‘The Unconquered’ by Michał Misiński
“The Institute of National Remembrance, Fish Ladder and Juice studio present The Unconquered – an animated film that shows the fight of Poles for freedom, from the first day of World War II to the fall of communism in 1989.”
Some comments on the film’s meaning from Adam Hlebowicz, deputy director of the Institute of National Remembrance’s National Education Office:
“With this film we wish to launch an international educational campaign aimed at presenting the Polish, historical perspective on the key events of 1939-1989. I feel that with The Unconquered we have restored the perspective of General Anders’ soldiers of II Corps. That is, the relentless struggle for Poland’s freedom. This is a voice of a sovereign state that had the fourth largest army in the war, suffered the greatest losses, and was the only one to fight in the conflict from the first to the last day. Without the Polish perspective one cannot fully understand the course and consequences of World War II.”
From director Michał Misiński:
“We were looking for an original artistic style for the film. On the one hand it was meant to carry powerful emotions, and on the other give space to construct non-literal messages and a poetic mood. The artistic convention allowed to construct poignant symbols such as that from the first scene, when the hero is being crushed by two walls, or the scene of Karski’s conversation with Roosevelt.”
From Rafał Pękała, project coordinator of the Institute’s National Education Office:
“Our thinking about the film and our early work on its conception were founded on the idea that the war did not end in 1945 for everybody. It was our intention to emphasize how unjustly was Poland treated, but primarily how undervalued were the efforts of Polish soldiers, who heroically fought for the country’s freedom and that of the whole world, and who were not invited to the victory parade. Our allies never apologized, while for the Poles the end of the war brought another occupation, and thus another 45 years of fight, after “the war ended.” The film is thus meant to show historical truth in a modern and at the same time symbolic manner. The film has an enormous educational potential, which we would like to utilize in the different projects of the National Education Bureau.”
Credits
Producer: Instytut Pamięci Narodowej
Script: Krzysztof Noworyta, Marcin Kobylecki / Fish Ladder/Platige Image, Rafał Pękała / IPN
Director: Michał Misiński
Creative Producers: Krzysztof Noworyta, Marcin Kobylecki
Music Composer: Tommy Zee / Hologram
VO: Sean Bean
Cretive Consultant: Tobiasz Piątkowski
Postproduction: Juice
History consultants: Michał Mackiewicz, Dr. Tomasz Ginter, Tadeusz Pamzo
CG supervisor: Andrzej Sykut, Tomasz Dyrduła
Art Director: Andrzej Sykut, Selim Sykut
Concept art: Michał Misiński, Igor Piwowarczyk, Krystian Biskup, Maciej Haraf, Wojciech Magierski, Mikołaj Piszczako
Matte painting: Krystian Biskup, Igor Piwowarczyk, Michał Misiński, Zuzanna Gałuszka
Storyboard: Ilona Błaut, Marcin Kuligowski
Layout: Tomasz Dyrduła, Marcin Orzechowski, Jakub Wrzalik, Krzysztof Marcinowski, Tomasz Dabert, Waldemar Tabaka, Łukasz Walichnowski, Łukasz Gdaniec, Łukasz Świerczyński, Krzysztof Rusinek, Łukasz Kubiński
Mocap: Łukasz Kubiński, Waldemar Nalepa
Mocap – Actors: Natalia Lasota, Filip Bartczak, Maciej Tunikowski, Jarosław Ćwirzeń, Michał Misiński
Animation Supervisor: Błażej Kowalski
Animators: Błażej Kowalski, Marcin Orzechowski, Jakub Wrzalik, Aleksandra Rafalska, Michał Husiak, Łukasz Dziedziński
Modellers: Tomasz Stefański, Sebastian Ośka, Tomasz Wróbel, Ali Jalali, Alicja Cygan, Łukasz Kamiński, Robert Walentynowicz, Piotr Koczan, Łukasz Walicki, Andrzej Sykut, Evermotion
Rigging: Błażej Kowalski, Marcin Orzechowski
Texture: Andrzej Sykut, Piotr Koczan, Sebastian Ośka
Shading: Andrzej Sykut, Łukasz Walicki
FX: Tomasz Dyrduła, Paweł Pojedynek, Selim Sykut
Lighting/Rendering: Andrzej Sykut, Łukasz Walicki, Jarosław Handrysik, Selim Sykut
Compositing Supervisor: Selim Sykut
Compositing Artists: Selim Sykut, Michał Misiński, Bartłomiej Otłowski, Maciej Haraf, Przemysław Czapla, Szymon Jaskuła, Tomasz Potakowski, Paweł Białowąs
VO Narrative: Krzysztof Noworyta, Rafał Pękała, Marcin Kobylecki
Sound FX: Juice Sound
