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The history of Polish cinema is as long as the history of cinematography itself. Over the decades, Poland has produced outstanding directors, film producers, cartoonists and actors that achieved world fame, especially in Hollywood. Moreover, Polish inventors played an important role in the development of world cinematography and modern-day television. Among the most famous directors and producers, who worked in Poland as well as abroad are Roman Polański, Andrzej Wajda, Samuel Goldwyn, the Warner brothers (Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack), Max Fleischer, Lee Strasberg, Agnieszka Holland and Krzysztof Kieślowski. |
In the 19th century, throughout partitioned Poland, numerous amateur inventors, such as Kazimierz Prószyński, were eager to construct a film projector. In 1894, Prószyński was successful in creating a Pleograph, one of the first cameras in the world. The invention, which took photographs and projected pictures, was built before the Lumière brothers lodged their patent. He also patented an Aeroscope, the first successful hand-held operated film camera. In 1897, Jan Szczepanik, obtained a British patent for his Telectroscope. This prototype of television could easily transmit image and sound, thus allowing a live remote view. |
Polish cinema developed rapidly in the interwar period. The most renowned star of the silent film era was Polish actress Pola Negri. During this time, the Yiddish cinema also evolved in Poland. Films in the Yiddish language with Jewish themes, such as ''The Dybbuk'' (1937), played an important part in pre-war Polish cinematography. In 1945 the government established 'Film Polski', a state-run film production and distribution organization, with director Aleksander Ford as the head of the company. Ford's ''Knights of the Teutonic Order'' (1960) was viewed by millions of people in the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and France. This success was followed by the historical films of Jerzy Hoffman and Andrzej Wajda. Wajda's 1975 film ''The Promised Land'' was nominated at the 48th Academy Awards. |
In 2015, ''Ida'' by Paweł Pawlikowski won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2019, Pawlikowski received an Academy Award for Best Director nomination for his historical drama ''Cold War''. Other well-known Polish Oscar-winning productions include ''The Pianist'' (2002) by Roman Polański. |
=== Media === |
TVP in Warsaw |
Poland has a number of major media outlets, chief among which are the national television channels. TVP is Poland's public broadcasting corporation; about a third of its income comes from a broadcast receiver licence, while the rest is made through revenue from commercials and sponsorships. State television operates two mainstream channels, TVP 1 and TVP 2, as well as regional programs for each of the country's 16 voivodeships (as TVP 3). In addition to these general channels, TVP runs a number of genre-specific programmes such as TVP Sport, TVP Historia, TVP Kultura, TVP Rozrywka, TVP Seriale and TVP Polonia, the latter is a state-run channel dedicated to the transmission of Polish language television for the Polish diaspora. Poland has several 24-hour news channels such as Polsat News, TVP Info and TVN 24. Poland also possesses a variety of free-to-air television channels, chiefly TVN, Polsat and TV4. |
Intel Extreme Masters, an eSports video game tournament in Katowice |
In Poland, there are also daily newspapers like ''Gazeta Wyborcza'' ("Electoral Gazette"), ''Rzeczpospolita'' ("The Republic") and ''Gazeta Polska Codziennie'' ("Polish Daily Newspaper") which provide traditional opinion and news, and tabloids such as ''Fakt'' and ''Super Express''. Weeklies include ''Tygodnik Angora'', ''W Sieci'', ''Polityka'', ''Wprost'', ''Newsweek Polska'', ''Gość Niedzielny'' and ''Gazeta Polska''. |
Poland has also emerged as a major hub for video game developers in Europe, with the country now being home to hundreds of studios. Among the most successful ones are CD Projekt, Techland, CI Games and People Can Fly. Some of the most popular video games developed in Poland include The Witcher trilogy. Katowice hosts Intel Extreme Masters, one of the biggest eSports events in the world. |
=== Sports === |
The Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw, home of the national football team, and one of the host stadiums of Euro 2012. |
Volleyball and Association football are among the country's most popular sports, with a rich history of international competitions. Track and field, basketball, handball, boxing, MMA, motorcycle speedway, ski jumping, cross-country skiing, ice hockey, tennis, fencing, swimming, and weightlifting are other popular sports. |
The golden era of football in Poland occurred throughout the 1970s and went on until the early 1980s when the Polish national football team achieved their best results in any FIFA World Cup competitions finishing 3rd place in the 1974 and the 1982 tournaments. The team won a gold medal in football at the 1972 Summer Olympics and two silver medals, in 1976 and in 1992. In 2012, Poland co-hosted the UEFA European Football Championship. |
Motorcycle speedway (''żużel'') racing is a very popular motorsport in Poland. |
As of May 2021, the Polish men's national volleyball team is ranked as 2nd in the world. Volleyball team won a gold medal in Olympic 1976 Montreal and three gold medals in FIVB World Championship 1974, 2014 and 2018. |
Mariusz Pudzianowski is a highly successful strongman competitor and has won more World's Strongest Man titles than any other competitor in the world, winning the event in 2008 for the fifth time. |
Poland has made a distinctive mark in motorcycle speedway racing thanks to Tomasz Gollob and Bartosz Zmarzlik, highly successful Polish riders. The top Ekstraliga division has one of the highest average attendances for any sport in Poland. The national speedway team of Poland is one of the major teams in international speedway. |
Poles made significant achievements in mountaineering, in particular, in the Himalayas and the winter ascending of the eight-thousanders. Polish mountains are one of the tourist attractions of the country. Hiking, climbing, skiing and mountain biking and attract numerous tourists every year from all over the world. Water sports are the most popular summer recreation activities, with ample locations for fishing, canoeing, kayaking, sailing and windsurfing especially in the northern regions of the country. |
== See also == |
* List of Poles |
* Outline of Poland |
* List of sovereign states and dependent territories in Europe |
* Central Europe |
== Notes == |
== References == |
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== External links == |
* Poland.gov.en – Polish national portal |
* Poland. ''The World Factbook''. Central Intelligence Agency. |
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