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Pre-WWII Polish anti-fascist film to premiere in London

06.10.2021 16:30
"Europa," a recently rediscovered pre-World War II Polish anti-fascist film, is set to have its world premiere at the 65th London Film Festival opening on Wednesday.
Audio
Photo:
Photo:Themerson Estate/Instytut Pileckiego

The avant-garde masterpiece, digitally restored by Poland’s FixaFilm, was made by surrealist Warsaw artist Stefan Themerson and his wife Franciszka in 1931.

It went missing during the war after being seized by the Nazis, but was retrieved in 2019 by Poland’s Pilecki Institute.

The Themersons were Polish artists who met in Warsaw in 1930 and began a lifelong collaboration as writers, illustrators, publishers and avant-garde filmmakers.

Made in Warsaw, in the couple’s bedroom, Europa was their second film, and the first Polish avant-garde film production.

Originally believed to have been destroyed by the Nazis, the incendiary film was rediscovered in Germany’s national archives in Berlin in 2019.

Agnieszka Bielawska spoke to Anna Bobczuk from the Berlin branch of the Pilecki Institute.

Europa is scheduled to have its Polish premiere in Warsaw on October 15.

Click on the audio player above to listen.