The collection of the National Centre for Film Culture includes exhibits from all eras of the history of cinema: professional cameras and projectors as well as amateur equipment; antique objects, whose beauty and finish make them resemble works of art, and objects that, like the VCR, for contemporary 40-year-olds were everyday reality, for teenagers are ancient history and for cinema researchers - proof of the development of audio-visual technology. In the storage rooms, there are costumes and props; posters and postcards documenting the everyday life of filmmaking, pictures of actors and film stills from film and TV series sets, all waiting to be seen.

The Newton magic lantern will be - next to the VR goggles - the central point of the “Mechanical Eye” exhibition that illustrates the evolution of film techniques. Two objects: one from the 19th, the other from the 20th century, two examples of 360-degree technology, two ways of creating illusions, which are behind the development of cinema.

The exhibits, in themselves often unique on a world scale, will build the narration of the “Mechanical Eye” and “Polonia Cinema” didactic paths as well as temporary exhibitions. The collection will be also available for research purposes.

The Holmes stereoscope from the turn of the 19th and 20th century was probably a souvenir from the Universal Exposition in Paris, which is confirmed by its ornamental embossing.

The key to the selection of exhibits for the exhibitions at the National Centre for Film Culture is not only their material, cognitive and educational value, but also the history of which they are a part.

The Arriflex 16 BL film camera, donated by Michał Bukojemski, operator, director and producer, was originally used by Jacek Petrycki to shoot the material covering the “Carnival of Solidarity”. An interesting example of cinema technology but also a pretext to begin a new narration in the “Polonia Cinema” exhibition.

Some of the exhibits originate from foreign purchases, usually made through the agency of German, French and Austrian auction houses. Others are donations from people connected with Polish cinematography, hobbyists and film enthusiasts.

A perfectly preserved praxinoscope from 1880 found in a French antique shop - one of the first devices used for cinematographic displays.

The Neugold photo camera, bought through the agency of Team Breker auction house, originates from the interwar period.

The Bi-unial magic lantern from 1880 was bought in a Parisian antique shop.

Auguste and Louis Lumière’s film from 1886, recorded on the original 35-millimetre film reels, recorded and replayed by means of a cinematograph. Purchased through the agency of a German auction house.

The exhibitions will also accommodate technical cinema equipment, connected with specific places important from the perspective of Polish cinema. The collection of the National Centre for Film Culture includes, among other things, the furnishings of “Tatry”, one the longest operating cinemas in Poland: projectors, seats and elements of projection booths.

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Get to know the NCKF's collections policy.