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Lotna: Obstacles and failures

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An attempt to make Lotna in colour
Andrzej Wajda Film-maker
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In addition to all of this, we had decided to make the film in colour. Andrzej Munk's ideas about the future of film being in colour had appealed to me. But what was a colour film? It was a tape produced by Orwor Kolor in the German Democratic Republic, and it wasn't very sensitive. Because of this, it was better for shooting outside than indoors. Indoors we needed so much light that when Jerzy Lipman tried to illuminate the orchard outside of the window when we had started shooting inside, he needed so much light that the substation at the studios exploded. We got into a lot of trouble because we weren't allowed to use so much light, but it was the minimum we could use to have any effect on the tape, to show that it was light outside. Today, nothing remains of this because the tape turned red and if it hadn't been for German television ZDF buying the rights to this film a long time ago, and if it hadn't copied it to electronic tape, this film would no longer exist. So that's the only form it exists in now. These problems added up.

Do tego wszystkiego jeszcze postanowiliśmy zrobić film kolorowy. Andrzeja Munka rozważania do mnie przemówiły, że przyszłość przed filmem kolorowym. No ale co to był film kolorowy? To była taśma produkowana w Niemieckiej Republice Demokratycznej Orwo Kolor, bardzo mało czuła. W związku z tym można było na niej zrobić raczej zdjęcia w plenerze niż we wnętrzach. We wnętrzach potrzeba było tak dużo światła, że Jerzy Lipman, który spróbował potem, jak już przenieśliśmy się z pleneru do studia, oświetlił sad za oknem. I to mu zabrało tyle światła, że podstacja w wytwórni w ogóle, że tak powiem, eksplodowała. No zrobiła się straszna afera, że tu nie można używać tyle światła, ale to było minimum, żeby na tej taśmie uzyskać efekt, że za oknem jest jasno. Ta taśma oczywiście dzisiaj kiedy... już dzisiaj nie ma nic z tego, dlatego że ta taśma po prostu zamieniła się w jakiś czerwony kolor i gdyby nie niemiecka telewizja ZDF, która kupiła prawa do tego filmu kiedyś jeszcze przed laty, gdyby nie zrobiła wyciągu no na taśmie... na taśmie elektronicznej, już ten film by w ogóle nie istniał. Tak że on już istnieje tylko w tym wydaniu. W każdym bądź razie tu też nałożyły się kłopoty.

Polish film director Andrzej Wajda (1926-2016) was a towering presence in Polish cinema for six decades. His films, showing the horror of the German occupation of Poland, won awards at Cannes and established his reputation as both story-teller and commentator on Poland's turbulent history. As well as his impressive career in TV and film, he also served on the national Senate from 1989-91.

Listeners: Jacek Petrycki

Cinematographer Jacek Petrycki was born in Poznań, Poland in 1948. He has worked extensively in Poland and throughout the world. His credits include, for Agniezka Holland, Provincial Actors (1979), Europe, Europe (1990), Shot in the Heart (2001) and Julie Walking Home (2002), for Krysztof Kieslowski numerous short films including Camera Buff (1980) and No End (1985). Other credits include Journey to the Sun (1998), directed by Jesim Ustaoglu, which won the Golden Camera 300 award at the International Film Camera Festival, Shooters (2000) and The Valley (1999), both directed by Dan Reed, Unforgiving (1993) and Betrayed (1995) by Clive Gordon both of which won the BAFTA for best factual photography. Jacek Petrycki is also a teacher and a filmmaker.

Tags: Orwo Kolor, German Democratic Republic, ZDF, Lotna, Andrzej Munk, Jerzy Lipman

Duration: 1 minute, 44 seconds

Date story recorded: August 2003

Date story went live: 24 January 2008