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 by Marek Buda during a trip to Krynica Morska in 1969 to the camping houses in the filmmakers’ resort (next to today’s Continental Hotel). In addition to Katarzyna and Zygmunt Buda (Jacek and Marek’s parents), the film also shows Wanda and Adam Kit with their daughters (Bronia and Wanda), Jurek Dąbrowski, Mirek (Jacek’s neighbour and friend), Jola (Jacek and Marek’s cousin) and other holidaymakers. A group of friends lounge in front of the resort, spend time on the beach and visit fishermen. Jacek, Zygmunt, Jurek, Mirek, Jola and Andrzej (Marek’s colleague from Kasprzak Technical School) go on a cruise ship to Frombork. As Jacek recalls, the trip on the ship took place just after the Americans landed on the Moon and the group decided to send a congratulatory card to the White House. In response, the Buda family received thanks along with a photo album. Farewell to some of the holidaymakers who leave the resort by Jelcz bus. Shots from the way back from holiday in a car with Mirek’s father through Malbork and Sierpc, where Marek and Jacek got out. The brothers, together with their cousin (Jola) and her friend (Ania) spend time at a crowded swimming pool on Urszulewskie Lake.

 Part 2 

An account of Zygmunt Buda’s trip with his sons (Jacek and Marek) to the Pieniny Mountains. 

A man in a highlander hat walks next to a horse-drawn cart loaded with rafts. Zygmunt and his sons ride in a horse-drawn carriage. They visit the Dunajec castle in Niedzica, the ruins of the castle in Czorsztyn and a wooden church with historic dulcimer. The panorama of the surrounding hills and the Dunajec Gorge from Sokolnica. Jacek looks at the area through binoculars. Zygmunt and Jacek raft down the Dunajec River from the castle in Niedzica. Shots of landscapes and other tourists on rafts.

 Part 3 

A walk through the Royal Baths Park in Warsaw, shots of trees and the Palace on the Isle. As Jacek recalls, the musical background to this fragment of the film was the song The summer is over.

(AT)