Warsaw 44

The film is about the Warsaw Uprising in 1944 seen from the young people’s perspective. Their love is put to the test. The director does not focus on an accurate description of the battle but on the atmosphere, fear and feelings that those young people had to face. Although Jan Komasa thoroughly studied the archives, his film is far from the way film-makers had portrayed one of the most tragic events of the WW2 up till then. Instead of black and white images usually associated with historical films, “Warsaw 44” is full of colour, contemporary music and slow-motion techniques. The author’s vision is connected with the genre by strong stimuli affecting the viewer. The way the heroes have to fight through the bombed districts is a symbolic story of the dying city. The shooting of the film took 63 days, that’s exactly as long as the Warsaw Uprising took.

About the director:

Jan Komasa (born 1981) is one of the most interesting Polish directors of the young generation. He is a graduate of Lodz Film School, his etude “Great you are here” took part in the prestigious Cinéfundation competition within International Film Festival in Cannes. Another film “Ode to Joy” was called the voice of the generation, where he told the story of his peer, Michal, a rapper who decides to emigrate to England. The turning point of his career was “Suicide Room”. This time, thanks to combining a traditional film with computer animation the director managed to show the viewer the atmosphere of addiction to the virtual world. Visual effects were also characteristic to “Warsaw 44”. His latest project is “Ultraviolet”, a crime series which Komasa makes for AXN TV station together with another director, Slawomir Fabicki.
Most important films:
• 2004 „Great you are here”
• 2005 „Ode to Joy”
• 2007 „The Flow”
• 2011 „Suicide Room”
• 2014 „Warsaw 44”
• 2017 „Ultraviolet” (TV series)