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1-50 of 3,859
- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Krzysztof Kieslowski graduated from Lódz Film School in 1969, and became a documentary, TV and feature film director and scriptwriter. Before making his first film for TV, Przejscie podziemne (1974) (The Underground Passage), he made a number of short documentaries. His next TV title, Personnel (1975) (The Staff), took the Grand Prix at Mannheim Film Festival. His first full-length feature was The Scar (1976) (The Scar). In 1978 he made the famous documentary From a Night Porter's Point of View (1979) (Night Porter's Point of View), and in 1979 - a feature Camera Buff (1979) (Camera Buff), which was acclaimed in Poland and abroad. Everything he did from that point was of highest artistic quality.- Writer
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Born in Lvov, Ukraine; then he moved with his father Miroslaw Zulawski to Czechoslovakia and later to Poland. In the late 1950s, he studied cinema in France. In the 1960s, he was an assistant of the famous Polish film director Andrzej Wajda. His feature debut The Third Part of the Night (1971) was an adaptation of his father's novel. His second feature The Devil (1972) was prohibited in Poland, and Zulawski went to France. After the success of his French debut That Most Important Thing: Love (1975) in 1975, he returned to Poland where he spent two years in making On the Silver Globe (1988). The work on this film was brutally interrupted by the authorities. After that, Zulawski moved to France where became known for his highly artistic, controversial, and very violent films. Zulawski is well known for his ability to discover and "rediscover" actresses. Romy Schneider, Isabelle Adjani and Sophie Marceau played their best parts in his films.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Andrzej Wajda is an Academy Award-winning director. He is the most prominent filmmaker in Poland known for The Promised Land (1975), Man of Iron (1981), and Katyn (2007).
He was Born on March 6, 1926, in Suwalki, Poland. His mother, Aniela Wajda, was a teacher at a Ukrainian school. His father, Jakub Wajda, was a captain in the Polish infantry. Wajda described his childhood as a happy pastoral country life before the Second World War. In 1939, Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany and Soviet Union. In 1940, Wajda's father was killed by Stalin's agents in the Katyn massacre.
Young Wajda survived the Second World War with his mother and his brother in Nazi-occupied Poland. In 1942, Wajda joined the Polish resistance and served in the Armia Krajowa until the war ended in 1945. In 1946 he moved to Kraków. There Wajda went to Academy of Fine Arts. He studied painting, particularly the impressionist and post-impressionist painting, and was especially fond of Paul Cezanne. From 1950-1954 he studied film directing at the High Film School in Lódz under directors Jerzy Toeplitz and Aleksander Ford. Later, Wajda described the influential and eye-opening experience from seeing French avant-garde films, like Ballet mécanique (1924) by artist-director Fernand Léger.
In 1955 he made his debut as director of full-length A Generation (1955), about the generation of youth coming of age during the Nazi occupation of Poland. His award-winning Kanal (1957) and Ashes and Diamonds (1958) concluded the trilogy about life in Poland during WWII. Although he was under pressure from the Soviet-dominated Polish authorities, Wajda positioned himself as an artist who was above the conflict. He still managed to show the undeclared civil war between two anti-Nazi Polish forces, which were divided by political ideology: the Polish communists and the partisans - folk heroes of the Home Army.
His Oscar-nominated The Promised Land (1975) was a work of multi-layered allegory and Symbolism. Wajda's witty depiction of the 19th century capitalism in Poland actually alluded to the contemporary Communist politics. The shooting of workers in the final scenes was actually unmasking of the official politics of killing workers in the Soviet Union in 1962, under Nikita Khrushchev, and in Poland a few years later. The story of a film student who traces the life of defamed "hero" in Man of Marble (1977) was a deconstruction of the false impressions that official propaganda was using to brainwash the public. The same main characters in Man of Iron (1981) continued unmasking the Communist regime's manipulations against working class people. In 1981, Wajda joined the "Solidarity" labor movement of Lech Walesa.
From 1989 to 1991 Wajda was elected Senator of the Republic of Poland. From 1992 to 1994 he was Member of Presidential Council for Culture. In 1994 he founded the Center of Japanese Art and Technology in Kraków, and was awarded the Order of Rising Sun in Japan (1995). Wajda was President of Polish Film Association (1978-1983). He was Member of "Solidarity" Lech Walesa Council (1981-1989). He won an honorary Oscar (2000) for his contribution to cinema, and an honorary Golden Bear (2006) at the Berlin Film Festival.
