303 Squadron (film)

303 Squadron is a 2018 biographical war film directed by Denis Delić, written by Jacek Samojłowicz, Krzysztof Burdza, and Tomasz Kępski, and produced by Samojłowicz. It was produced by Film Media in Poland and United Kingdom, and distributed by Mówi Serwis, and features dialogues in English, Polish, German, and French. The film was based on the 1942 book Squadron 303 by Arkady Fiedler. It depicts the history of the members of the No. 303 Squadron, the Polish squadron of the Royal Air Force, which fought in the Battle of Britain, during the Second World War. The film premiered on 31 August 2018.

Plot
In 1940, during the Second World War, following the Invasion of Poland, and the Fall of France, the pilots of the Polish Air Force escape to the United Kingdom, where they join Royal Air Force. They become members of newly formed No. 303 Squadron, the Polish squadron, which participates in the Battle of Britain against the Nazi Germany Luftwaffe. Initially, the British officers are reluctant towards Polish pilots, however, they gradually win them over with their successes in the fight. Among the Polish pilots are the squadron commander Witold Urbanowicz, and pilot Jan Zumbach.

Cast

 * Piotr Adamczyk as Witold Urbanowicz
 * Maciej Zakościelny as Jan Zumbach
 * Cara Theobold as Victoria Brown
 * Antoni Królikowski as Witold Łokuciewski
 * Andrew Woodall as Thomas Jones
 * Anna Prus as Jagoda Kochan
 * Krzysztof Kwiatkowski as Mirosław Ferić
 * John Kay Steel as Stanley Vincent
 * Jan Wieczorkowski as Ludwik Witold Paszkiewicz
 * Marcin Kwaśny as John A. Kent
 * Steffen Mennekes as Hermann Von Oste
 * Piotr Witkowski as Rudolf Knage
 * Kirk Barker as Athol Forbes
 * Maciej Cymorek as Josef František
 * Sławomir Mandes as Tadeusz Andruszków
 * Tomasz Mandes as Leopold Pamuła
 * Nikodem Rozbicki as Stanisław Karubin
 * Wacław Warchoł as Zdzisław Henneberg
 * Aleksander Wróbel as Jan Daszewski
 * Hubert Miłkowski as Kazimierz Wünsche
 * Maciej Marczewski as Zdzisław Krasnodębski
 * Robert Czebotar as engineer Kochan
 * Jamie Hinde as king George VI
 * Jacek Samojłowicz as Hermann Göring
 * Krzysztof Franieczek as Lützow
 * Wenanty Nosul as Ansell
 * Krzysztof Rurka as Arkady Fiedler

Production
The film was based on the 1942 book Squadron 303 by Arkady Fiedler. It depicted the history of the members of the No. 303 Squadron, the Polish squadron of the Royal Air Force, which fought in the Battle of Britain, during the Second World War. The movie was directed by Denis Delić, and written by Jacek Samojłowicz, Krzysztof Burdza, and Tomasz Kępski, and produced by Samojłowicz. The cinematography was done by Waldemar Szmidt, scenography by Marian Zawaliński, costumes by Małgorzata Skorupa, and editing by Peter Devaney Flanagan and Marcin Bastkowski.

The preparations for production began in February 2016. The filming began on 10 August 2016 and lasted until 17 October 2017. It was produced by Film Media in Poland and United Kingdom, and distributed by Mówi Serwis. The scenes were filmed in Poland, in Konstancin-Jeziorna, Drwalew, Obory, Warsaw (Warsaw University of Life Sciences and Sabat Theatre), and Kraków (Polish Aviation Museum).

For the production were rented Hawker Hurricane Mk.XII, and de Havilland Tiger Moth. Two replicas of Hawker Hurricane planes were also made. After the end of the filming, they were donated to the 303 Squadron Museum in Napoleon, Silesian Voivodeship, and the Arkady Fiedler Museum in Puszczykowo, Greater Poland Voivodeship.

The film was promoted with the single "Tylko Ty" by Edyta Górniak, which was released on 27 August 2018.

303 Squadron premiered on 31 August 2018.