Andrzej Wajda

On the one hand, we had great filmic spectacles that brought in big audiences, adults as well as primary and secondary school…

— Andrzej Wajda

In the first years after 1989, films were partly financed from the state's budget as well as by public television. Still, except…

— Andrzej Wajda

A novelty in Polish filmmaking was that it was possible to find funds for a big production. However, at the same time,…

— Andrzej Wajda

By dint of that concern and because that society was willing to examine its particular reality, Solidarity could come into existence.

— Andrzej Wajda

One might have thought that the most significant change in the film industry that would come about with a transition from the…

— Andrzej Wajda

It turned out that the country was helpless in the face of a new reality.

— Andrzej Wajda

Previously the same Polish audiences would have been pressured into seeing cinema made for adults, films made by us about those spheres…

— Andrzej Wajda

The difficulty with the present state of affairs is that there is no legislation on the sources of funding for the Polish…

— Andrzej Wajda

Television theatre, as is implied in its name, should rely on adaptations of scripts written for the theatre.

— Andrzej Wajda

When a film is created, it is created in a language, which is not only about words, but also the way that…

— Andrzej Wajda

However, that old mode of Polish filmmaking virtually disappeared.

— Andrzej Wajda

Eventually, the state's funding covered only the stages leading to presenting a film project to potential funding bodies. It was enough to…

— Andrzej Wajda

Suddenly, the screens were dominated by American entertainment to the extent of something like 95 percent. As a result, audiences turned away…

— Andrzej Wajda

Nevertheless, in the theatre, and in the cinema, the contemporary reality of Poland has been represented only to a minuscule degree in…

— Andrzej Wajda

There is no filmmaking legislation because distributors are not interested in sharing their money with the film industry - for instance, by…

— Andrzej Wajda

Cinemas gained new young audiences who wanted films made for them.

— Andrzej Wajda

On the one hand, young theatre directors were coming to television theatre, because they wanted to get closer to the cinema, despite…

— Andrzej Wajda

“(...) a director should tell a story that is close to his own existential experience.”

— Andrzej Wajda

The difficulty of writing a good theatre play set in new reality was even greater given that the level of similitude to…

— Andrzej Wajda

In Europe, there is no television filmmaking legislation that could assist film production because private broadcasters are not interested in supporting Polish…

— Andrzej Wajda

Even better, there were established two separate committees deciding on state film funding.

— Andrzej Wajda

In the first years after the systemic transition, our screens showed American entertainment that had not been available before, or had been…

— Andrzej Wajda

In the forty years of the people's republic, some of the worst historical traits were preserved in our people. These included even…

— Andrzej Wajda

At the same time, television theatre became more visibly active.

— Andrzej Wajda

We expected that people were just waiting for the collapse of the Soviet Union, or at least for its retreat, and they…

— Andrzej Wajda