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ORIGINAL PRODUCERS OF INSURGENT NEWSREELS
CAMERA OPERATOR
Andrzej Ancuta – “Kier” (born 10 February 1919 in Mińsk Litewski, died 14 February 2009 in Warsaw). Corporal Cadet. Cameraman, producer of documentaries, educator. During the Warsaw Uprising he was on the crew of the Office of Film. After the fall of the Rising he was imprisoned in German POW camps and after WWII he enrolled in the National Film School in Łódź. Between 1950 and 1996 he lectured at the Faculty of Cinematography. Between 1958 and 1963 and again between 1969 and 1972 he served as Dean of the Faculty of Cinematography and in the years 1975–78 he became Deputy Vice Chancellor on Teaching. Between 1987 and 1990 he headed the Institute of Cinematography. Author of textbooks on cinematography.
CAMERA OPERATOR
Stefan Bagiński – “Stefan” (born 6 June 1910 in Warsaw, died 25 April 2002 in Warsaw). Lieutenant. Cameraman. On the crew of the Office of Film during the Warsaw Uprising. He documented the Rising in the North City Centre and Old Town districts. Following the fall of the Warsaw Uprising he left Warsaw with civilians. After WWII he worked on production and editing of film documentaries. Screen writer.
DIRECTOR, SCREENWRITER
Antoni Bohdziewicz – “Wiktor” (born 10 September 1906 in Wilno, died 20 October 1970 in Warsaw). Director and screen writer. In 1928 he graduated from the Warsaw University of Technology and worked in a regional broadcasting station of the Polish Radio in Wilno. Between 1931 and 1935 he lived in Paris after receiving a film scholarship. The outbreak of WWII prevented him from finishing a feature film he was working on. During the Warsaw Uprising he headed a team of camera operators of the Insurgent Newsreel; he was also the voice commenting newsreels shown in the Palladium cinema during the Rising. Following the end of WWII he became involved in the production of the Polish Newsreel, but when he criticised the socialist realism, he was banned from making films. Between 1948 and 1966 he served as Head of the Directing Department of the National Film School in Łodź and between 1966 and 1969 he lectured at the Institut National Superieur des Arts du Spectacle in Brussels.
CAMERA OPERATOR
Stanisław Bala – “Giza” (born 10 November 1922 in Starowiskitki, died 9 September 2013 in Los Angeles). Cameraman, documentary film-maker. A member of the underground since 1 March 1940. Since 1 July 1943 he worked in the Bureau of Information and Propaganda. Between 1940 and 1942 he studied in the Wawelberg School and graduated with a technician’s diploma. In 1943 he graduated from the School of Field War Reporters and in 1944 from the School of Field Military Reporters. During the Warsaw Uprising he worked as cameraman documenting the fighting in Wola and City Centre districts, filmed the capturing of the Holy Cross Church and the neighbouring police headquarters. Following the fall of the Rising he was imprisoned at German POW camps: Lamsdorf, Gross-Born, Sandbostel and Lubeck. After WWII he stayed abroad, lived in France and the United Kingdom, where he finished technical studies. In the first half of the 1950s he settled in the US.
DIRECTOR, SCREENWRITER
Roman Banach – “Świerk” (born 15 July 1912 in Czortków, died 12 August 1966 in Warsaw). Qualified lancer. Director and screen writer of documentaries. Author of newsreels from the defence of Warsaw in September 1939. During the Warsaw Uprising he was a member of the film crew documenting military operations and everyday life. His insurgent documentaries were shot in the North City Centre and Mokotów districts of Warsaw. After the fall of the Warsaw Uprising was imprisoned at POW camps, later becoming a producer, director, editor and screenwriter of documentaries.
DIRECTOR, CAMERA OPERATOR
Jerzy Gabryelski – “Orski” (born 30 October 1906 in Lwów, died 3 February 1978 in New York). Director, documentary film-maker. Graduate of the State Theatre Institute in Warsaw. At the beginning of the 1930s he lived in France after winning a film scholarship. There he worked on experimental cinematographic projects. Author of newsreels from the defence of Warsaw in September 1939. During the Warsaw Uprising he was involved in documenting and reporting. Because of his Home Army membership he was persecuted by the Soviet NKVD after WWII, imprisoned and brutally interrogated. After 1956 the state authorities permitted him to produce only documentaries and educational films. From 1962 until his death he lived in exile.
DIRECTOR, CAMERA OPERATOR
Wacław Feliks Kaźmierczak – “Wacek” (born 5 August 1905 in Dulinowo, died 10 April 1981 in Warsaw). Editor, screenwriter and director of documentaries. Before WWII he worked as a cameraman in the Polish Telegraphic Agency. During the Warsaw Uprising he headed a film lab and edited insurgent newsreels entitled, “Fighting Warsaw”. Following the end of WWII he made and contributed to many documentaries and won awards at national and international film festivals; among others, in Cannes (1947), Florence (1965) and Monte Carlo (1967).