Wajda's Katyn (2007) was nominated for Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year in 2008, and received many other awards and nominations. The film shows historic events in Katyn during WWII, where Wajda's father was among thousands of Polish officers killed by Soviet communists under the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin. Wajda's film was well received by the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, who initially opened the facts about Katyn to help people understand each other and overcome the tragic past.
"We never hoped to live to see the fall of the Soviet Union, to see Poland as a free country", said Andrzej Wajda.- Rudolf Hoess was born on 25 November 1900 in Baden-Baden, Germany. He was married to Hedwig Hensel. He died on 7 April 1947 in Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Oswiecim, Malopolskie, Poland.
- Malgorzata Braunek was born on 30 January 1947 in Szamotuly, Wielkopolskie, Poland. She was an actress, known for Tulipany (2004), Lalka (1978) and Wniebowstapienie (1969). She was married to Andrzej Zulawski, Andrzej Krajewski and Janusz Guttner. She died on 23 June 2014 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- One of the most famous Polish cinema and theater actors. He graduated from the National Theater School in Warsaw in 1965. During 1966-69 he worked at the Classical Theater in Warsaw, and during 1970-77 he worked as an artistic director at the Comedia Theater. In the 1980s, Perepeczko emigrated to Australia, but he returned to Poland in the early 1990s. During 1998-2003, he worked as an artistic director at the Adam Mickiewicz Theater in Czestochowa.
- Director
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Born in Kraków, Poland, in 1925. Feature film director. Graduated in 1946 from Cracow Film Institute, also studied painting. From 1947 to 1957 made a number of documentary shorts and educational films. Feature film debut: _The Noose_ (Petla, 1958, co-scr.). Other films: _Farewells_ (Pozegnania, 1958, co-scr.), awarded in Locarno and London 1959; _Roommates_ ((Wspolny pokoj, 1960, co-scr.); _Parting_ (Rozstanie, 1961); _Gold_ (Zloto, 1962); _How to Be Loved_ (Jak byc kochana, 1962), Polish Film Critics award, also awarded in San Francisco 1963 and beirut 1964; _The Saragossa Manuscript_ (Pamietnik znaleziony w Saragossie, 1964), awarded in San Sebastian and Edinburgh 1965, in Sitges 1966; _Codes_ (Szyfry, 1966), _The Doll_ (Lalka, 1968, co-scr.), awarded in Panama 1969; _The Sandglass_ (Sanatorium pod Klepsydra, 1973), awarded in Cannes 1973, Grand Prix in Trieste 1974.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Piotr Szulkin was born on 26 April 1950 in Gdansk, Pomorskie, Poland. He was a director and writer, known for The War of the Worlds: Next Century (1981), Golem (1980) and Ga-ga: Glory to the Heroes (1986). He was married to Renata Karwowska-Szulkin. He died on 3 August 2018 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.- Leon Niemczyk was born on 15 December 1923 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland. He was an actor, known for Knife in the Water (1962), Inland Empire (2006) and Das unsichtbare Visier (1973). He was married to Diana, Krystyna, Dorit, Jadwiga and Tatiana Zuanar. He died on 29 November 2006 in Lódz, Lódzkie, Poland.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Writer
Wladyslaw Szpilman was born in 1911 in Sosnowiec. On leaving school, he went to Warsaw to study music (piano) in the Chopin School of Music, under Professor Jozef Smidowicz, and later, under Professor Aleksander Michalowski (both scholars of Franz List). In 1931 he went to Berlin to the Academy of Music studying under Professor Leonid Kreutzer and Arthur Schnabel (piano) and Professor Franz Schreker (composition). At this time he wrote his Violin Concerto, Piano Suite "Zycie Maszyn" (The Life of Machines), Concertino for piano with Orchestra, many works for piano and violin and also some songs. In 1935 Szpilman entered the Polish Radio, where, except during the war, he worked until 1963. In 1946, he published his book "Death of a City" - memories from 1939 to 1945. Since 1945, Szpilman has appeared in concerts as a soloist and with chamber groups in Poland, throughout Europe and in America. He and Bronislav Gimpel formed a very successful piano duet in 1932, which grew in 1962 to the Warsaw Piano Quintet, that performed about 2,500 concerts until 1987 worldwide, with the exception of Australia. In 1936 he also started his career as a composer of songs (about 500). About 150 of them were in Poland's pop charts and they are "evergreens" of