A lost silent movie made in 1913 about the 1794 uprising has turned up in a house in Krakow. The film Kosciuszko pod Raclawicami, has been donated to the national film archives.
Kosciuszko pod Raclawicami was the first pre-war Polish blockbuster, with outdoor battle scenes and over 2,000 extras taking part in it.
The film, which will now be one of the oldest in the archives, shows the Battle of Raclawice, one of the first battles of the Polish Kosciuszko Uprising against Imperial Russia and Kingdom of Prussia. The battle was fought on 4 April 1794 near Raclawice, southern Poland, and Polish troops were commanded by General Tadeusz Kosciuszko, who earlier fought in American Revolutionary War.
About 450 out of 1600 metres of the film reel survived and were donated by Lysko to Filmoteka Narodowa, national film archives. Along with Kosciuszko pod Raclawicami two films about Jozef Pilsudski, who led Poland to independence in 1918 and the remains of a newsreel were found.
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