CAMERA OPERATOR
Seweryn Kruszyński (born 12 June 1911 in Monastyrk in the Ukraine). Cameraman, documentary film-maker. He became fascinated with cinematography while training at a film equipment workshop; in 1931 he trained as an assistant cameraman. Between 1934 and 1939 he gained experience as cameraman assistant and member of equipment maintenance crew in “Sfinks” film studio and film production centre “Falanga”. During the Warsaw Uprising he joined a team documenting the military operations and everyday life in the City Centre district. From 1945 he worked in the WFDiF film studio in Warsaw on the production of the Polish Newsreel. In 1946 he joined the production crews of feature films as cameraman, and between 1962 and 1976 made documentaries in the “Czołówka” film studio.
CAMERA OPERATOR
Kazimierz Pyszkowski (date and place of birth unknown, died in 1974 in Warsaw). Cameraman. During the Warsaw Uprising he was a member of the Office of Film’s crew, worked under special authorisation from the chief of the Secret Military Publishing House of the Bureau of Information and Propaganda; produced insurgent newsreels. Between 1946 and 1947 he lived abroad. His post-war activity is not well known.
CAMERA OPERATOR
Edward Szope (born 9 September 1911, date and place of death unknown). Brother of Ryszard. After WWII he used the last name of Szopa. Cameraman and documentary film-maker. Corporal. He trained at a film lab in his senior year at high school. Between 1932 and 1933 he served in the 1st Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment in Warsaw. In the 1930s he worked as film lab technician. During the September 1939 campaign he served in the Polish Army and returned home in mid-October 1939 to settle in Warsaw. He took up trading for a living during the German occupation. From 3 August 1944 he worked as a cameraman, documenting military operations and everyday life of the Warsaw Uprising. He carried his reporter’s tasks together with his brother Ryszard. He was wounded on 8 September and remained in an insurgent hospital at Chmielna 32 until the fall of the Rising. Following the Rising he was transferred to a hospital in Krakow, from where he fled on 11 January 1945. In the middle of March 1945 he returned to Warsaw. Between 1948 and 1949 he worked in “Epidia” in Warsaw (Pogonowskiego 15) as film lab technician. Later unemployed. Further fate unknown.
CAMERA OPERATOR
Ryszard Szope (born around 1916, died 2 September 1997 in Warsaw). Cameraman, documentary film-maker. During the Warsaw Uprising he worked as cameraman documenting the military operations and everyday life. He carried out his reporting duties together with his brother Edward (born 9 September 1911). Following the fall of the Warsaw Uprising he left the city with civilians. After WWII he worked as a cameraman and documentary screenwriter. In 1966 he was recognised by the Minister of National Defence for a documentary, “Za waszą wolność i naszą”, and in 1968 was awarded at the International Film Festival of Friendly Armies in Veszprém, Hungary for another documentary entitled, “Wietnamu dzień powszedni”.
DIRECTOR, CAMERA OPERATOR
Henryk Vlassak – “Wania” (died most likely around 1955 in Hungary). Polish cameraman of Hungarian descent. In the 1930s he shot several feature films, including, “Przeor Kordecki – Obrońca Częstochowy” (1934), “Wierna rzeka” (1936), “Kościuszko pod Racławicami” (1938) and co-authored documentaries. He also worked in film editing and set design. In 1938 he received the Minister of Foreign Affairs Award at a Film Festival during the Eastern Trade Fair in Lwów for his film, “Kościuszko pod Racławicami”. Author of newsreels from the defence of Warsaw in September1939. During the Warsaw Uprising he worked as a cameraman, documenting military operations and everyday life in the City Centre district. He photographed attacking German tanks with Polish civilians driven in front of them as human shields. His post-war fate is unknown.
CAMERA OPERATOR
Antoni Wawrzyniak – “Antonio” (born 13 June 1883 in Warsaw, died 6 September 1954 in Łódź). Cameraman. Senior Sergeant. Between 1924 and 1939 he shot 28 feature-length films, both documentaries and short films. During the Warsaw Uprising he worked as cameraman documenting military operations and everyday life in North City Centre district. Following the end of military operations he left the city with civilians. After 1945 he worked in Educational Film Studio, mostly involved in making short films.
DIRECTOR, CAMERA OPERATOR
Jerzy Zarzycki – “Pik” (born 1 January 1911 in Łódź, died 2 January 1971 in Warsaw). Graduate of the University of Warsaw, Department of Art History. He worked as a cameraman from 1930 and in 1931 started directing documentaries, such as “Kercelak”, “Wieś Podolska” (1932) and “Morze” (1933), amongst others. In 1938 he graduated from the Directing Department of the State Theatre Institute in Warsaw. His directing debut was a feature film called “Ludzie Wisły”, released the same year. During the September 1939 Warsaw siege by the Germans he served as a cameraman in the film crew of the Command for the Defence of Warsaw. During the Warsaw Uprising he was actively involved with the crew of the Office of Film and documented the Rising in Wola and North City Centre districts. Following the end of WWII, between 1955 and 1961 he was an artistic director of the Film Studio “Syrena”. Between 1947 and 1970 he worked as a director and screen writer.