Directing

Jan Łomnicki

Born June 30, 1929 · Podhajce k. Lwowa, Polska [obecnie Ukraina]

Died December 18, 2002 · aged 73

Jan Łomnicki (30 June 1929 – 18 December 2002) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. A graduate of the National Film School in Łódź. He directed more than thirty films between 1954 and 2000. His 1976 film To Save the City (Polish: Ocalić miasto) was awarded at the Polish Film Festival (1976) and was entered into the 10th Moscow International Film Festival (1977).

Known For

The Birth of a City

The Birth of a City · 1959

The Birth of a City

MovieDocumentary

On the 10th anniversary of Nowa Huta, documentary filmmakers go back to the beginnings of the town's construction and the conglomerate, using archival footage from the Polish Film Chronicle. The city is born to the rhythm of seven days of creation, and the jubilee is celebrated by children - its peers and former builders.

To Save the City

To Save the City · 1976

To Save the City

1945. Soviet offensive is approaching Cracow. Local resistance cooperate despite political differences to save the city from destruction planned by Germans.

Wiano

MovieDramaRomance

A peasant girl is abandoned by her fiancé after she has talked her father into giving her his land as a dowry.

Pan Dodek

Pan Dodek · 1971

A cinematic ode to actor Adolf Dymsza, one of the biggest stars of pre-war Polish cinema. The film combines footage from Dymsza's new movies and contextualises in the frame story of Mr. Dodek, a retired actor who recounts his past exploits while trying to earn an allotment for a plot of land.

Toast

MovieDocumentary

In 1969, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Polish People's Republic, documentary filmmakers analyze the achievements of the past 25 years. Contemporary, color photos contrast with black and white, archival photos. Workers of different generations are the hosts of the country.

A Slip-Up

A Slip-Up · 1972

A young man strikes up an ill-fated romance with a married woman.

Birth of a Ship

Birth of a Ship · 1961

Birth of a Ship

MovieDocumentary

This documentary shows the birth of a 10,000-ton ship called "Phenian" (the deadweight tonnage of this cargo ship is 10,000 tons). The film is devoid of commentary, which emphasizes the importance of the forms and the almost mystical nature of the "birth" of the ship.

Warsaw Main Station

Warsaw Main Station · 1958

Warsaw Main Station

MovieDocumentary

Warsaw Central Station, 1958. A place of greetings and farewells, an intersection of people from different parts of Poland and Europe. A girl waits in vain, she goes away. Soon the station would belong to the past too.

Filmography

Sort

The Birth of a City

The Birth of a City · 1959

The Birth of a City

MovieDocumentary

On the 10th anniversary of Nowa Huta, documentary filmmakers go back to the beginnings of the town's construction and the conglomerate, using archival footage from the Polish Film Chronicle. The city is born to the rhythm of seven days of creation, and the jubilee is celebrated by children - its peers and former builders.

Director

To Save the City

To Save the City · 1976

To Save the City

1945. Soviet offensive is approaching Cracow. Local resistance cooperate despite political differences to save the city from destruction planned by Germans.

Director

Wiano

MovieDramaRomance

A peasant girl is abandoned by her fiancé after she has talked her father into giving her his land as a dowry.

Director

Pan Dodek

Pan Dodek · 1971

A cinematic ode to actor Adolf Dymsza, one of the biggest stars of pre-war Polish cinema. The film combines footage from Dymsza's new movies and contextualises in the frame story of Mr. Dodek, a retired actor who recounts his past exploits while trying to earn an allotment for a plot of land.

Director

Toast

MovieDocumentary

In 1969, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Polish People's Republic, documentary filmmakers analyze the achievements of the past 25 years. Contemporary, color photos contrast with black and white, archival photos. Workers of different generations are the hosts of the country.

Director

A Slip-Up

A Slip-Up · 1972

A young man strikes up an ill-fated romance with a married woman.

Director

Birth of a Ship

Birth of a Ship · 1961

Birth of a Ship

MovieDocumentary

This documentary shows the birth of a 10,000-ton ship called "Phenian" (the deadweight tonnage of this cargo ship is 10,000 tons). The film is devoid of commentary, which emphasizes the importance of the forms and the almost mystical nature of the "birth" of the ship.

Director

Warsaw Main Station

Warsaw Main Station · 1958

Warsaw Main Station

MovieDocumentary

Warsaw Central Station, 1958. A place of greetings and farewells, an intersection of people from different parts of Poland and Europe. A girl waits in vain, she goes away. Soon the station would belong to the past too.

Director

The Bad Boy

The Bad Boy · 1951

First short film by Wajda, based on the story "A Naughty Boy" by A. Chekhov.

Operation Arsenal

Operation Arsenal · 1977

Operation Arsenal

In Nazi-occupied Warsaw, teenage scouts Alek, Rudy, and Zośka risk their lives pulling down a swastika and hoisting the Polish flag atop the German “Zachęta” cultural center and then blowing up a mobile propaganda cinema.

Director

Rolling Mill

Rolling Mill · 1956

MovieDocumentary

In February 1956, after several months of construction, the largest rolling mill in Poland, the rolling mill of the Lenin Smelter, started to operate. The viewers could see the final preparations and the launch of the machine.

Director

The Great Give-Away

The Great Give-Away · 1993

The Great Give-Away

MovieComedyCrime

A well-known wheeler dealer joins the underground opposition to avoid responsibility after stealing valuable coins. When he is released from prison, he sets up a private bank with high interest rates together with a Security Service colonel. However, the colonel has bigger ambitions.

Director

Just Beyond This Forest

Just Beyond This Forest · 1992

Just Beyond This Forest

The laundress working at the doctor's house agrees to take her daughter out of the ghetto for a fee and get her settled with her family in the countryside. The old woman's attitude to the Jews is ambivalent but the action is unambiguous.

Director

Rat

MovieActionDrama

Polish businessman Jarek Branicki organizes a beauty pageant. As the man in charge, he expects his girlfriend to win it and suggests this outcome to the judges. At the same time, however, he is on the verge of bankruptcy and tries to escape the country after being cornered by his creditors. Recognized by a passenger on the train, he flees and finds refuge in the underground passages of Warsaw’s central railway station.

Director

Old Women's House

Old Women's House · 1957

Old Women's House

MovieDocumentary

A documentary portrait of elderly women living in a Kraków nursing home, observing daily rituals, illness, and waiting, shaped by recurring symbolic images of time and decline.

Writer

Ab urbe condita

Ab urbe condita · 1965

Ab urbe condita

MovieDocumentary

After the Second World War, a cemetery turns into a city. The camera flies over Warsaw to take a bird's-eye view of its mosaic beauty: the Old Town, Śródmieście, and modern blocks of flats. The soundtrack reflects the mood of the summer of 1965.

Director

Awards and Decorations

Awards and Decorations · 1974

Awards and Decorations

A wartime drama set in a 1944 military hospital where wounded officers and staff from opposing political camps confront ideological conflict and moral uncertainty.

Director

The Land Is Waiting

The Land Is Waiting · 1954

The Land Is Waiting

MovieDocumentary

The film encourages people to settle in the so-called Regained Territories. Not only cities and towns but also villages that offer brick buildings and fertile soil. The region of Zielona Góra, Szczecin, Wrocław, Olsztyn – people are wanted there.

Director

The Contribution

The Contribution · 1967

The Contribution

A bank robbery conducted by Polish Underground members goes awry and the brother-in-law of the group's leader, Paweł gets arrested. Now Paweł must choose between helping his loved ones and staying loyal to the underground.

Director

Dom

The story of the residents of a tenement house on Złota Street in Warsaw from 1945 to 1980.

Director