Luther

and the Protestant Revolution

A new film by Grzegorz Braun showing the true face of the Reformation. An event, which even today is misunderstood and often misrepresented. Help us produce it. The work is 100% independent, filmed only with the support of friends and donors. Become a co-producer of the first documentary film about the Reformation that outlines the background and context of the events of the 16th century.

The aim of the film

 The film is being made in connection with the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. It’s duration is about 80 minutes. It was filmed in 9 countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Norway, Poland, Switzerland, Sweden, United Kingdom, Italy). The producers interviewed over 30 people. It was filmed with the help of professional computer animation. It above all presents facts that were silenced and removed from history textbooks. The story of centuries-old events and it will be aimed at identifying today’s protracted Protestant revolutions – echoes of events half a thousand years old, the devastating effects of the “shock wave” of Protestantism in the horrors and absurdities of the 20th/21st centuries.

In the visual layer of the film, apart from the „talking heads”, we will see a number of contemporary objects (open air and interiors) relevant to the factography or symbolically linked to our subject – for example: Luther’s house in Eisleben or Wartburg castle, the ruined abbey of Kirstall in central England, but also a monument dedicated to the Reformation in Geneva or Vigeland Park in Oslo. We will refer to iconography from the epoch – prints, woodcuts, paintings, as well as to the paintings of a later date, such as Matejko’s “The Prussian Homage” or the panorama of the battle of Frankenhausen by Werner Tuebke. A series of original animations will be produced for the purposes of the film, which will cover some of the key situations in our story in a comic style.  
  In the film, Luther’s biography – with particular reference to the facts unknown to modern followers of various Protestant sects – will serve as a framework. The film will show the origins of the Protestant revolution, the precursory social revolutions, in which heresies were utilized as carriers of ideology for political diversion leading to significant “proprietary transformations”. Further developments of historical tragedy, which were initiated by Luther’s original actions, will he shown. In addition to the outline of events in Germany, the viewer will also be able to become familiar with facts and figures related to the Protestant revolutions in other countries, such as the adultery of King Henry VIII, and less known episodes, such as the last battle of the Swedish lumberman Nils Dackle “the cursed soldier” of the counterrevolution in the 16th century.

We need 115,600 EUR

The making of the film „Luther and the Protestant Revolution” requires a large financial effort. The costs of production, first of all, cover several dozen shooting days in several European cities, the renting of professional equipment, the transcribing of interviews and their translations, the acquiring of iconography and preparation of the computer animation, editing, sounding and coloring. Our intention is the prepare, alongside the Polish version, also 3-4 foreign language versions of the film. The abovementioned items constitute a budget of approximately 115,600 EUR. Thanks to the support of sponsors we already have over 25,000 EUR. The remaining amount is being collected thanks to the support of the Pobudka society, Poles abroad and all those who are concerned with showing the true history of the split in the Church.

A separate process that is currently under preparation and which will require financial aid are promotional activities related to the film, which should reach as many potential viewers as possible in Poland and abroad.

Shooting days
54 200 EUR

Over 40 days of interviewing more than 30 interlocutors in over a dozen cities in 9 countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Norway, Poland, Switzerland, Sweden, United Kingdom, Italy). Shooting took place in many buildings connected with Luther and the Protestant revolution.

Transcripts and translations
8 200 EUR

The film’s director, Grzegorz Braun, made the decision that all the interlocutors interviewed speak to the camera in their native tongues, which means that work with such material requires a very precise transcription of all speeches and then their translation into Polish and exact insertion into the time axis of the recording.

Iconography and animation
26 000 EUR

Numerous iconographs were prepared for the needs of the film which will illustrate and document the presented theses and statements. Like most of the documentaries directed by Grzegorz Braun, this one will also be enriched by attractive animation, that will give the film a proper dynamic.


Montage and sound
13 000 EUR

Extremely rich and extensive footage (nearly 50 hours of filming) requires careful analysis and selection of excerpts of individual statements, so that in combination with the iconography and film animation, we get the intended valuable effect in the form of a documentary film lasting about 80 minutes.

Language versions
14 200 EUR

The intent of the producer and the filmmakers is to reach as many viewers as possible in Poland and beyond. Hence, the film, apart from the Polish version, will also be produced in at least 2-3 other language verions.

Promotion of the film
Currently being planned

Reaching a large audience will require preparation and execution of a global promotional campaign. Efforts in this area should be concluded in the month of September and the level of necessary financial resources will be known.

So far we have raised

116 733,75 EUR

100%