Polish pop music culture to this day. In the 50s he wrote also about 40 songs for children, for which he received in 1955 the award of the Polish Composers Union. He also wrote many orchestral pieces (ballet, Small Overture, etc.), musicals, music for children's theater and music for about 50 children's radio broadcasts, as well as film music: "Wrzos" (1937); "Dr. Murek" (1939); "Pokoj Zwyciezy Swiat" (1950); "Call My Wife" (1957), and others. In 1961, he initiated and organized the Sopot International Song Festival in Poland, and also founded the Polish Union of Authors of Popular Music. In 1964, he became a member of Presidium of Polish Composers Union, and ZAIKS (Polish ASCAP). In April 1998, his book "Death of the City" will be published by ECON Verlag, a leading German publisher, with commentary by a famous German writer and poet: Wolf Biermann.- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jerzy Kawalerowicz was born on 19 January 1922 in Gwozdziec, Stanislawowskie, Poland [now Hvizdets, Ukraine]. He was a director and writer, known for Night Train (1959), Mother Joan of the Angels (1961) and Death of a President (1977). He was married to Lucyna Winnicka, Maria Güntner and Malgorzata Dipont. He died on 27 December 2007 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.- Amon Göth was born on 11 December 1908 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. He died on 13 September 1946 in Kraków, Poland.
- Won international fame with the leading role of Maciek Chelmicki in Andrzej Wajda's Ashes and Diamonds (1958). He created a character which was imitated not only in Poland; often compared with James Dean.
Graduated from the Higher State School of Acting in Cracow; also studied journalism. From 1953 to 1960 worked with Wybrzeze Theatre, Bim-Bom Student Theatre and Teatr Rozmow (all in Gdansk). From 1961 to 1967 acted and directed in Theatre Ateneum in Warsaw, Poland.
Major leading roles: Kostek in Wajda's A Generation (1955) ("Generation"), Maciek Chelmicki in Wajda's Ashes and Diamonds (1958), Jacek in Janusz Morgenstern's A demain (1961) ("See You Tomorrow", co-scr.), Edmund in Wajda's Innocent Sorcerers (1960) ("Innocent Sorcerers"), Wiktor Rawicz in Wojciech Has's Jak byc kochana (1963) ("How to Be Loved"), Alfons Van Worden in Has's The Saragossa Manuscript (1965), trainer Janczak in Aleksander Scibor-Rylski's Jutro Meksyk (1966) ("Mexico Tomorrow"), Rodecki in Scibor-Rylski's Morderca zostawia slad (1967) ("The Killer Leaves a Trace"). - Stanislaw Lem was a visionary Polish author known for Solaris (1972).
He was born on September 12, 1921, in Lwów, Poland. His father, Samuel Lem, was a wealthy laryngologist who served in the Austrian army. His mother, Sabina Woller, was a homemaker. Although he was born into a Polish-Jewish family, Lem was raised a Catholic and later became an atheist. He graduated from the Lwów Gymnazium in 1939, then studied medicine at the Lvov Medical Institute in 1940-1941. During WWII, he survived the Nazi occupation of Lwów and worked as a mechanic and welder for a German firm until 1944.
After World War II Lem escaped from the Soviet occupation of Germany and moved to Krakow, Poland, as a repatriate. There he completed his medical studies at Jagellonian University, without taking the doctor's degree. He worked at the Konserwatorium Naukoznawcze as a research assistant for psychologist Dr. Choynowski. From 1946-1949 Lem was involved in medical research in psychology, which became a turning point in his life. He started writing poetry and science fiction in 1946, but his first serious novel, "Hospital of the Transfiguration", was suppressed by the Polish government for eight years. It was released only in 1956, when freedom of speech was earned after the "Polish October" popular uprising.
Lem quit medicine in 1949, because he did not want to be drafted into the army. He married a doctor instead of being one. In 1949 he became a professional writer and continued creating his increasingly unusual novels: "The Investigation", "Eden", "Return from the Stars". The 1960s and 1970s were the most productive for Lem. At that time he wrote 'Solaris', 'The Invincible', 'The Cyberiad', 'His Master's Voice', 'The Star Diaries', 'The Futurological Congress', and 'Tales of Pirx the Pilot'. His gift of a visionary materialized in 'Summa Technologiae' (Sum of Technologies, 1964), which tackled problems of virtual reality. Lem showed his talent for premonition in "Katar" (1975), which predicted international terrorism, and in "Observations on the Spot"' (1982), which showed absurdity of a conflict between two civilizations.
