Arguably the most important Polish film studio, founded in 1956 as a film unit, headed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz from its beginning to present. During the 1956-2003 period, Kadr produced 150 feature, television, and documentary films, which were made by almost fifty directors. Kadr was instrumental in developing the Polish School phenomenon under the supervision of Kawalerowicz, Krzysztof Teodor Toeplitz (until 1957), and (later) Tadeusz Konwicki as literary directors and Ludwik Hager as a production manager. Among its members were directors Andrzej Wajda, Andrzej Munk, Janusz Morgenstern, and Kazimierz Kutz; cinematographers Jerzy Lipman and Jerzy Wójcik; writers Bohdan Czeszko and Jerzy Stefan Stawiński; and composers Jan Krenz and Jerzy Markowski. The studio produced several classic Polish School films such as Kanal (1957), Ashes and Diamonds (1958), Eroica (1958), Nobody is Calling (1960), and Mother Joan of the Angels (1961). The studio also produced experimental films by, among others, Walerian Borowczyk and Jan Lenica, such as Once There Was (1957) and House (1958).
Before 1968 Kadr was producing approximately three or four films yearly, including some big-budget productions, such as Kawalerow-icz's epic adaptation The Pharaoh (1966). In 1968 the authorities temporarily disbanded all film units, including Kadr. Some members of the unit who were of Jewish origins, like Hager and Lipman, left Poland. In 1972 Kadr began film production anew and remained an important player in the 1970s, releasing films made by directors such as Andrzej Trzos-Rastawiecki, Barbara Sass, and Jan Łomnicki. It also became successful with television series, including Jan Ryb-kowski's Peasants (1972) and Jerzy Antczak's Nights and Days (1977). At the beginning of the 1980s, Kadr produced the first films by Juliusz Machulski and Kutz's winner of the Festival of Polish Films, Beads of One Rosary (1981). In 1989 Kadr was renamed Film Studio Kadr. The studio has been producing fewer films in recent years, mostly documentaries and Kawalerowicz's own works, such as For What? (1996) and Quo Vadis (2001).
Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema by Marek Haltof
Guide to cinema. Academic. 2011.