Pharaoh

An international blockbuster, one of Polish cinema’s greatest artistic and commercial achievements. Nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign film in 1967.

Over 9 million viewers place this film amongst the top ten most popular Polish movies.

Film by Jerzy Kawalerowicz, the winner of Gdynia Film Festival Platinum Lions lifetime achievement award in 2007. He was the director of Kadr Film Studio for many years
and the founder and first president of the Polish Filmmakers Association.

The screen debut of Jerzy Zelnik in the title role of the Pharaoh.

A film adaptation of the novel by Nobel Prize winner Bolesław Prus. The conflict of two lead charachters – the  young pharaoh Ramses the XIIth, entering adult life with faith and a need
for renewal opposite an experienced high priest. The director confronts youthful yearning
for power with actual regime based on ruling, manipulating the people’s moods and predicting the results of each action.

Elevated to the status of a timeless drama of power, the film exposes the apparatus behind ruling any state and the influence religion has on social life. Intellectual cinema in a costume package.