INFORMATION PORTAL OF THE MARSHAL'S OFFICE OF THE KUJAWSKO-POMORSKIE Region IN TORUŃ

Filming for Całopalenie, the latest film by Krzysztof Zanussi, is currently underway in Toruń. The production is supported by the Kujawy Pomorze Film Fund.

The 86-year-old director, an icon of Poland’s “cinema of moral anxiety,” is shooting outdoor scenes in Toruń for what is being described within the film industry as his farewell to cinema. Filming for “Całopalenie” is scheduled for the entire week, from 18 to 23 May. The film crew can be spotted in the centre of Toruń and in the municipality of Zławieś Wielka.

Details of the screenplay remain confidential, but it is already known that Zanussi continues to explore themes central to his long-standing artistic pursuits. “Całopalenie” is expected to be a drama addressing spirituality, divine intervention, and the limits of human agency, serving as a logical continuation of the director’s previous films Ether and Perfect Number.

Asked on set by the Vistula River at Kępa Bazarowa what his new film would be about, Zanussi replied:

“Answering that question is a trap, because every artistic work has a certain autonomy. It functions in its own way, and what I intended to show is never fulfilled one hundred percent. A different actor’s face can make the same dialogue mean something entirely different. I am very afraid of promising what this film will be. It will certainly involve reflection on why this world exists and what all of this is for. But these are questions that have accompanied humanity for thousands of years and seem to have faded within our technological civilisation. Only in recent decades have people really abandoned such fundamental questions – probably to the detriment of their own consciousness.”

The film crew is working according to a strict schedule. The first clapboard was struck on Monday near the Vistula River by the viewing terrace at Kępa Bazarowa, where despite piercing cold weather, a beach scene was filmed with actors wearing only swim briefs before quickly wrapping themselves in thick jackets between takes. In the background, the beautiful panorama of Toruń’s Old Town was clearly visible.

From Kępa Bazarowa, the filmmakers moved to New Town Market Square, Old Town Market Square, and streets in the city centre. On Saturday, 23 May, the crew will continue filming on Philadelphia Boulevard as well as Browarna and Różana streets.

“Toruń is stunning – painted, rich, it looks as though it belongs not to Central Europe, but far into the West,” Zanussi commented.

The director invited well-known actors from the younger and middle generations to join the project. The leading roles are played by Ksawery Szlenkier (Paweł), Karolina Kominek (Zosia), and Mateusz Rusin (Ignacy). The cast also includes Marcin Hycnar, Bartłomiej Kotschedoff, Michał Czarnik, Mateusz Więcławek, and Maria Mamona.

“This film is meant to address the modern human longing for meaning and significance. My character also asks himself: why am I here? And when romance enters the picture, when everything unfolds within a relationship with another person – a love that is just beginning – it becomes even more profound,” said Ksawery Szlenkier about his role.

The film’s cinematography is handled by experienced director of photography Piotr Niemyjski. Films featuring his cinematography have received multiple nominations at the Camerimage festival, including “Perfect Number,” “Ether,” “Foreign Body,” and “Fear of Falling.”

The Kujawy Pomorze Film Fund is a partner of “Całopalenie.” The premiere is planned for later this year.

Asked whether this really would be his final film, as he had previously suggested, Zanussi responded:

“Well, I did say that, because reason suggests that approaching ninety, one cannot continue much longer.”

But after a moment he added:

“Perhaps I will be granted some sort of bonus in the form of a few more years of work. And if that happens, I will be very happy.”

This is the third production by Krzysztof Zanussi filmed in the region. In 1983, he shot A Year of the Quiet Sun in Toruń and Grudziądz – the story of a romance between a Polish woman, played by Maja Komorowska, and an American soldier, played by Scott Wilson, set in post-war Poland. The film became the director’s greatest artistic success, winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

Earlier still, in 1972, he filmed the lesser-known Hypothesis in Toruń, starring Jerzy Zelnik and the recently deceased Stanisława Celińska.

In 2024, the director received the Pola Negri Film Award of the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region.

Department of Promotion
Dariusz Czołgowski

20 May 2026