History

Our History is created of our films, our families, our dreams and events that brought us there, where we are now: 21 Chełmska Str., Warsaw, Poland, with over 200 films and 100 awards on our account.

We met in the early Eighties with a considerable professional experience and our heads full of ideas. Until that moment, we had been working for a state-owned company, The Documentary Film Studio, at 21 Chełmska Street, and all of us were lacking one thing: independence in work.

A film production co-operative could give some independence in those times of communist rules. 11 people were needed to establish such a co-operative. And so, in a group of 11 volunteers, we fixed a secret meeting in the café of Hotel Europejski (European Hotel), one of the best and fashionable places in Warsaw. It was spring of 1983, and the martial law (imposed in Dec. 1981) was still in force in Poland. Like in a good spy-movie, we were entering the hotel one by one, in a different distance of time, because such meetings were illegal according to the martial law, and we could be caught and put into a long interrogation by secret police. We had discussed all details and proud of our activity we applied for registration to The Central Union of Co-operatives in Warsaw.

Yet it turned out that The Union didn’t share our enthusiasm and our application was rejected. The justification stated that one film co-operative already existed in Warsaw, and there was no need to establish a new one. There was no way to appeal against such a decision. We simply had to wait…

The year 1988 was favorable to us. We took a chance of founding an independent private film company at once. Our dreams came true. We registered Production and Service Company “Kalejdoskop” Ltd. in Warsaw, seated in Muranów Movie Theater. Well, it wasn’t easy… But our experience and friendship and self-confidence, together with an enormous will to work independently, boosted our spirits and nothing was impossible for us.

We bought the first bookshelf for our office from a friend, film director Krzysztof Lang. That piece of furniture was too long, and we had to cut it, but we were happy that we had it at all. There was even a fridge. To tell the truth, it was used, but freezing as a new one!
Blackberries bought us our first production van. Of course, berries is not money, but picking them in Sweden helped us to get extra money for our newborn company.

Four of us went to “conquer” Swedish plantations. Sticking to the rule: “One for all, all for one”, for two month we invested in “Kalejdoskop”. Right after coming back, we bought a made-in-Poland van called “Nysa”. It was “an export-for-Hungary version, color: blue”. After 3 years’ exploitation, the vehicle went to a Japanese artist, who fell in love with her at the first sight, and couldn’t imagine to drive another one in Poland.

One of our first productions was “The Phantom”, a short feature film, directed by Witold Iwaszkiewicz, starring an eminent Polish actor, Jerzy Trela. Among many significant films in those first years, we proudly produced a three-part documentary about Tadeusz Łomnicki, probably the best after-war Polish stage actor. We had finished the shooting just 2 weeks before he died.

In 1992, we changed our name. Since then, we have been called “Studio Filmowe Kalejdoskop”.

Ambitious film projects, and prestigious awards, do not always lead to spectacular financial success, but fortunately we have never lacked good ideas and courage.

In 1994, thanks to a successful investment at the newly established Warsaw Stock Market, we had bought professional Betacam SP editing system, which raised our prestige and, of course, made the production much easier. We were modern professional company on our way to the international success.

We didn’t wait long! In December 1994, our film “89 mm From Europe” was nominated to the European Award “Felix”, and several month later – to the Academy Award “Oscar” in a category of short documentary films. International Documentary Association (IDA) in Los Angeles announced it the best film of the year 1995. (Pictures from the trip to USA are enclosed below).
We always willingly come back to our memories and stories connected with the beginning of our co-operation, to our common trips, official galas and festivals.

Luckily, we haven’t rested on our laurels. We are still developing, and year by year we produce new projects and support young artists, we educate next generations and still learn how to take new and bigger challenges.
Day by day we create our history, and we believe that the greatest success is still ahead.

Zbigniew Domagalski
Janusz Skałkowski
Wojciech Szczudło
Piotr Śliwiński