Polish-British Team Shoots Hybrid AI Film About Kościuszko

Polish studio Creait.me and British production company James Drake Media are jointly developing a film about Tadeusz Kościuszko that blends traditional acting with artificial intelligence technology. The project, titled "Freedom. Kosciuszko," is set to hit screens in late August.

"Freedom. Kosciuszko" tells the story of the Polish national hero from the moment he sets out from France for America to fight alongside George Washington. The filmmakers opted for a hybrid format in which actors perform against a plain, neutral backdrop, with artificial intelligence later placing them into digitally reconstructed period settings during post-production - an Atlantic storm, the coast of Martinique, and 18th-century Europe.

How the film is made

The project's key innovation is bypassing costly physical set construction. Instead of building sets for ports, ships or battlefields, the crew films the actors under studio conditions, and generative AI models add the backdrop, period costumes and weather effects digitally. This approach, typical of the growing hybrid-production segment, lets independent studios tackle historical subjects without the budgets once reserved for major studios.

Marcin Rossa, director and founder of Creait.me, has for years specialized in film and advertising built on generative artificial intelligence, creating campaigns and visual productions for global brands. In earlier statements, he has emphasized that AI tools don't replace filmmaking craft, only change the way creators bring their ideas to life.

AI will generate brilliant images, but it's up to us to breathe emotion, meaning and drama into them - Marcin Rossa, director and founder of Creait.me

Why Kościuszko

The choice of Kościuszko as the subject is no accident. The general, a participant in the American Revolutionary War and leader of the 1794 uprising, is regarded in both Poland and the United States as a symbol of the fight for freedom and human rights. The filmmakers say they wanted to bring the figure back into view in a form that would resonate with today's audiences, including abroad.

"We wanted to bring back the figure of Tadeusz Kościuszko, a global hero whose fight for freedom, equality and human rights remains remarkably relevant today," Rossa said, as quoted by aboutmarketing.pl. The film's plot opens with a dramatic scene of the sinking of the ship carrying Kościuszko to America, off the coast of Martinique.

Premiere at Warsaw AI festival

The film is set to premiere in late August 2026 at the Glitch festival, dedicated to film and animation productions made with new creative technologies and artificial intelligence. The event will take place at the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw on August 28-30. The filmmakers have not yet disclosed the production budget or distribution plans beyond the festival itself.

The project fits into a broader trend of hybrid film productions in which generative AI handles set design, effects and the reconstruction of historical settings, while acting and directing remain in human hands. Other film teams around the world have already tested similar approaches, combining classic filmmaking craft with image- and video-generation tools.

What it means for Poland's industry

For Poland's audiovisual production market, "Freedom. Kosciuszko" shows that domestic studios, previously constrained by budgets compared with foreign competitors, can now take on costume historical subjects thanks to AI tools that replace costly set design. The partnership with Britain's James Drake Media also opens a path to distributing the project beyond Poland's borders, which could boost interest in the figure of Kościuszko abroad, particularly in the United States, where the general holds the status of a hero of the War of Independence.