His novel 'Solaris' was adapted into eponymous films twice. First came the Russian-made film adaptation by director Andrei Tarkovsky in 1972, starring Donatas Banionis and Natalya Bondarchuk. Lem spent six months working with Tarkovsky in Moscow, but their collaboration ended in a bitter conflict over the changes and additions to the original story. After seeing edited parts of the 1972 film, Lem said of Tarkovsky: "Instead of focusing on deeper moral questions related to frontiers of human knowledge, he made a drama-type 'Crime and Punishment' in space, by making up unnecessary characters of parents and relatives, then adding a hut on an island." "Tarkovsky was a genius, but he was moving in the opposite direction from my book", also said Lem. Upon his doctor's advice Lem did not want to see the 2002 remake by director Steven Soderbergh, starring George Clooney and Natascha McElhone.
"Solaris" (1961) is arguably the best known work of Lem's works. It deals with the problem of human existence in the world of the unknown. It also shows the inevitability of misunderstandings in human contacts with other worlds. Planet Solaris is inhabited by a single Plasma Ocean organism with the eerie ability to materialize human thoughts. When astronauts become more aggressive in forcing contact with Solaris, it confronts them with pushing the buttons of their most painful thoughts by recreating their dead wives and relatives, and virtually bringing the dead back to life in front of their eyes. Obsolete biological human impulses are shown in stark contrast with the magnitude of the ocean-size organism. At some point humans become an irrational liability to their machine partner, the spaceship. Lem's imagination and talent for creation of alternative reality challenges the limits of human knowledge.
"Past is more perfect than future, which makes me sad," said Lem. Although some of his predictions came true, he expressed his disappointment about the failure of many positive prognosis that were made during the 1960s and 1970s. He died on March 27, 2006, in Kraków, and was laid to rest in the Salwatorski cemetery in Kraków, Poland. His books sold over 27 million copies in 41 languages. - Teresa Izewska was born on 8 April 1933 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland. She was an actress, known for Kanal (1957), Nafta (1961) and Spotkanie w 'Bajce' (1962). She died on 26 August 1982 in Gdansk, Gdanskie [now Pomorskie], Poland.
- Actor
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Jan Nowicki was born on 5 November 1939 in Kowal, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland. He was an actor and writer, known for Jeszcze nie wieczór (2008), Sztos (1997) and Lawa. Opowiesc o 'Dziadach' Adama Mickiewicza (1989). He was married to Anna Kondratowicz, Malgorzata Potocka and Márta Mészáros. He died on 7 December 2022 in Krzewent k. Kowala, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, Poland.- Actress
- Writer
- Composer
Ligia Branice was born on 7 December 1932 in Krasnystaw, Lubelskie, Poland. She was an actress and writer, known for Behind Convent Walls (1978), La Jetée (1962) and Spotkania (1957). She was married to Walerian Borowczyk. She died on 6 September 2022 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.- Roman Wilhelmi was born on 6 June 1936 in Poznan, Wielkopolskie, Poland. He was an actor, known for The Moth (1980), Hotel Pacific (1975) and The Story of Sin (1975). He died on 3 November 1991 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Wojciech Kilar was born on 17 July 1932 in Lwów, Lwowskie, Poland [now Lviv, Ukraine]. He was a composer, known for Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), The Ninth Gate (1999) and The Pianist (2002). He was married to Barbara Pomianowska. He died on 29 December 2013 in Katowice, Slaskie, Poland.- Lucyna Winnicka was born on 14 July 1928 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland. She was an actress, known for Night Train (1959), Mother Joan of the Angels (1961) and Knights of the Teutonic Order (1960). She was married to Jerzy Kawalerowicz. She died on 22 January 2013 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Anna Przybylska was born on 26 December 1978 in Gdynia, Pomorskie, Poland. She was an actress, known for Rh+ (2005), Day of the Wacko (2002) and Sezon na leszcza (2001). She was married to Dominik Zygra. She died on 5 October 2014 in Gdynia, Pomorskie, Poland.
