Screenplay and direction: Zdzislaw Kudla and Andrzej Orzechowski
Production Design: Janusz Stanny
Consultation: Prof. Dr. Mieszyslaw Markowski (philosopher) Dr.Krzysztof Stopka (historian) Jacek Szczepanik (director of the Chorzow Planeterium)

Realisation Tecnique: 2D animation with 3D elements
Running time: 90 mins.

The film is co- financed by The Polish Institute of Film Art Produced by: The Bielsko-Biale Animated Film Studio

Co-producers: Warsaw Feature and Documentary film Studio, Skoczkow Co-operative Bank and “Swiat “Cinema Ltd.

When we are children the world is full of secrets that we wish to discover but when we grow up we forget about them. However there are some of us who do not forget. One of those people was Nicolaus Copernicus, the man who “stopped the sun and moved the earth”.

When Nicolaus is ten years old, Paul van de Volder, a Dutch astrologer, visits his house in Torun and foretells Nicolaus a brilliant future. With the help of his father the boy begins to take an interest in the stars hoping to find some answers. When his father dies Nicolaus does not lose faith. Some time later he starts to study at the Jagellonian University in Cracow. It is here that he meets Paul van de Volder again. The battle for Nicolaus’s soul begins. On one side we have the charlatan astrologer Van de Volder , on the other Wojciech of Bruzdewo and the other professors at the University. The young Nicolaus discovers the secrets of the sky. Astrology and astronomy are in conflict. Searching and doubt lead Nicolaus to an astounding discovery. He is uncertain at first, but his studies in Italy confirm its validity beyond doubt. However, before he is to become quite certain of his claims, the young Nicolaus must come into final conflict with his adversary Nicolaus Copernicus, the great astronomer who is known world wide because he changed our way of perceiving our position in the Universe, gives us an ideal pretext to present a hero who does not forget his childhood dreams on becoming an adult. Our hero ,as most of us, sought strength in others at first but growing up discovered his own strength and took advantage of it wisely. Faith and fact , miracles and reality, dreams and aspirations come together in an era when astronomy and astrology intermingled and when alchemists where seeking the Philosopher’s Stone. This was an extraordinary era of great discoveries and the growth of the Renaissance in a Europe without boundaries .

This story, that begins with Nicolaus’s carefree childhood, becomes a thrilling tale of intrigue as Paul Van de Volder plots and schemes. We have the moving story of his first love and a comic strain in the larger than life characters . There is also an educative side to the film. We learn how Copernicus broke with tradition and revolutionized European thinking in matters of Astronomy and Philosophy.


Scheduled finish of the film : 31. 12. 2008