ABOUT THE PROJECT
As part of the Digital Documentary (Dokument Cyfrowo) project, the most precious works of the Polish documentary school are being digitalised to create a unique digital collection of films produced by such great filmmakers as Andrzej Munk, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Jan Łomnicki, Tadeusz Makarczyński, Ludwik Perski, Maria Kwiatkowska, Władysław Ślesicki, Kazimierz Karabasz, Jerzy Hoffman, Edward Skórzewski and many others.
The most valuable Polish documentaries, digitally remastered, constitute an important educational tool useful not only to children and youth, but to all interested individuals, not only in the scope of film education, but also when it comes to learning about history, social science and the Polish language.
WFDiF
The job of the specialists from the Documentary and Feature Film Studios (WFDiF) in Warsaw is to make sure that remastered materials can be enjoyed by many generations to come. The majority of films shaping the character of the Polish Documentary School have been created over the years at these very Studios. WFDiF, responsible for the Digital Documentary project, is the largest public film studio in Poland, a modern technological centre, providing a full scope of sound and video post-production services. In the recent years, such great productions were created at WFDiF as Wojciech Smarzowski’s multi-award-winning Róża (Rose), Generał Nil (General Nil) directed by Ryszard Bugajski, W imieniu diabła (In Devil’s Name) by Barbara Sass, Janusz Majewski’s Mała matura 1947 (The Rite of Passage) praised by audiences and critics alike and a Golden Lion-winner Różyczka (Little Rose) by Jan Kidawa-Błoński. Here’s where Katarzyna Rosłaniec’s Galerianki (Mall Girls) and Bodo Kox’s Dziewczyna z Szafy (The Girl from the Wardrobe) had their debut. The Studio have produced over 2000 films, which received awards at festivals in Venice, Cannes and Oberhausen etc.
SOUND REMASTERING STUDIO
As part of the Digital Documentary project, selected Polish documentaries are remastered in specially designed studios. With the funding from the Multiannual Culture+ Programme, a new sound studio was built at the WFDiF Editing and Sound Department. The studios have been fitted with professional equipment, monitors, speakers and soundproofed in line with applicable standards. The sound remastering studio was built according to an individual acoustic engineering design, which makes it unique on the audio-visual market. WFDiF has a film lab and several studios at its disposal, including among others Studio S1 with international Dolby Digital and THX certificates, as well as a video remastering studio.
VIDEO REMASTERING STUDIO
Co-financing from the Multiannual Culture+ Programme and own investments have facilitated the construction of an independent video remastering studio. Specialist software and data matrixes purchased make the remastering process easier and faster. At the request of other film studios, films such as Struktura kryształu (The Structure of Crystal), Wojna światów (The War of the Worlds), Dług (The Debt), Blizna (The Scar), Konopielka have already been remastered at the new studio.
DOCUMENTARY SPECIFICATIONS
Specifications of documentaries digitalised as part of the Digital Documentary project are available for download.