Warsaw Uprising Set For Screen
It was one of the most controversial chapters of the Second World War, an action that divided both the Poles themselves, as well as their European allies. In the end, little help came to Warsaw from outside as the Poles struggled to overthrow the Nazis in the Summer of 1944. About 300,000 people perished in 'The Warsaw Uprising', including 200,000 of the capital's civilian population. The city itself had to be rebuilt from scratch.
62 years on, the Polish Institute of Film Arts is sponsoring a film about this tragic episode in Warsaw's history. A competition is being held for the best project, be it a motion picture or a documentary. PISF is putting up almost 10 million zloty for the production.
For many years, the Uprising remained on the fringes of historical debate and public remembrance. It was a touchy matter for both the Soviets, who failed to help despite being on the edge of Warsaw, as well as the Western allies, who pussy-footed around Stalin. However, despite the fact that the Soviets denounced the leaders of the Uprising, some Polish film-makers did manage to create movies about the struggle, most famously Andrzej Wajda's 'Kanal' which won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes in 1957.
Since the fall of the Soviet Empire, monuments have been raised and acts public remembrance has been able to pass unhindered. The 60th anniversary of the rising in 2004 was a major international event that shone a spotlight on this little known episode of the war. The recent book by British historian Norman Davies brought more attention to the subject, and PISF hopes that a film will do likewise.