05-10-2011

Battle of Warsaw 1920 Opens with Record-Breaking Distribution

By Katarzyna Grynienko

    WARSAW: Jerzy Hoffmann's Battle of Warsaw 1920, the first Polish 3D production, opened on 30 September 2011 in over 140 cinemas, setting a domestic record for the Polish market. The film will also premiere in UK and USA in October.

    "The film will be screened in 87 multiplex cinemas at 238 screens as well as 60 studio cinemas, several of which bought digital projectors especially for this title," Sławomir Salamon, the general director of the film's distributor Forum Film Poland (www.forumfilm.pl) told FNE.

    This broad distribution of a locally produced title is a record for Poland. In addition, after two weeks of screening the film will also be available in 2D copies for those who prefer to watch without the special glasses. The distributor informed FNE that during the opening weekend 214,915 viewers saw Battle Of Warsaw 1920 and the film made 4.7 million PLN. "Several generations did not study this war, for apparent reasons. We hope that together we can make up for this overdue history lesson and that the film will be a pretext to elaborate and deepen the knowledge about the Second Polish Republic, " Salamon said.

    The film was shot between June and September 2010 and produced by the director's company Zodiak Jerzy Hoffman Film Production ( www.zodiak-jerzyhoffman.pl ) with a budget of 27 million PLN ( EUR 6.7 million ), 50% being financed by the Polish Film Institute ( www.pisf.pl). The all star cast includes popular singer Natasza Urbańska and Borys Szyc, winner of the Best Actor prize at the 35th Monreal IFF. Apart from local major distribution the film will also enter cinemas in the UK on 7 October 2011 and the USA a week after that.