1958 -

Studio / History

The Studio Miniatur Filmowych was founded in 1958 thanks to the reorganization of the Warsaw branch of the Studio Filmow Rysunkowych of Bielsko Biala. This branch was responsible for the formation of the professional animation crew with e.g. Witold Giersz. Halina Bielinska and Włodzimierz Haupe were some of the directors responsible for the formation of the Studio Miniatur Filmowych. Jan Lenica and Walerian Borowczyk and other known artists also took part in the formation of the Studio. From the point of view of a film producer this period was a lot different from the one we have nowadays. On one hand the studio was considered a public undertaking i.e. it had to have quarterly reports, plans for the entire year as well as it had to report to the Main Board of Cinematography. The creator working at the studio, thanks to an Artistic Committee chosen by them,  were at liberty to choose their undertakings even though censorship did exist. Of course the movies being produced at the Studio weren’t really of great interest to the censorship committee, usually a worker from this institution signed the needed papers without even bothering to watch the film, all this thanks to the stereotype that animated films are always intended for children.

On the other hand animated films intended for adult audiences, although the content matter was more controversial, they were not mass produced and since they were awarded prizes at foreign film festivals, they helped the general image of the government and its concern for culture. The great problem of finding sponsors and financial help did not exist in those times, the entire budget was approved with the yearly report. The structure of the Studio did not change until 1990. New people came and left, be they authors or just workers of the Studio. The process of the production itself changed during the years. With the expansion of television more and more TV shows were being produced, even though it was considered by some a form of “inferior” art, though most people in the business needed to take part in these undertakings. But of course this form of mass communication did have many interesting productions such as the series “Prosze Slonia”, some of the episodes of “Dziwne przygody Koziolka Matolka” or “Pies, kot i...”, as well as the later “Wedrowki Pyzy” with Adam Kilian’s projects or series directed and created by Leszek Galysz or Wieslaw Zieba’s “The Secrets of the Wicker Valley”. The Studio was a type of artistic and production community, two things which depend on each other. This community did not only consist of directors but also animation artists, production workers, cameramen, painters, copyists, people responsible for the mixture of paints as well as people from the administration department. It was almost like working in a big happy family, though like in any family there were times of disagreement. The man who was the head of this family, Jerzy Swierczynski, spent 20 years at the studio till 1982. Nowadays the Studio does not need to have yearly or quarterly plans, there is no “politics of culture” or censorship. Without any doubt the Studio now has nothing in common with the studio that existed before the year 1990. Unfortunately after the historical changes of the last couple of decades independent films are being produced more scarcely. The independent film was responsible for the rise of the Studio Minatur Filmowych.