- Gustaw Holoubek was born on April 21, 1923. He was a Polish actor, director, member of the Polish Sejm, and a senator. Holoubek participated in the September Campaign and was a prisoner of war during the Nazi German Occupation of Poland. His father was a Czech immigrant who settled in Poland after the First World War, and his mother was Polish. Holoubek had his first role as an actor in 1947, thus beginning his lifelong career in theatre and film in Poland and abroad. His political career began in 1976, when he was elected to the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish Parliament. He was re-elected in 1980, but resigned in 1981 when martial law was declared. In 1989, he was elected to the Senate, the upper house. That same year, he took a position as a professor at the Academy of Theatre in Warsaw. Holoubek was a recipient of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Knight's Cross, Commander's Cross with Star, Grand Cross). He was married to Magdalena Zawadzka, Danuta Kwiatkowska and Maria Wachowiak. He died on March 6, 2008 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Actor
- Director
Jan Machulski was born on 3 July 1928 in Lódz, Lódzkie, Poland. He was an actor and director, known for Vabank (1981), Lalka (1968) and Aleja gówniarzy (2007). He was married to Halina Machulska. He died on 20 November 2008 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.- Edward Zentara was born on 18 March 1956 in Sianów, Zachodniopomorskie, Poland. He was an actor, known for Hard to Be a God (1989), Life for Life: Maximilian Kolbe (1991) and Dziki 2: Pojedynek (2005). He died on 25 May 2011 in Tarnów, Malopolskie, Poland.
- Actress
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Anna German was a Polish pop-singer of the German origin (her surname has nothing in common with her ethnic origin - this is a purely casual coincidence in English only; the Polish word for "German" is niemiecki (m), niemiecka (f), niemiec "a German man", niemka "a German lady", Niemcy "Germans", "Germany" etc.). She was born in the Soviet Union. Her parents as well as other Soviet Germans, were banished to Central Asia after the Nazi Germany had attacked the USSR. Her father was killed in the labor camp. During the war her mother married a Pole and moved to Poland after World War II had been over. Anna German's main profession is geologist. She became a pop singer in the early 1960s after winning a song competition at University of Wroclaw where she was studying. In August 1967 she was badly injured in the road accident (car crash) in Italy. The process of her rehabilitation lasted three years until in 1970 she started singing again. She was popular both in Poland and in the USSR. The cause of her death in the age of 46 is cancer, which is in no way bound with the road accident as many people mistakenly suppose.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Kalina Jedrusik was born in Czestochowa, Poland in 1931. Her parents brought her up together with two other children. In 1953 she debuted on stage and year later married famous Polish writer Stanislaw Dygat (Jezioro Bodenskie, Disneyland). Her long list of theatre work includes plays by Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz and Bertolt Brecht among others.
Jedrusik first appeared on screen in 1957 with the movie Eva Wants to Sleep (1958). She is mostly known for playing Joanna in comedy Lekarstwo na milosc (1966) and Lucy Zuckerowa in The Promised Land (1975). Her filmography also includes adaptations of her husband's work - Jezioro Bodenskie, Jowita and many others. Apart from her movie career she was also a talented singer. The Double Life of Véronique (1991) was her last screen appearance. She died on August 7, 1991 in Warsaw. She was 60.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Tadeusz Lomnicki began his education in the theatre arts in 1945 when he enrolled in the Theatre Studio at the Stary Teatr in Krakow. In 1946 he spent a season at the Teatr Slaski in Katowice. He returned to Krakow in 1947, appearing on stage at both the Teatr im. Juliusza Slowackiego and the Stary Teatr. In 1949 he left for Warsaw, where he signed on with the Teatr Wspolczesny. Lomnicki would remain there until 1974, though during this period he performed occasionally at the National Theatre in Warsaw. He became a member of the Communist Party in 1951; during his initial years in Warsaw he also studied stage direction at the State Higher School of Theatre in Warsaw. He was awarded a directing degree in 1956. In 1970, he became the rector of the theatre school in Warsaw, retaining this position until 1981. In 1975, Lomnicki was elected a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. He was trusted by those in power at that time and received an opportunity to create his own theatre. His initiative lead to the creation in 1976 of the Teatr na Woli, which he headed until his resignation in 1981. At around the time he left the theatre, two days after Martial Law was declared in Poland, he handed in his Communist Party membership card. That same year he joined Warsaw's Teatr Polski, and in 1983/84 was an actor at the Teatr Studio in Warsaw. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he was not linked to any institutional theatre, instead making numerous guest appearances at a number of Warsaw theatres.
