PWA: Polskie Wydawnictwo Audiowizualne

[perkizitore]

Can someone offer me some assistance?I have trouble buying from Merlin.Please PM me,any help would be very appreciated.

[MichaelB]

I take it you've read this page?

[perkizitore]

Solved!I've read this page,but the problem was after the login.I had to put my telephone number,but i didn't know which was the refresh button.Finally,the 'buy' or 'proceed' button in Polish went green. =P~

[MichaelB]

I'm itching to place another order with Merlin (the new Agnieszka Holland four-film box is especially enticing), but I'm waiting for the next PWA documentary set to emerge - because I just know it'll be released the day after I place an order if I give in to temptation!

Still no sign, sadly, and PWA's website is no help even in the Polish version.

[posto]

Michael, your waiting has paid off - 3 disc set: Polska Szkoła Dokumentu. Gryczełowska / Halladin / Kamieńska just popped up on PWA website with full specs. It's not on Merlin's website yet but I think it is a matter of days now. Price: 39 zl. I can't wait to get this one - I hardly know any of the directors featured on this set but so far every single PWA release was a very pleasent surprise.
On the other note: I have received a couple of DVD's, which nicely supplement Polish Animation Anthology: Tomasz Baginski Fallen Art., and Cathedral, which is on PWA set but version on this disk is anamorphic and in high definition - it is a lot better version than one on PWA set.
Both dvd's are loaded with extras and for most part they do have english subtitles.
The Fallen Art disk has also 3 animated shorts by other directors: "Mantis" by Grzegorz Jonkajtys, "Undo" by Marcin Waśko and "REF" by Łukasz Pazera.
Both disks are a feat for animation buffs.

[MichaelB]

Thanks for that - especially the animation tip-off. I actually saw Fallen Art at the Matita Film Festival in Italy last year (and at least one of the others), so that looks well worth buying.

As for the latest PWA set, it appears to be another total bargain, so in the extremely unlikely event that it's a disappointment it's hardly going to break the bank! I shall order as soon as it pops up on Merlin's site.

Oh, and your link was to the Polish part of PWA's site, but for once they've uploaded a simultaneous English version, which also lists the titles.

[perkizitore]

Merlin sent me the following by e-mail:
Witamy ze sklepu internetowego Merlin.pl!

Bardzo dziękujemy za zainteresowanie naszą ofertą.

Informujemy, że zamówienie o numerze 4079206 nie jest realizowane, ponieważ nie został określony w nim sposób płatności. Prosimy wybrać formę płatności w ciągu 7 dni. W tym celu prosimy skorzystać z linku Płacę, znajdującego się w liście lub wejść w zamówienie nr 4079206 poprzez historię zakupów (link "Twoje zakupy" - koło koszyka i przechowalni). Jeśli forma płatności nie zostanie określona, po upływie 7 dni anulujemy zamówienie

I have some items on my cart,do they want me to purchase them?I have not given them credit card details.

[Zazou dans le Metro]

Hello
They're are thanking you for your interest and wanted to inform you that you haven't chosen a payment method for you order. They will hold the items in your basket for seven days and if by then you haven't entered payment details via your account they'll automatically cancel this order reference.

Nothing sinister.

[zedz]

Heads up: the latest PWA set is now available at Merlin.

[MichaelB]

...though not yet listed with the other PWA documentary sets.

But you're right, it's available, and I shall order it forthwith.

[Toxicologist]

Tomasz Baginski Fallen Art.

Unfortunately doesn't seem to be available any more and yet a cheaper version seems to exist?

[MichaelB]

Just a quick note to say that I now have the Gryczelowska/Halladin/Kamienska set, and production values seem to be right up to the usual standard: if you've got any of the other PWA documentary sets, you'll know exactly what to expect.

I was particularly relieved to see that the booklet was the usual solid, meaty effort, with each film getting a full-page note (or two full pages, in Polish and English) as well as accompanying essays - because the booklet accompanying the Anthology of Polish Experimental Animation was so uncharacteristically skimpy, and I was worried that there might have been cutbacks.

[perkizitore]

I've finally bought the 3 first PWA documentary sets plus 2 Has films from Merlin.

[Telstar]

I've finally bought the 3 first PWA documentary sets plus 2 Has films from Merlin.

So how are those 2 Has films?
And would anyone care to comment a bit more about that Experimental Animation set?

[zedz]

And would anyone care to comment a bit more about that Experimental Animation set?

It's essential. I commented on the Zbigniew Rybczynski films over here, but it's all of an amazingly high standard. As has been the case with some of the 'documentary' sets, we can be grateful that PWA had a rather loose definition of 'animation' when compiling this set.

[MichaelB]

Coincidentally, I met Marcin Giżycki, the producer of PWA's animation sets, at a conference I attended in Warsaw last week - it turned out he was already a big fan of my Quay Brothers set (and the Quays were mutual friends), so we hit it off very well from the start.

He even invited me to a party at the legendary animation house Studio Miniatur Filmowych on Friday evening, but it clashed directly with my conference presentation. Don't think I wasn't tempted - but given that the conference organisers had paid all my bills and expenses, it would have been a bit rude.

[zedz]

I might have some bad news.

I recently ordered duplicate copies of two of the PWA animation sets for a friend from Merlin and found that only the Experimental set came through. At first I assumed that the message I received about the other one (the first anthology) was "out of stock" or "back order", but running it though a crackpot translation website it looks more like "out of print" - though that's not as Mark E Smith as "Inaccessible positions, which (who) have been recaptured from realization".

