Poland

Poland has been in the spotlight this year thanks to several international productions, festival darlings and Oscar winners that have shot here. These include Polish co-production Girl With The Needle; Stephen Fry and Lena Dunham comedy drama Treasure; season two of Netflix’s Barbarians; Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes; and Bafta and Oscar winner A Real Pain, from writer, director, producer and star Jesse Eisenberg. 

Fairly unique for films shooting in Poland, A Real Pain shone its spotlight on the territory itself, filming in Warsaw, Lublin, Majdanek and Krasnystaw. Notably, the production was able to shoot in Majdanek concentration camp, thanks to local producer Ewa Puszczynska, whose credits include Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone Of Interest. Her presence was invaluable to achieving this kind of location shoot in Poland. “It’s not only about having, say, a fixer, but somebody who knows the reality relevant to the story,” explains Puszczynska. “You cannot underestimate the value of it.”

From Eisenberg’s perspective, filming in Poland was easy. “It was all mutual affection and appreciation,” he says. Filming took place at historical sites as well as major Polish infra­structure, namely Warsaw-Radom Airport, which doubled for Warsaw International and New York’s JFK. 

There were unexpected hurdles, as with any production. “Two days before shooting [at Radom airport], we were told we couldn’t do any TSA scenes because they didn’t want to show their technology to an audience,” reveals Eisenberg. 

Polish production designer Mella Melak found a private security firm from which to rent conveyor belts to create the airport security line, solving the problem.

The film was powered by a 100-strong Polish crew, who “could not have been more talented”, says Eisenberg. “Everybody who worked on this movie was an artist.” The crew was also entirely bilingual.

A Real Pain was able to tap into the country’s incentive, with support from the Polish Film Institute as well as Warsaw Film Fund. But what also aided the production was soft support from the city of Lublin and its film commissioner. “They gave us things for free,” says Puszczynska. This included parking spaces and permits. 

Poland may be known for its historical sites, but the country also offers diverse landscapes and plentiful doubling potential. The climate is temperate, passing gradually from maritime to continental, with relatively cold winters and warm summers. In the mountains, snow is still present in April.

Poland offers a wide variety of landscapes, from sandy beaches in the north to rocky mountains in the south, from bustling cities to wild and primeval nature. Forests cover about 30% of Polish territory, which left the producers of The Woods spoilt for choice when picking a backdrop for their drama.

Warsaw was rebuilt after the Second World War, making for an unusual mix of architecture in the downtown area. It includes the ‘new-old’ Royal Castle in Warsaw and a colourful old town, which contrasts with Soviet-era buildings such as the Palace of Culture and Science and the modern architecture of Zlote Tarasy shopping centre.

The Polish Film Institute has an extensive locations database that covers everything from university buildings to mine shafts in the southern city of Zabrze.

Crew are renowned in Poland for being flexible, hardworking and generally bilingual English. International producers are required to have a Polish co-producer and Polish creative elements to access the cashback system distributed by the Polish Film Institute. 

There are many production service companies to partner with. Soundstage space is less plentiful than in its European neighbours. Facilities include Alwernia Studio, Studio Maka, Studio Filmowe Panika and the Audiovisual Technology Centre. 

Poland is located at the very heart of Europe and has borders with seven countries: Belarus, Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine. It can be reached by air from every major city in Europe in two to three hours and boasts excellent road and rail networks.

Poland can be reached by air from every major city in Europe in two to three hours. Warsaw has direct flight connections with all the major cities in Poland. All flights from other cities to Warsaw take around one hour.

Polish roads are kept in good condition, however, in some cases, it is quicker to take the train than drive.

Poland is a member of the European Union and the Schengen Area. Its currency is the zloty (PLN). Poland is preparing to adopt the euro, though no date has been set.