He had dreamed of playing the part of King Lear for a long time before he finally succeeded in mounting a production and going into rehearsal. He first asked noted translator and poet Stanislaw Baranczak to produce a new translation of the play. The translation in hand, he approached a number of directors about working with him on the production. Among those who turned him down at the time was Andrzej Wajda. Ultimately, Eugeniusz Korin agreed to direct the production at Poznan's Teatr Nowy. One week before the premiere, on February 22, 1992, Tadeusz Lomnicki passed away while rehearsing.- Hanna Dunowska was born on 18 December 1958 in Minsk Mazowiecki, Mazowieckie, Poland. She was an actress, known for Pierwsza milosc (2004), Radi semeynogo ochaga (1992) and Blood of the Innocent (1994). She was married to Pawel Luczyca-Wyhovski. She died on 1 August 2019 in Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Cinematographer
- Additional Crew
- Camera and Electrical Department
Witold Sobocinski is a Polish cinematographer, academic teacher as well as former jazz musician.
As a cinematographer he is best known for The Promised Land (1975) and Frantic (1988).
Sobocinski cooperated with several notable directors, including Andrzej Wajda, Krzysztof Zanussi and Roman Polanski.
His son Piotr Sobocinski (1958-2001) was also a cinematographer.- Jerzy Nowak was born on 20 June 1923 in Brzesko, Malopolskie, Poland. He was an actor, known for Schindler's List (1993), Three Colors: White (1994) and The Promised Land (1975). He was married to Maria Andruszkiewicz-Nowak. He died on 26 March 2013 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Marian Kociniak was born on 11 January 1936 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland. He was an actor, known for Pan Tadeusz (1999), Television Theater (1953) and How I Unleashed World War II (1970). He was married to Grazyna Kociniak. He died on 17 March 2016 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.- Stanislaw Mikulski was born on 1 May 1929 in Lódz, Lódzkie, Poland. He was an actor, known for Hans Kloss: More Than Death at Stake (2012), Stawka wieksza niz zycie (1968) and Zaczarowane podwórko (1974). He was married to Wanda, Malgorzata Bloch and Jadwiga Rutkiewicz. He died on 27 November 2014 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Gerron fled to France (because he was Jewish), then settled in Amsterdam in 1933. He was arrested by the SS in 1943 and was sent to Theresienstadt in 1944 to direct a staged documentary intended to persuade world public opinion that Jews were well treated in concentration camps. He made a film called "The Fuhrer Donates a City to the Jews" or in German "Der Fuhrer schenkt den Juden eine Stadt". After he completed the film he was sent to Auschwitz where he was murdered.- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Tadeusz Konwicki was born on 22 June 1926 in Nowa Wilejka, Wilenskie, Poland [now Naujoji Vilnia, Vilnius, Lithuania]. He was a writer and director, known for Lawa. Opowiesc o 'Dziadach' Adama Mickiewicza (1989), Dolina Issy (1982) and The Last Day of Summer (1958). He was married to Danuta Konwicka. He died on 7 January 2015 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.- Max Spiers was born on 22 December 1976 in Canterbury, Kent, England, UK. He died on 16 July 2016 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Wojciech Pszoniak was born on 2 May 1942 in Lwów, Lwowskie, Poland [now Lviv, Ukraine]. He was an actor and director, known for Danton (1983), The Promised Land (1975) and Korczak (1990). He was married to Barbara. He died on 19 October 2020 in Warsaw, Poland.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Pawel Królikowski was born on 1 April 1961 in Zdunska Wola, Lódzkie, Poland. He was an actor, known for Twoja twarz brzmi znajomo (2014), Pitbull (2005) and Na dobre i na zle (1999). He was married to Malgorzata Ostrowska-Królikowska. He died on 27 February 2020 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
John Gottowt was born on 15 June 1881 in Lemberg, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Lviv, Ukraine]. He was an actor and writer, known for Nosferatu (1922), Das schwarze Los (1913) and The Student of Prague (1913). He died on 27 August 1942 in Wieliczka, Malopolskie, Poland.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Zygmunt Malanowicz was born on 4 February 1938 in Wilno, Wilenskie, Poland [now Vilnius, Lithuania]. He was an actor and writer, known for Knife in the Water (1962), Jaroslaw Dabrowski (1976) and Bez ulik (1992). He died on 4 April 2021 in Poland.- Ryszard Zabinski was the son of Warsaw Zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski. During the Holocaust, the family successfully hid 300 Jewish men, women, and children in their villa and in the zoo's animal cages and tunnels. Ryszard carried food to the 'guests' and performed a number of chores without ever inadvertently giving away the family's secret activities.
