Forgotten Love is coming to Netflix in the second half of the year

The film Forgotten Love, based on an iconic Polish novel “Znachor” [The Quack] by Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz, will premiere exclusively on Netflix in the second half of 2023, simultaneously in 190 countries around the world. The cast includes Leszek Lichota and Maria Kowalska, for whom Forgotten Love marks a debut in a feature film leading role.

Forgotten Love is a universal story about a respected surgeon and professor Rafal Wilczur, who, abandoned by his wife, falls victim to a mugging and as a result of his injuries loses his memory. Years later, poor and still suffering from amnesia, he meets his daughter. It is a touching story about love that overcomes all obstacles and makes people destined for each other find their way to one another.

Forgotten Love is yet another bold project from Netflix. The streaming service has already produced more than 30 Polish films and series.

“I am truly grateful for the opportunity to adapt the novel Znachor for the screen. This is a tremendous investment with which Netflix has shown yet again that they believe in local creators, want to support them, and promote Polish culture. Our Netflix partners put a lot of trust in us, gave us all the necessary tools, and created a nurturing, creative environment that made it possible to successfully bring this project to the finish line,” Magdalena Szwedkowicz, the film’s producer, says.

“It definitely wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that both the novel by Dołęga-Mostowicz and its film adaptation from 40 years ago are legends of Polish pop culture. Today, thanks to Netflix, we get to take on these legends. This obviously is a great privilege for a director, but also quite naturally a creative challenge. We are after all playing with the archetype of Polish melodrama,” Michal Gazda, director of Forgotten Love, says, which is his feature film debut.

“Thanks to a wonderful crew we didn’t break under this burden and were able to enjoy the creation process for all the passion and drama set in the pre-war reality,” Gazda adds.

Meanwhile, Leszek Lichota, who plays the role of Professor Rafal Wilczur, says: I grew up on professor Wilczur’s story. I feel very privileged to have been able to play a character as important to the Polish culture as this one. Period dramas are always challenging but I do believe that the director and the crew did a wonderful job recreating the aesthetics of the 20/30s of the XXth century. A time in history when honor, work ethics, empathy, and romantic love were at the forefront.

Apart from Leszek Lichota, the main cast includes Maria Kowalska, Ignacy Liss, and Anna Szymańczyk, as well as  Mirosław Haniszewski, Mikołaj Grabowski, Izabela Kuna, Paweł Tomaszewski, Małgorzata Mikołajczak and Łukasz Szczepanowski. Marcin Baczynski and Mariusz Kuczewski wrote the script, while Tomasz Augustynek is responsible for the cinematography. The film’s producer is Magdalena Szwedkowicz. 

Last year alone, the streaming service allocated 400 million zlotys to local productions. As of 2018, it has created more than 3,500 jobs related to their productions: for Polish actors, screenwriters, directors, and on- and off-set crews, who are the backbone of every production.