A film adaptation of a classic Polish children’s fantasy book has become a hit after debuting on Netflix. Kleks Academy (Akademia Pana Kleksa) was viewed 3.7 million times in the first week after becoming available in English on the platform, making it the third-most-watched non-English movie worldwide.
The film, which is based on the 1946 book of the same name by Jan Brzechwa, tells the story of a young girl who, in order to find her missing father, joins a magical academy for wizards run by the eccentric Ambroży Kleks.
The titular role is played by Tomasz Kot, well known to international audiences for starring in the Oscar-winning Cold War.
Kleks Academy was screened in cinemas in Poland earlier this year, where it was seen by over three million people. It then premiered on Polish Netflix in May and was released on the platform with English dubbing and subtitles last week.
In its first week, Kleks Academy was viewed 3.7 million times, placing it third in the global ranking of the most-watched non-English film during that period.
First place in the ranking was taken by another Polish film, Inheritance (Spadek), a comedy-mystery about a family fight over a deceased uncle’s wealth, which had 10.5 million views
New Polish drama Forgotten Love (Znachor) has become a global hit on Netflix.
The film, adapted from a 1937 novel by Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz, is already among Netflix's most successful ever non-English titles https://t.co/5HxOoTU5AI
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) November 2, 2023
News of Kleks Academy‘s success comes just as its director, Maciej Kawulski, confirmed that a sequel – adapting the second book in Brzechwa’s series – will be released in January 2025.
“If the first part of Kleks Academy fired children’s imaginations, the second part will not only shine even brighter, but will show completely new gateways into spaces that were previously closed even to adults,” said Kawulski.
Netflix – which opened offices in Warsaw in 2022 – has seen a number of Polish productions become global successes. Last year, Forgotten Love (Znachor) – also based on a classic Polish novel – spent eight weeks among the platform’s top ten non-English films, amassing a total of almost 40 million views in that time.
Netflix has released the trailer for its first ever original Polish animated series, based on the classic "Kajko i Kokosz" comics depicting the adventures of two Slavic warriors.
For more on the production, see our recent report: https://t.co/qCp5o4walh https://t.co/iAQHxIIGBX
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 4, 2021
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Main image credit: Kleks Academy (press materials)
Agata Pyka is an assistant editor at Notes from Poland. She is a journalist and a political communication student at the University of Amsterdam. She specialises in Polish and European politics as well as investigative journalism and has previously written for Euractiv and The European Correspondent.
