Places where films were shot in Warmia and Masuria

Warmia and Masuria have been of interest to film producers and directors for a long time, some chose this region of Poland for the production of their films. Numerous films and TV-series were made here, the scenery of which were lakes and forests, as well as the architecture of the local towns and villages, including historical, religious and military buildings.

Roman Polański’s cult film “Knife in the water” from 1961 was filmed on Lake Kisajno. It is one of the most beautiful lakes in the region, loved by sailors on the Trail of the Great Masurian Lakes and tourists due to the varied landscape with many islands and picturesque bays.

On the other hand, on Lake Kirsajty, in 1964, the scenes of the Polish super-production “Pharaoh” by Jerzy Kawalerowicz were filmed (the area served as the river Nile), which is an adaptation of the novel by Bolesław Prus.

“Everyone has their own place on the Earth, you just need to find it …” – this is the motto of the series “House on water levels” based on the novel by Małgorzata Kalicińska about the search for the meaning of life after a series of failures (there were also five sequels of this series). The production, featuring Joanna Brodzik in the lead role, became a TV hit. The series was shot in Tuławki, Pasym, Olsztyn and several other towns in the area.

Most of the scenes for the very moving 2011 film “Rose” by Wojciech Smarzowski were shot here (incl. in Orneta, Szczytno, Pasym, the areas near Olsztynek and Gietrzwałd). In Warmia (near Gietrzwałd), the entire 2017 film  “Silent Night” by Piotr Domalewski was created, which is recognized as the best Polish film by the jury of the Gdynia Film Festival and the Polish Film Academy.

Let us recall one other series with reference to which generations of Poles were brought up – “More than life at stake“. It was shot in 1967 in (among others) Olsztyn’s Old Town, by Lake Kortowskie and on the viaduct in Dywity, (here was the famous scene from the opening showing a car falling from the viaduct into the river).

In Pasym and Szczytno, the drama “Four nights with Anna” by Jerzy Skolimowski (2008) was shot. In the open-air museum in Olsztynek, Juliusz Machulski made a dark comedy about vampires – “Lullaby”(2010).

Warmia and Masuria also became the setting for the great international French-German-British co-production of 1996 called “The Ogre”Directed by Volker Schlöndorff. The American actor John Malkovich played the lead role in this film, and the photos were shot, among others, in the ruins of the castle in Szymbark near Iława and in Las Łańsk.