Friday, September 30, 2011

HAPPY POLONIA DAY!

Today marks, what I believe, the third annual Polonia Day celebration. This is not to be confused with the Polish holiday.

You may be wondering, and rightfully so, as to what the hell is Polonia Day. The short answer is that Polonia Day is the celebration of a ultra-low budget filmmaking duo of brothers known as Mark and John Polonia aka The Polonia Brothers. It is also the celebration of the love of both being indie and the creation of low budget indie media.

This year sadly the celebration of Polonia Day is also a time of remembrance for the recent passing of a fellow Polonia Brothers alumnai, Matt Satterly who acted and helped out in a few of their films including; NIGHTCRAWLERS and DWELLER.

Not only should we spend time remembering Matt Satterly but also one part of the brother duo, John Polonia who had passed last year on February 25th, 2008.



For more on how and what Polonia Day is read the following below and have a great Polonia Day:

Who are the Polonia Brothers?

The Polonia Brothers are truly a duo of hardworking, entertaining, indie filmmaking brothers out there, Mark and John Polonia, who together have, written, produced, directed close to thirty movies while you and I are still trying to get the first one off the ground. They are even their own caterers, costumers, special effects men, and more. They do an amazing amount of work with so little reward. They just love to make movies no matter what. We're talking true hardcore schlockheads, kids.

They are also one of the early pioneers of the so called Shot-On-Video sub-genre of flicks out there today aka "Backyard Films".

What films have they made?

The have made SPLATTER FARM, FEEDERS, THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED, TERROR HOUSE, AMONG US, PETER ROTTENTAIL, RAZORTEETH, SPLATTER BEACH, MONSTER MOVIE, and coming next month HALLOWEEN NIGHT, and many-many more. Too damn many to list here, seriously.



Why are you doing this?

I have a deep appreciation for the Polonia Brothers and their films for many reasons. But I can try and boil it down to two points of reason.

The first reason is that I truly do dig their films., every single one. It's true that they are a bit rough around the edges, yet with every one of their films you can see how much love went into each one made. These two brothers are simply not filmmakers who are searching for wealth and fame, these are guys who are saying let's grab a camera, a script and a rubber monster mask and see what film we can make next.

The second reason is this; despite the expansive list of films that they have made, the Polonia Brothers constantly are mocked and insulted everyday by people all over this wild Internet whether it's on a movie review site, Amazon, or Netflix, these two get very little online respect.

But why?

All they ever wanted to do is to make movies. They may be, as mentioned, rough around the edges and inexpensively made. Yet, they are still making movies every day while, as I said before, are still sitting on our asses trying to get that first film made. Beyond that, most people wouldn't have the balls to make another film after the ridicule they get for every movie that they have ever made. However, they trudge on, and are just having fun.

Polonia Day is a day in which we fans say thanks to the Polonia Brothers their work and for helping other filmmakers have the courage to make their own movie. It's also a day to honor the independent spirit of filmmaking and other art forms.

So how do you celebrate Polonia Day?

The short answer is to have fun in doing something creative that you enjoy; make a movie, write a short story, write that screenplay, sculpt, whatever. Just do something creative.

It is also a time to watch their films and share that experience with at least one other person or better yet with your own family since in a lot of ways the Polonia Brothers are about family. There are numerous films in which a Polonia family member has either acted in or helped off screen on one of their flicks.

So take this day to celebrate the films and work of the Polonia Brothers and independent art, and at the same time do something creative for yourself just for the fun of it.

Also spread this post around if you can to get the word out and feel free to join the Cult of Polonia to celebrate and meet other like minded fans of the Polonia Brothers and indie flicks.

They also have their own Myspace page which can be found here.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I don't care what anybody says; The Polonia Brothers are absolutely AWESOME! I've been a loyal fan ever since seeing "Feeders" some 13 or 14 years ago, and am currently trying to collect all of their movies officially released on DVD so far. I'd say I've got around 20 or so at this point. Anyway, I am definitely looking forward to Polonia Day! It's a day to celebrate their films by watching 'em, have lots of laughs, and being thoroughly entertained courtesy of Mark and John Polonia (as well as their supporting casts too)! I will FOREVER be a fan of all things Polonia, and will always show my support by continuing to buy each new release Mark and company put out. If anyone wants to talk Polonia, or help me out in my ongoing search for some of the harder to find Polonia brothers films, send me an email at maidendeth1983@yahoo.com. Thanks everybody, and on September 30th, HAPPY POLONIA DAY!!!