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.
The film was made by Jacek Buda in 1989 and 1990.
Part 1
Winter at the turn of 1989 and 1990. Jacek’s son, Piotrek, together with Ania and Paweł (children of Jacek’s brother, Marek) skates on the Warsaw “Stegny” ice rink. Zygmunt watches the skaters from the stands and offers his grandchildren warm tea from a flask.
Part 2
An account of a winter trip to Przesieka in 1990. As the author of the film recalls, he, his wife (Irmina) and their son (Piotr) went on a trip in a “Maluch” (Fiat 126p). They arrived in the Karkonosze Mountains after a long road full of snowstorms, and once they arrived at night, they waited a long time for someone to provide them with a reserved room. Piotrek learns to ride slalom on the ski slope. The boy also writes letters to his grandparents and poses with his mother against the background of the pussy willows, which unexpectedly bloomed. During the trip, the family visits the Chojnik castle and takes the lift to Wielka Kopa in Karpacz. Piotrek looks at semi-precious stones bought during his stay – rock crystal, chrysoprase, garnet, amethyst, opal – all from the vicinity of Lower Silesia. Shots of a toddler against the background of an empty holiday home, in which only a dozen or so people stayed due to the economic crisis. Piotrek, interested in semi-precious stones, looks for them by the stream in the area where the Walloons used to look for valuable ores in the Middle Ages. In the room, the boy learns to play 1000.
Part 3
Spring 1990. The panorama of Warsaw with the Palace of Culture and Science towering over the city center. Piotrek, together with other children, performs in front of his parents during a farewell party in the kindergarten at the Children’s Health Center. Among the gathered, we can see a friend (Sylwia) and a favorite kindergarten teacher (Mrs. Marta).
Part 4
The family spends time in Zalesie Górne. They are in a boat on the pond and watch frogs in the mating season. Piotrek learns to shoot with an air rifle.
Part 5
An account of the baptism of Michał Buda (Marek and Romana’s son). Jacek Buda and Joanna Weber (Romana’s sister) were godparents. After the ceremony, the whole family poses in front of the church for the camera. Among the gathered, we can see: Katarzyna and Zygmunt Buda (Jacek and Marek’s parents), Janina and Bogdan Sobol (Katarzyna’s sister with her husband), Maria Koszewska (Romana’s mother) and Joanna Weber with her sons.
Part 6
Summer 1990. Irmina and Piotrek watch bisons and white-tailed eagle in the Wolin National Park. The family spends time on the beach in Międzyzdroje. Piotrek makes tricks on the sand and shows faces for the camera in funny glasses. The boy plays football with other children. Irmina and Piotrek feed seagulls and pigeons on the beach. The boy also trains judo on his dad and makes bubbles.
Part 7
A family meeting at home in the Groty housing estate in Warsaw (at Irmina’s family) celebrating Piotrek’s seventh birthday. Irmina hugs her son and her sister’s daughter (Magda Trześniowska). The girl pours champagne into glasses and everyone raises a toast to the birthday boy. Apart from Irmina, there are: her sister (Anna), her mother (Elżbieta Staszewska) and her aunt and Elżbieta’s cousin (Grzanka). Magda and Piotrek take a bath.
Part 8
The Buda family spend time at Vistula swimming pools. Amused, Piotrek pours water on his mother sunbathing on a blanket.

(AT)