„It was both a difficult and an easy film”. The Promised Land (1974), directed by Andrzej Wajda, in the recollections of the creators and the film crew members

Abstract

The film The Promised Land (1974), directed by Andrzej Wajda, premiered in Warsaw on February 21, 1975. Based on the novel by Władysław Stanisław Reymont, the story of the friendship between a Pole, a Jew, and a German in the 19th-century industrial capital became the foundation of a screenplay regarded as one of the most significant in the history of Polish cinema.

To produce the film, dozens of specialists were employed. For its creators and crew, working on The Promised Land was a milestone in their careers, a springboard to success in filmmaking, and an opportunity to collaborate with outstanding professionals. Aware of the fleeting nature of events, the historical moment, and the atmosphere – elements that typically elude documentation and researchers – I give voice to the witnesses of this history.

This publication includes excerpts from audiovisual recordings created for the Oral History Archive of the Museum of Cinematography in Łódź. Between 2020 and 2024, I organized recordings and conducted interviews with Anna Adamek, a makeup artist; Jerzy Domaradzki, the second director; Piotr Dzięcioł, a producer then a student of the Polish National Film School andextra on the set; Jacek Gwizdała, a producer, then extra on the set; Andrzej Haliński, the assistant set designer; Halina Prugar-Ketling, the editor; Waldemar Król, the production manager; Professor Tadeusz Lubelski, a film historian; Barbara Ptak, the costume designer; actors Anna Nehrebecka, Daniel Olbrychski, and Andrzej Seweryn; Zbigniew Wichłacz – cinematographer, then a student of the Polish National Film School and an observer on the set; Krzysztof Wodziński, a sound operator; as well as conservation specialists and the film’s consultants Wojciech Walczak and Małgorzata Laurentowicz-Granas.