From the FINA Archive | Film Series

The film series “From the FINA Archive” is an invitation to go behind the scenes of the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute and learn about the daily work of the specialists who work there. Its aim is not only to present the richness and diversity of our collections, but also to popularize knowledge about the processes behind their cataloguing, preservation and access.

At the center of the program are the people crucial to the Archive’s operation, whose work usually remains invisible externally: archivists, conservators, digitization specialists and collection storage experts. They will — referring to their own research, personal experiences and specific film examples — talk about their projects. Their perspective allows us to view film not only as an artistic work, but also as a material, historical and technological object requiring expertise and care.

Each screening will be preceded by a short introduction revealing the work done on the film — whether it will be the reconstruction of cut scenes, restoration of a film based on different copies, or analysis of script changes. The starting point is always concrete resources: analog and digital materials, literary materials, production stills, catalogs, collections from recent accessions, reconstruction and restoration projects, as well as documentation accompanying the production and distribution of films.

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The series will take place once a month in the Ziemia Obiecana hall: from February to June 2026 and from September to December 2026. Together they form a coherent yet diverse story about FINA as a living organism — a place where the past of cinema meets the present of archival work and the future of research and access to film heritage.

Schedule of screenings:

• 🎟️ - 18 February (Wednesday), 6:00 PM — “Sami swoi”, dir. Sylwester Chęciński (introduction: Piotr Śmiałowski)
• 🎟️ - 30 March (Monday), 6:00 PM — “Znachor”, dir. Michał Waszyński (introduction: Grzegorz Krynicki)
• 🎟️ - 15 April (Wednesday), 6:00 PM — “Lekarstwo na miłość”, dir. Jan Batory (introduction: Agnieszka Polanowska)