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The story of the Animated Film Studio starts in 1947 in the town of Katowice . An experimental, animated films studio is set up alongside the offices of the “Worker’s Tribune“ newspaper under the directorship of the artist Zdzislaw Lachur. The co-founders are: Władysław Nehrebecki, Maciej Lachur, Leszek Lorek, Alfred Ledwig, Mieczysław Pozńanski, Alexander Rohoziński, Wiktor Sakowicz, Rufin Struzik, and Wacław Wajser.
In 1948 the team moves to the town of Wisla and later, for good, to Bielsko-Biala. The first few years are taken up with completing the work team and accumulating experience. In 1948 the first film is made entitled “Was This a Dream?”on the subject of World War II, which has only just ended.( Four black and white films are produced in Bielsko during the next two years , however only the third, W.Wajser’s “The Wolf and the Baby Bears” is screened in 1950).
In1953 Lechosław Marszałek successfully debuts with his film “ the Little Goat”, winning prizes at the Festival in Karlove Vary and gaining a distinction in Venice. This is to be the first international prize in Polish animation.)
At first the Studio produced films for adult audiences but it turned out that its greatest successes will be children’s films.
In the years 1947-1955 the Bielsko team produced 21 films.
The Bielsko Studio had, at this time, a branch in Warsaw. However in 1953 the Warsaw contingent broke away to become “The Studio of Miniature Films”.
In1956 the Bielsko Studio became independent .It was a State owned enterprise with it’s own management, administration and programming.
The ensuing rapid growth in production can be attributed to the rapid development of television in Poland.
1963 saw the birth of Bolek and Lolek, undisputedly the most popular heroes in Polish animation. “Bolek and Lolek” films were produced at the Studio for 23 years (1963-1986). These characters appeared in nearly 200 films ( shorts and features ). At the same time, also in the course of 23 years, films were being made with another extremely popular character the little dog “Rex” (1967-1990).
In the sixties, besides Lolek and Bolek and Rex, there were other very popular characters such as the Little, Blue Knight (in 1983 a feature film was made based on the series) the cook Bartholomew Bartolini , the Wawel Castle Dragon and Professor Sponge.
The second half of the Sixties and the Seventies were The Studio’s best years to date. Apart from further “Bolek and Lolek” and “Rex” films ,other film series for children emerged. “The Shaggy Little Bear”, “Pampalini the Hunter”, “The Adventures Of a Little Mouse” , paper cut-out “Ballads” to the words of Wiera Badalska’s “Hip Hop the Kangaroo” and further adventure’s of Prof. Sponge. 1977 was a historical year for the Studio ( maybe even for the whole of Polish animation.) The first Polish feature, animated film was produced “ Bolek and Lolek’s Great Journey”, directed by Władysław Nehrebecki and Stanisław Dulza. In order to produce 2872 metres of film it was necessary to make over 60 thousand drawings.
Alongside the films for children, the Studio’s artistic team was also producing films for adults. These brought home many awards from National and International Festivals.
In the difficult eighties film production fell , there are notably less films directed at an adult audience.
Nevertheless there are some new series especially on TV. “Leon the Fox”, “Bolek and Lolek at the Olympics” , “ Marcel the Starling” and “The Adventures of Captain Klipper”.
In 1983 we have a feature for children directed by Leosław Marszałek “The Adventures of the Little Blue Knight” and in 1985 a full length film by Zdzislaw Kudła and Francziszek Pytera “ Kidnapped in Tiutiurlistan”.
In 1986 Bolek and Lolek end their career with a full length feature by Stanislaw Dulz “Bolek and Lolek in the Wild West”.
The beginning of the nineties saw a series of children’s films- “Civilisation” ( co-produced with Kratki Film in Prague) TV productions such as ”The Journey to Stories”, “Mr. Messy’s Story “, “ Karrypel Against the Peas”, “Scenes from the Life of a Dragon” (jointly with Animapol, Lodz), “ Between Us Storks” and “ The School for Wisemen” ( a film for adults) . Also a Bielsko Studio/TV co-production of the second part to “The Adventure of Leon the Fox” and a feature made for Norsfilm (three novels) entitled “Det var en gang”.
Currently work is starting on a full-length feature about the life of Nicolaus Copernicus, directed by Z. Kudla and A. Orzechowski.
During the course of nearly fifty years many famous artist worked on the films produced in Bielsko. To mention but a few, the composers: Grazyna Bacewicz, Jerzy Harald, Lucjan Kaszynski, Stefan Kisielewski, Krzysztof Komeda ,Andrzej Wasowski and graphic artists : Andrzej Czeczot, Jerzy Flisak, Adam Kilian, Zbigniew Lengren, Eryk Lipinski, Olga Siemaszko and Janusz Stanny.
The Studio has produced over 1000 films and received around 250 prizes at Polish and International Festivals.
Zdzislaw Kudla, the well- known artist and animated film director , has been the Director of the Studio since 1994
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