CZOŁÓWKA FILM STUDIO

(Wytwórnia Filmowa "CZOŁÓWKA")

   The origins of the Czołówka studio date back to 1943, when the Military Film Unit "Czołówka" (Czołówka Filmowa Wojska Polskiego) was formed to document the struggles of Polish soldiers fighting alongside the Red Army. Since its beginnings, the unit was headed by Aleksander Ford who worked with Polish and Russian filmmakers, including some members of the prewar group START. It was the first film production center in Poland whose task was to produce documentary films and the Polish Newsreel. Czołówka is responsible for some classic documentary films, such as The Battle of Kolberg (1945), produced by Jerzy Bossak, and Majdanek: The Cemetery of Europe (1944), produced by Bossak and Ford. The film studio Czołówka was formally founded in 1958, and it operated under the supervision of the Ministry of National Defense. The studio specialized in (often propagandist) educational and historical films and focused mostly on military themes. For example, one of Krzysztof Kieslowski's documentary films, I Was a Soldier (1970), was made for this studio. In 2005 Czołówka incorporated the Irzykowski Film Studio.

   Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema by Marek Haltof