Wieliczka Salt Mine (1946) dir. Jaroslaw Brzozowski

Salt has been mined underneath the town of Wieliczka for hundreds of years. Rock layers and salt stalactites form a lunar landscape in the mine. The close-ups expose the geometry of the rock drawings carved by water and orogenic movements. Men have entered the underground world and carved new objects and labyrinths using their tools. The film emphasizes the majesty of the underground, the miners’ shadows create a creepy atmosphere. A religious theme, elevating the work of miners entrusting their lives to a higher power, links together “Wieliczka“ with “Kopalnia“ by Natalia Brzozowska. The chapels and statues of saints carved in salt and rock date back to the end of the 17th century. Tourists visit the stunning Chapel of St. Kinga, from where the stairs lead to the Crystal Grotto trail. In other areas of the Wieliczka mine, salt is extracted. Thanks to new technologies, the miners can reach deeper salt layers than in the past. Due to modern solutions, pure table salt travels about 100 kilometers and reaches the loading space. Later, it is taken out of the mine on trucks. The Film Institute, the producer of the film, was the unit responsible for, inter alia, film education in post-war Poland. The Cracow Young Workshop, established on the initiative of filmmakers, was subordinate to the Institute as a civil unit of the Polish Army Film Studios. The film won the Grand Prix at the Cannes International Film Festival in 1946 (best short film). The director was forced to stop the shooting in 1948 due to a political decision. However, he resumed his work in 1954. Brzozowski directed mainly popular science films for the Łódź Educational Film Studios.