InfoCredit supports the film "The Lost River"
InfoCredit has become an official partner and sponsor of the film “The Lost River”. This is the first documentary that tells the story of the land that once stretched along the Vistula from Warsaw’s Saska Kępa to the mouth of the Pilica. Director Adam Rogala and cameraman Wiktor Strumiłło invested their own capital to tell the story of the former granary of Warsaw, the people who fed the capital and contributed to its economic development.
After the Vistula was regulated, few people remember the Urzecze today as a land flowing with milk and honey, where the local community – the Olęders, Polesieks and Oryle, i.e. the Vistula raftsmen – managed in harmony. We owe the development of the Urzecze to the Olęders – newcomers going up the Vistula from northern Poland, who in turn arrived there from Frisia and the Netherlands. They were free farmers. They leased wastelands, areas that were sometimes flooded several times a year by the Vistula. We owe it to them that raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries and currants were brought to Urzecze.
Thanks to the technology they brought to the Vistula, their crops were many times higher than those obtained by serfs. They also introduced new construction technologies to minimize the effects of floods. The Olęders consciously settled south of Saska Kępa, so that it would be easier for them to sail with cargo to Warsaw. History has not been kind to the Olęders. They were expelled from Poland right after World War II.
– We decided to support the film as the first sponsor and partner, because we were enchanted by this story. Together with Adam Rogala and Wiktor Strumiłło, we want to save Urzecze from oblivion. At InfoCredit, we share the values of the Vistula farmers from years ago. It is entrepreneurship, innovation, specialist knowledge, and above all freedom and tolerance. The Olęders were free people, they invested the money they earned, surrounded themselves with books – says Iwona Surdykowska-Huk, owner of InfoCredit. And he adds that especially today, when we are absorbed in everyday matters, it is worth recalling stories that are a source of inspiration, hope and motivation to act.
– Urzecze owes a lot to the Olęders. Local farmers learned from them the art of farming – land and crafts. Draining wetlands and using fertile alluvial soils brought by the Vistula so that the fields would yield high yields. In the field of crafts, the Olęders shared with the indigenous people of Mazovia, for example the art of making barrels. They were a model of industriousness. Such a farmer would work even during a chat with a neighbour – trimming bushes or repairing tools. I was fascinated by their perseverance and tenacity. After all, there were times when floods that visited Urzecze took away the farmer’s entire fortune, because the house and buildings along with their belongings were carried away by the Vistula. And despite this, they had the strength to start life from scratch – says director Adam Rogala.
Wiktor Strumiłło, the cameraman of the film, emphasises that the proximity of the navigable river was beneficial to the Olęders: – In the pre-embankment era of the Vistula River, there were no roads that would allow easy access to sales markets. It was easier to get to Warsaw via the Vistula, which became a motorway at the time. Rafters, who can be compared to truck drivers, sailed along it. The Urzecze became a granary for Warsaw, grain, vegetables and fruit flowed to it. Plentiful and simply delicious. But also building material for the needs of the developing city – stone, gravel and sand. The more persistent of the Olęders sailed with goods even to Gdańsk. From there, they brought home furnishings – furniture, equipment such as coffee grinding and brewing devices, unknown to their neighbours. The creators of “Urzecze” plan to distribute the film more widely, prepare an English and Dutch version and present it at Polish and international festivals. We encourage our partners and clients to support this initiative. Together we can save a beautiful story.
About the film
“Zaginione Urzecze”, prod. 2020. Directed by Adam Rogala, cinematography by Wiktor Strumiłło, music by “KAPELA ZE WSI WARSZAWA”, winner of the Fryderyk 2018 for the music project RE:AKCJA MAZOWIECKA. Patron of the film: InfoCredit
Teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpx3cqVyvGo&feature=youtu.be
