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Restoring Image and Sound, Rebuilding Stories: Polish Pre-War movies from FINA archives.
Tuesday October 20, 2026 2:00pm - 3:00pm EEST
Events hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania: Great Hall
The presentation addresses the restoration projects of two pre-war Polish feature films: Paweł and Gaweł (Paweł i Gaweł, 1938, dir. M. Krawicz) and What Women Want (O czym marzą kobiety, 1937, dir. A. Marten). The restorations were based on pre-war nitrate-based copies 16 mm and 35 mm, positive and internegatives. All available materials were heavily degraded and incomplete, displaying extensive mechanical damage and defects.

A key challenge in both projects was the integration of 35 mm and 16 mm sources into a coherent restored version. The 16mm elements, often used to replace missing sections of the 35 mm materials, were of significantly lower image and sound quality, with reduced resolution, increased grain, limited tonal range, and severely degraded optical soundtracks. Achieving visual and auditory consistency across formats required careful balancing of restoration interventions while preserving the historical authenticity of the films.

In the case of Paweł and Gaweł, the restoration process was further complicated by the need to reconstruct the film’s edit from multiple fragmentary sources. Editorial decisions were guided by comparative analysis of the surviving copies and narrative continuity, making reconstruction an essential component of the restoration.

The presentation outlines the principal stages of digital image and sound restoration, including scanning, image stabilization and cleaning, tonal correction, and sound processing such as noise reduction and synchronization. These case studies illustrate the broader challenges involved in restoring early sound films from heterogeneous and severely damaged archival materials. 
Speakers
avatar for Grzegorz Krynicki

Grzegorz Krynicki

Head of the Digitization and Restoration Department, National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute (FINA)
Master of Science in Engineering, a graduate of the Faculty of Environmental Engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology. For many years professionally associated with the National Audiovisual Institute, and subsequently with the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute... Read More →
avatar for Jakub Stadnik

Jakub Stadnik

Senior Specialist for Sound Digitization and Restoration, National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute (FINA)
Dr. Jakub Stadnik is a sound engineer specializing in film sound restoration. He is employed as a Senior Specialist for Sound Digitization and Restoration at the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute (FINA) and serves as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Sound... Read More →
Tuesday October 20, 2026 2:00pm - 3:00pm EEST
Events hall: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania: Great Hall
  Long Presentation, In Person

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