If somebody understands Polish, they might be able to do better with it: "Pozycje niedostępne, które zostały wycofane z realizacji"

If this has gone out of print, then you've all been warned!

[Morgan Creek]

Google translates this as "Items not available, which have been withdrawn from execution," which if only slightly more parasable is equally ominous.

That said, I ordered the first anthology last week, and though I've yet to receive it, the order seems to have been fulfilled. As of today the Merlin site lists it as available within 7 days (as opposed to the other PWA sets, which all ship within 24 hours), so it may just be temporarily out of stock.

[posto]

This is exact meaning of this - "item unavailable. Out of print."

I e-mailed PWA asking if that's the case and if they plan the second printing. This set was immensely popular, so it does not come as a surprise.
If I remember correctly, Kieslowski's set went out of print and there was a second printing.
In a meantime I suggest checking other retailers.

[MichaelB]

I don't imagine a rave review in Sight & Sound was part of their marketing plan - and the author of said review went on to import at least a dozen copies for friends. And since those friends included several highly influential people in the British animation profession, I suspect they told all their friends.

So it's probably my fault, I'm afraid.

[zedz]

Boo, hiss. But hoorah for PWA. We need to keep them in business.

[MichaelB]

Boo, hiss. But hoorah for PWA. We need to keep them in business.

Well, I'm doing my best...

[MichaelB]

Excellent news: another documentary set has been announced, and I will of course be blind-buying a.s.a.p.

This time, it's a two-disc set devoted to Jacek Bławut (b. 1950), who alternates directing his own films with shooting other people's (he was the cinematographer on the tenth Dekalog). At the time of posting, PWA is only supplying details in Polish, and a couple of the English titles might be a bit dodgy (Poltran-generated). I've also added details if I could find any in English:

1. Untitled (bez tytułu, 1980)
2. A View (Widok, 1984)
3. Speedboat to Heaven (Ślizgiem do nieba, 1985)
4. A Lump of Sugar (Kostka cukru, 1986)
5. The Abnormal (Nienormalni, 1990)

Set in a country home for the mentally handicapped, tells the story of a new music teacher's attempts to set the residents there up in a music group and the learning process he has to go through in his misunderstanding and ignorance of mentally handicapped people.

6. Horned Souls (Rogate dusze, 1995)
7. Skalski Circus (Cyrk Skalskiego, 1986)
8. I Was A Wehrmacht General (Byłem generałem Wehrmachtu, 1988)
9. Your Native Country (Kraj urodzenia, 2002)

A warm story of an unemployed young man who takes a job as a census worker. Filling in questionnaires becomes a starting point for interesting and sincere conversations with people, not only about the issues covered by the census questionnaire.

10. Born Dead (2004)

A young recidivist, a trainee in the rehabilitation program Duet organized by the Kraków Penitentiary and a children’s home, works in the therapeutic center to help retarded children. For several months, we watch the 24-year-old Robert, who has been serving time in houses of correction ever since he turned 15. This film is about a transformation, of how feelings are aroused and developed, the feeling of touch first and foremost.

11. Rat in a Crown (Szczur w koronie, 2005)

[MichaelB]

The turn of the year seems to be PWA's favoured time for documentary releases (three came out at the end of 2007/beginning of 2008), as they've just announced another one.

As widely trailed, not least in this thread, it's a two-disc survey of work by Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz, and I'm particularly looking forward to this one as her reputation precedes her.

Here's what's on the discs, with annotations from the Culture.pl link:

DISC ONE

1) Everyone Knows Who's Behind Who (Każdy wie kto za tym stoi, 1983)

Storefront queues shown as a dangerous, absorbing ritual, almost a way of life.

2) I Am A Man (Jestem mężczyzną, 1985)

The portrait of a man who has played many social roles, from 1st secretary of a chapter of the Polish United Workers Party and commander of an ORMO (Volunteer Civil Militia Reserve) unit, through being active in PRON (the Patriotic Movement for National Resurrection) and an anti-alcohol consumption committee, to acting as director of a choir called the "Wesole Anulki" ("Happy Annies") and... chairing a chapter of the Liga Kobiet Polskich (Polish Women’s League).

3) The Office (Urząd, 1986)

A story about collection agents, merciless officers of the court, and their victims. The film includes actual statements by court collectors, but most did not agree to appear on camera and thus had to be replaced by actors.

4) Major, or the Revolt of the Dwarfs (Major albo rewolucja krasnoludków, 1989)

The story of Waldemar "Major" Fydrych and the Wroclaw-based artistic and political collective known as the Pomaranczowa Alternatywa / Orange Alternative.

5) Bara Bara, 1996

A story about the phenomenon of Disco-Polo music and the subculture that developed around it.

6) Gdansk Station (Dworzec Gdański, 2007)

(don't know about this one: too recent for the article!)

DISC TWO

1) Generation 89 (Pololenie 89, 2002)

A portrait of the generation of NZS (Independent Student Union) members who were opposition activists in Warsaw in the late 1980s.

2) Dziennik.pl, 2004
3) Kocham Polskę, 2007

(too recent for the article)

This all looks very promising indeed, and I'll be blind-buying a.s.a.p. Merlin is already listing it, but Jacek Bławut has yet to appear, so I'll hold off for a bit.

[Adam]

What is the consensus view on best way for Americans to buy these? Merlin as well?