producTion guide poland 2013

egional film funds | film funding | producTion guide poland 2013 71
silesia
Located in southern Poland, the Silesia Province (Śląsk)
is the most diverse land in the country. Its territory covers
the eastern part of the historical lands of Upper Silesia and
western Małopolska, including the coalfields of Dąbrowa
Basin, Krakow Basin, as well as the regions surrounding
Żywiec and Częstochowa. Apart from its well-developed
industry, this structurally heterogeneous territory also has
rural areas and natural scenic landscapes. The region
abounds in lakes (especially artificial reservoirs) and, apart
only from seascapes, one can find all types of topography
here, even an inland desert – the largest landscape of
its type in this part of Europe. Because of its industrial
character, the region offers a number of unique attractions
including, among others, coal mines with their underground
boat trips, numerous horizontal shafts, heritage parks
and museums. Moreover, thanks to the region’s scenic
character, one can find here such features as quaint
palace complexes (for example, the Castle in Pszczyna
and the medieval ruins along a tourist route called the
Eagles’ Nest Trail (Szlak Orlich Gniazd)) and major religious
sanctuaries (for example the Pauline Fathers’ Monastery
in Częstochowa), all of which facilitate the development of
various forms of tourism in the area.
Table of conTenTs
Silesia Film Fund
Silesia Film
40-008 Katowice, ul. Górnicza 5
tel. +48 32 206 88 61-63,
fax +48 32 259 83 88
m.podgorska@silesiafilm.com.pl,
www.silesiafilm.com.pl
Silesia Film Commission
40-008 Katowice, ul. Górnicza 5
tel. +48 698 353 147
p.mlynarczyk@csf.katowice.pl,
www.silesiafilmcommission.eu
Silesia is considered to be the most urbanized area in
Poland – 14 cities almost merged into one metropolis comprising 2 million inhabitants, while
the region itself covers an area of 12300 km 2 and has almost 5 million inhabitants. In terms of
surface area, it is the fourteenth largest province in the country; but in terms of its population,
the second largest. Transportation routes between Silesia and the rest of Europe are very
well established. In this area, two trans-European routes have their junction, namely
Berlin-Wrocław-Katowice-Krakow-Lviv and Gdańsk-Katowice-Žilina. The International Airport
in Pyrzowice provides flights to all major cities in Europe, Asia and Africa; moreover, there
are two other airports in the vicinity, i.e. Krakow Airport in Balice and Copernicus Airport in
Wrocław. In addition to all the aforementioned, the region has many institutions of higher
learning offering education to producers, camera operators, directors, actors, composers and
graphic designers. Because of such a concentration of film professionals, as well as diversity of
landscape and support from the Marshal’s Office and Silesia Film, film production in Silesia has
recently been developing at a very rapid pace.
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