market is dominated by the representatives of Hollywood studios such as UIP, Forum Film (Buena Vista International), Imperial CinePix (20th Century Fox), and Warner Bros. Of course there are also several important polish film distributors. Among them, a few are focused on spreading cinema with artistic values (Gutek Film, Kino Świat, and leading documentary cinema distributor Against Gravity). The other companies that distribute Polish and foreign productions are ITI Ciemna, Kino Świat, Monolith Films, Spi, Vivarto, Best Film, Vision Film, Forum, Film Poland. However, in 2007 the "Film Polski" Foundation for the Promotion of Cinema was created, whose main task is to distribute Polish films and promotion abroad. Many independent distributors are also engaged in film production.

 

Defending small cinemas

 

There are more than 700 cinemas operating in Poland, the majority of which are small one-hall cinemas. But multiplexes reign; there are 67 of them and they function in nearly all medium-sized and big cities in Poland and they have the largest incomes from ticket sales. Small one-hall cinemas focus on promoting artistic works. They are members of, and are supported by, the Europa Cinemas network, and belong to the Network of Local and Study Cinemas supported by the Polish Film Institute. Small cinemas can benefit substantially from the Operational Programme "Development of Cinema Infrastructure" created by the Polish Film Institute. From May 2011 within the framework of this programme they can obtain money for the purchase of the digital projectors.

 

Numerous festivals

 

Each year there are several dozen film festivals, large and small, and new ones are constantly being created. The most important are the Gdynia Film Festival, the biggest annual retrospective of Polish cinematography; the Warsaw Film Festival; the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Plus Camerimage in Bydgoszcz; the Kraków Film Festival, promoting mainly documentary films and animated films; the New Horizons International Film Festival in Wrocław; and Planete Doc Film Festival in Warsaw, the biggest international retrospective of documentary films in Poland.

 

Mushrooming funds

 

The Polish Film Institute oversees the financing and promoting Polish films. However, the role of Regional Film Funds is increasing; they are popping up in Polish cities like mushrooms after a nourishing rain. We have currently 11 Regional Film Funds: in Łódź, Poznań, Lublin, Katowice, Krakow, Szczecin, Gdynia, Gdańsk, Wrocław, Kielce and Warsaw. The two new film funds are going to be created in Białystok and kuyavia voivodship.

 

Other film institutions

Among other important institutions of Polish cinematography, the National Archives (Filmoteka Narodowa) should be mentioned. It contains one of the biggest collection of film tapes and archives in Europe. The Polish Filmmakers Association (SFP),ceated in 1966, is the biggest organisation in Poland focusing on filmmakers, along with the National Chamber of Audiovisual Producers (KIPA) which was established to protect the economic and legal interests of the Polish audiovisual sector. The National Audiovisual Institute (NiNA) was established to archive and publish the most valuable phenomena in Polish culture and also to digitalize films and distribute the reconstructed and digitally recorded materials.