"LIVING IN POLONIA"

POLES AND THE MOVIES

This could reasonably be called The Movie Edition of Polonia Today Online. We’ve never carried so many stories about the film and video industry in our entire century-long history, ranging from print to internet.

Purely be coincidence, it is also a historic time for the Polish movie industry. The exceptional film "The Battle Of Warsaw 1920" ["Bitwa Warszawska 1920"] premieres in Chicago this month. I haven’t seen it yet, but I have a ticket for next week and, judging from the trailer that is available at our website, I can hardly wait.

The film has been touted as "Poland’s first 3-D movie," "Europe’s first 3-D movie" or "Europe’s first 3-D action movie." Whatever. The promoters may not be able to get the claims right, but that does not much matter. The subject matter is important and some of Poland’s greatest film artists and technicians have been mustered for the production. And, oh yeah, if it means anything to you, did I mention that it is the most expensive film ever made in Poland.

"The Battle Of Warsaw 1920," quite naturally made in Polish, is subtitled in English, but, having already spent a small fortune in its creation, it would seem financially viable to also produce an English-dubbed version in order to reach a wide audience. Hopefully, that will be the next step.

Another story informs us that "In Darkness" ["W ciemności"] is Poland’s entry for an Oscar in the foreign film feature category. Directed by the famous Agnieszka Holland and already a winner at the Toronto Film Festival, it should have a good shot at winning the golden statuette in Los Angeles.

In the Polonia section of the website, you can discover that Hollywood owes a lot to the predominantly Jewish Poles who were instrumental in its creation and phenomenal success. Amazingly, they and other movie pioneers all came from the same part of Poland, where there must be something in the air that produced such entrepreneurial and innovative masters of the screen. Some were wonderful persons, others not quite so loved, but the revelation of their Polish connection should encourage us to learn more about them, as well as announce the fact to the world.

Particularly exciting, is that the book "Pollywood," written by a Polish-born writer and director, will be made into a movie in the English language.

Not a movie, but a video, which is about as close as you can get, "Poland? Yes!" ["Polska? Tak!"], can be viewed at Polonia Today Online this month. The promotional video features a veritable bevy of internationally known personalities, many of whom are famous movie stars and directors. Produced by a government agency, it is an unabashed paean to Poland, using the latest techniques to introduce people across the globe to the virtues of a great nation. We say "Yes" to Poland every day … perhaps the video will help instill the same affirmative response in a more universal audience.

We probably have not said it before, but the Polish film industry is, and has been even through the dark days of occupation, quite outstanding. My library of DVDs includes numerous Polish features. It might be hoped that this edition of Polonia Today Online will encourage others, including non-Poles, to appreciate the talents of Polish filmmakers.

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