Buda Family Archive

Zygmunt Buda was born in Poznań in 1924 and was interested in photography since his childhood. From 1941, he worked in the Poznań photographic company Foto-Stewner, founded by Ernest Stewner. After the end of the war, he worked as a photographer in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, from which, in the 50s, he was dismissed for political incorrectness. From the 60s, he worked in the Film Services Department at the corner of Marszałkowska and Krucza streets in Warsaw. Zygmunt recorded films with a business camera with a 16-millimeter tape and a private SANYO camera with an 8-millimeter tape, which he received as a gift from a family living in the USA. His sons, Jacek and Marek, as well as the next generations of the Buda family, also became enthusiasts of filming family life.

Part 1 

The film was made during a family holiday in Krynica Morska in August 1986. A board with the date “18.08.86”. Little Piotr, Irmina and Jacek Buda’s son, plays on the beach with Ania and Paweł, the children of Marek (Jacek’s brother). Adults lie on blankets by teepee tents. A board with the date “22.08.86”. Children in wellies and raincoats play fishing on the Vistula Lagoon watched by their grandparents, Zygmunt and Katarzyna Buda. A board with the date “23.08.86”. A ship cruise on the Lagoon. Grandparents sit with their grandchildren on a bench on board and feed the seagulls flying over them. A board with the date “24.08.86”. Children swing on a weight swing on the beach, slide down a slide and wave to the camera from a fishing boat located on the beach. Children are accompanied by their grandparents. A board with the date “26.08.86”. The family spends time on the beach, children jump through waves and play by the shore.

Part 2

A board with the date “01.09.86” and the inscription “to kindergarten”. Irmina takes little Piotr to his first day at the kindergarten at the Children’s Health Center. 

 Part 3 

A board with the date “26.10.86”. Piotr sits in a car in the driver’s seat. Then he stands on a bench of the 10th-Anniversary Stadium. Shots from the stadium. The boy stands with balloons in his hand near the banner of the Polish Automotive Industry.

 Part 4

A board with the date “30.11.86”. Piotr plays in the apartment with a toy gun and auscultates his teddy bears with a stethoscope. Then he sits with a guitar on a sofa bed. A shot of a children’s room and the boy playing.

 Part 5 

A board with the date “24.12.86”. Christmas Eve in Nabrzeże. A man in a Santa Claus costume enters the room and sits down in a chair. Piotr performs in front of Santa Claus, showing him how he dances the Cracowiak. Santa Claus gives Christmas gifts.

 Part 6

A board with the inscription “winter 1986/87”. An account of a winter trip to Sosnówka near Karpacz to the State Forests Association “Lubuszanin” resort. Piotr, together with children from the resort, plays in the snow. Jacek goes skiing with Piotr, then the boy tries to ski on his own. Irmina skis down with her son on ski sledges.

 Part 7 

A board with the inscription “spring 1987”. The family walks around the housing estate at ul. Żabińskiego in Warsaw’s Ursynów district. The children take tap water and try to pour themselves and the adults. The estate is still under construction. We can see spools with cables lying between the buildings and the soil hills. Marek shows his family the windows of his future apartment.

 Part 8 

A board with the inscription “summer 1987”. An account of holiday trips to Świnoujście and Krynica Morska. Shots of a burning bonfire. The family is on a cruise ship. Ania, Paweł, Piotr and Daniel swim on a mattress, watched over by Zygmunt and Katarzyna, and play in an inflatable pool on the beach. Adults sunbathe on blankets behind the windbreak.

(AT)