Kanał

1957

Original Polish film poster for the Polish film ‘Kanał’ based on a script by Jerzy Stefan Stawiński, directed by: Andrzej Wajda. Designed by ZYGMUNT ANCZYKOWSKI, 1963.

Starring: Teresa Iżewska, Tadeusz Janczar, Wieńczysław Gliński, Emil Karewicz.

The film Kanal did not initially receive an enthusiastic reception from audiences – mainly due to the ‘anti-heroic’ way in which the participants of the Warsaw Uprising were portrayed. The situation changed when the film won the Special Prize at the 10th Cannes International Film Festival (it was then awarded an equal prize with Bergman’s The Seventh Seal. “Kanal”, holds a remarkable place in Polish cinema, as it is the film that initiated the so-called Polish school of filmmaking.

The most important filmmakers of the time worked on the film: Andrzej Wajda as director, Kazimierz Kutz – as second director, Janusz Morgensztern – assistant director, Jerzy Lipman – cinematographer, Jerzy Wójcik – cinematographer. Initially the role of Korab was to be played by Zbigniew Cybulski, but Wajda changed his mind and gave the role to Tadeusz Janczar. The role of Stokrotka was originally to be played by Kalina Jędrusik, but in the end the role was given to Teresa Iżewska.

The film was accompanied by 2 posters: one designed by Jan Lenica, the other in an unusual format (the poster consists of 2 sheets of A1 format. The right sheet has a 2-cm margin to allow the two parts to be joined together properly) was designed by Zygmunt Anczykowski. Both copies are among the rarest posters on the collector’s market, both because of the design and the subject matter, i.e. one of the most important films in the history of Polish cinema.

The dimensions of the poster when folded (the sheets are not glued together) are 166.5 x 59 cm

Condition: very good-