A Light Take on the Heavy Industry of the Second Polish Republic - Set no. 2
Many films made during the interwar period depicted various industrial plants in the reborn Polish state. Some of them are newly built, while others are old pre-war factories. Films of that king were not only a great fit for the then prevailing fascination with automation and industrialization, but also showcased and promoted the development of the industry and economy of the budding state. The FINA archive houses about a dozen such films, both documentary and commercial, dating back to the silent film era. Not much is known about them, for instance, their creators or the exact date they were produced; they are often damaged and incomplete. However, today, after a hundred years, they are an invaluable and unique relic of that era.
Władysław Paschalski Industrial Commercial Plant
Poland 1926, 16'
Director: unknown
DCP copy from 2025, tinted, 16 fps
Source: FINA
A documentary depicting the operations of Władysław Paschalski’s metalworks in Warsaw. Aside from machines for making tobacco products, the plant also produced devices for the arms industry. The particular equipment produced, however, was not presented. The film presents, however, an opportunity to see buildings, interiors, and people at work in a mid-1920s state-of-the-art factory
Previously unknown to a wider audience, the film was digitized by FINA in 2025.
In the Coal Mine
Poland 1935, 11'
Director: Eugeniusz Cękalski
Producer: Film Institute of the Polish Telegraphic Agency
A DCP copy from 2022, B&W, 24 fps
Source: FINA
A day in the life of miners. The film shows not only the authentic interiors of the coal mine and the work on coal extraction, but also its further processing and the plants operating near the mine. This is one of the early documentaries by Eugeniusz Cękalski, a filmmaker associated with the Polish avant-garde film movement. The film was commissioned by the Film Institute of the Polish Telegraphic Agency, which has been producing documentaries since 1935, including propaganda, travel, and educational films.
In the Coal Mine was digitally restored by FINA in 2022.
Commercial for Polish Siemens Factory
Poland, early 1930s, 3'
Director: unknown
35mm copy from 1982, 24 fps
Source: FINA
In a heavy downpour, a chilled and soaked lady enters the house of a young man. How can he comfort his shivering beloved? Siemens electric heaters come to the rescue. This household appliances commercial is one of the oldest preserved commercials in the FINA collection.
Cracow Municipal Gas Company
Poland 1928, 12'
Director: Szczęsny Mysłowicz
Producer: Instytut Filmowy Lumen
35mm Desmetcolor system copy from 1981, tinted, 16 fps
Source: FINA
The film chiefly documents the subsequent stages of the production of gas. Shots of machines in operation are interspersed with animated diagrams illustrating their work, while the final scene shows how a gas oven can be used to bake a cake. The film was produced by Instytut Filmowy Lumen, to which we owe a rich film documentation of Krakow at the end of the 1920s.
The Warsaw Filters
Poland, late 1920s, 13'
Director: unknown
35mm copy from 1967, B&W, 16 fps
Source: FINA
A fragment of an unidentified documentary on the operation of the Warsaw waterworks. We see in it both the newer and the older buildings and equipment, some of which had been in operation for 50 years. This is a rare opportunity to see a building complex, recognized today as a monument of history, in its past shape from nearly a hundred years ago.
By Michał Pieńkowski
FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 19 | 7:30 PM | MAŁA CZARNA
introduction: Michał Pieńkowski
KUP BILET
