Aleksander Ford
Aleksander Ford (born Mosze Lifszyc) was a Polish film director; and head of the Polish People's Army Film Crew in the Soviet Union during World War II. Ford became director of the nationalized Film Polski company following the Red Army occupation of Poland. In 1948 the new communist authorities appointed him professor of the National Film School in Łódź. Roman Polanski was among his students. Another of Ford's protégés was the Polish film director Andrzej Wajda. Ford made his first feature film, Mascot in 1930, after a year of making short silent films. He did not use sound until The Legion of the Streets (1932). When World War II began, Ford escaped to the Soviet Union and worked closely with Jerzy Bossak to establish a film unit for the Soviet-sponsored People's Army of Poland in the USSR. The unit was called Czołówka Filmowa Ludowego Wojska Polskiego (or simply Czołówka; spearhead). After the war, Ford was appointed head of the government-controlled Film Polski and held enormous sway over the country's entire film industry. In the process of accumulating power he denounced a fellow film director, Jerzy Gabryelski, to the NKVD secret police, contentiously accusing him of "reactionary" and "antisemitic" views, which resulted in Gabryelski's arrest and torture. Ford and a group of colleagues from the Polish Communist Party rebuilt most of the country's film production infrastructure. Roman Polanski wrote in his biography about them: "They included some extremely ...
Knights of the Teutonic Order (1960)
A tale of a young impoverished nobleman, who with his uncle returns from a war against the order of the Teutonic Knights in Lithuania. He falls in love with a beautiful woman and pledges an oath to bring her "three trophies" from the Teutonic Knights. (more)
A tale of a young impoverished nobleman, who with his uncle returns from a war against the order of the Teutonic Knights in Lithuania. He falls in love with a beautiful woman and pledges an oath to bring her "three trophies" from the Teutonic Knights. (more)
Border Street (1949)
The story of Polish and Jewish families living side by side in one Warsaw street. Everything changes once and for all with the Nazi invasion. (more)
The story of Polish and Jewish families living side by side in one Warsaw street. Everything changes once and for all with the Nazi invasion. (more)
The First Day of Freedom (1964)
Freed Polish soldiers are trapped in a small town in Germany during the last days of World War II. After a doctor's daughter is raped by a concentration camp worker, the Poles allow her and her father to stay in the house that is their temporary quarters. While ... (more)
Freed Polish soldiers are trapped in a small town in Germany during the last days of World War II. After a doctor's daughter is raped by a concentration camp worker, the Poles allow her and her father to stay in the house that is their temporary quarters. While ... (more)
Five from Barska Street (1954)
In war-ravaged Warsaw, five juvenile delinquents are given probation for stealing, to rehabilitate themselves, but remain under the influence of their profiteer-boss. (more)
In war-ravaged Warsaw, five juvenile delinquents are given probation for stealing, to rehabilitate themselves, but remain under the influence of their profiteer-boss. (more)
Young Chopin (1952)
As directed by Aleksander Ford in 1952, this Polish-language period drama chronicles the life, times and accomplishments of revered Warsaw-born Romantic composer Frederic Chopin, here played by Czeslaw Wollejko (Danton). The feature focuses exclusively on the youth ... (more)
As directed by Aleksander Ford in 1952, this Polish-language period drama chronicles the life, times and accomplishments of revered Warsaw-born Romantic composer Frederic Chopin, here played by Czeslaw Wollejko (Danton). The feature focuses exclusively on the youth ... (more)
Olek (2006)
When in a small village appears a little boy named Olek, the life of its inhabitants change. Olek senses danger. (more)
When in a small village appears a little boy named Olek, the life of its inhabitants change. Olek senses danger. (more)
Legion of the Streets (1932)
Józek enters a cycling race to win a bike, which he needs to deliver newspapers and pay for his mother's surgery. (more)
Józek enters a cycling race to win a bike, which he needs to deliver newspapers and pay for his mother's surgery. (more)
Sabra (1933)
Describe the harsh reality attempts of establishing a Jewish settlement in Israel and the efforts of the Arab to prevent it. The film is considered as the first talking film in Palestine Israel. (more)
Describe the harsh reality attempts of establishing a Jewish settlement in Israel and the efforts of the Arab to prevent it. The film is considered as the first talking film in Palestine Israel. (more)
Children Must Laugh (1936)
One of the few surviving documentaries about Jewish life in Poland before World War II, this film was produced to raise funds for the Vladimir Medem Sanitarium, an institution that stood as the embodiment of health and enlightenment, in striking contrast to the ... (more)
One of the few surviving documentaries about Jewish life in Poland before World War II, this film was produced to raise funds for the Vladimir Medem Sanitarium, an institution that stood as the embodiment of health and enlightenment, in striking contrast to the ... (more)
The People of the Vistula (1938)
A look at the lives of people who work on the barges and boats flowing across the Vistula River. (more)
A look at the lives of people who work on the barges and boats flowing across the Vistula River. (more)
Majdanek - Cemetery of Europe (1944)
Movie filmed directly after the liberation of the concentration camp at Majdanek. (more)
Movie filmed directly after the liberation of the concentration camp at Majdanek. (more)
The Eighth Day of the Week (1958)
Zbigniew Cybulski and Sonja Ziemann play lovers struggling to find happiness and privacy in overcrowded Warsaw. The movie shows an honest picture of life in a war-damaged city, contrasting the characters' difficulties with their dreams of a better life. It was ... (more)
Zbigniew Cybulski and Sonja Ziemann play lovers struggling to find happiness and privacy in overcrowded Warsaw. The movie shows an honest picture of life in a war-damaged city, contrasting the characters' difficulties with their dreams of a better life. It was ... (more)
The Doctor Speaks Out
(1966)
A serious Swiss melodrama/documentary about abortion, marketed as a sexy exploitation movie in the US. The film contains real medical footage. (more)
A serious Swiss melodrama/documentary about abortion, marketed as a sexy exploitation movie in the US. The film contains real medical footage. (more)
The First Circle (1973)
The story of the life of a political prisoner in a Russian gulag. Based on the book by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (more)
The story of the life of a political prisoner in a Russian gulag. Based on the book by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (more)
You Are Free, Dr. Korczak (1975)
Mascot (1930)
Feliks Promienski inherits from his aunt a small clay figurine representing a pagan god and from that moment happiness begins to favor him. Lost film. (more)
Feliks Promienski inherits from his aunt a small clay figurine representing a pagan god and from that moment happiness begins to favor him. Lost film. (more)