For young Ryszard, life at the zoo was a childhood dream come true. It was also an adventure he would never forget. He shared space with sick or orphaned new-born animals. Ryszard long remembered all of the animals roaming freely throughout his home. The zoo he remembered prior to the war was filled with love.
On October 30, 1968 a tree planting ceremony was held at Yad Vashem honoring Righteous Among the Nations. Ryszard's parents were among the honorees. Ryszard lived his entire life in Warsaw, Poland. - Composer
- Music Department
- Writer
Krzysztof Penderecki was a Polish composer and conductor, whose music was often used in film. He seldom composed original film scores. Among the most notable films to use Penderecki's music are "The Exorcist" (1973), "The Shining" (1980), "Wild at Heart" (1990), "Fearless" (1993), "Inland Empire" (2006), "Children of Men" (2006), and "Shutter Island" (2010),
Penderecki was born in the town of Debica, in the historic province of Lesser Poland. His parents were the lawyer Tadeusz Penderecki and his wife Zofia. Tadeusz was an amateur violinist and pianist. Penderecki was a grandson of bank director Robert Berger, who had a side-career as a painter. Robert's father was Johann Berger, a German Protestant from Breslau (modern Wroclaw), who converted to Catholicism in order to marry a Catholic girl. Penderecki's grandmother Stefania was an Armenian from the town of Stanislau in Austria-Hungary (modern Ivano-Frankivsk in Western Ukraine).
Penderecki was 6-years-old when World War II begun. The Penderecki family had to move out of their apartment, as it was confiscated for use by the Ministry of Food. Penderecki's education was disrupted by the War. He started attending grammar school in 1946, at the age of 13. He graduated in 1951.
Penderecki started studying violin during his school years. His first teacher was military bandmaster Stanislaw Darlak, who also led a local orchestra in Debica. In 1951, Penderecki enrolled at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, where he continued his music studies. Stanislaw Tawroszewicz trained him as a violinist, while Franciszek Skolyszewski taught him music theory.
In 1954, Penderecki enrolled at the Academy of Music in Kraków. Having mostly completed his violin lessons, his education was focused entirely on the composition of new music. His original mentor was composer Artur Malawski, who was primarily known for choral and orchestral works. Malawski died in 1957, before Penderecki completed his lessons. His new mentor was composer Stanislaw Wiechowicz (1893-1963), who often drew inspiration from Polish folk music.
Penderecki graduated from the Academy of Music in 1958, and was immediately offered a teaching position there. He took the offer. He started publishing his original compositions, which were mostly influenced by the works of Pierre Boulez, Igor Stravinsky, and Anton Webern. His works "Strophen", "Psalms of David", and "Emanations" premiered in 1959, and were critically well-received.
His first work to actually receive international recognition was "Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima" (1960), written for 52 string instruments. His next notable work was the controversial "Fluorescences" (1962) written for the Donaueschingen Festival in Germany. He experimented with using percussion instruments which were unusual for classical music, such as "a Mexican güiro", typewriters, and gongs.
His experimental phase lasted through the 1960s, and he was seen as part of the avant-garde scene. By the early 1970s, Penderecki started incorporating more influences from the music of post-Romanticism, and his works were seen as more traditional. Meanwhile he had become one of Poland's most notable composers, He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta in 1964, and the Commander's Cross of the Order in 1974.
In the mid-1970s Penderecki became a professor at the Yale School of Music. His music became more melodic. His "Symphony No. 2, Christmas" (1980) was "harmonically and melodically quite straightforward", and made frequent uses of the tune used in an older Christmas carol, "Silent Night" (1818) by Franz Xaver Gruber (1787-1863). He explained his renunciation of the avant-garde, as he viewed the novelty of the music as "more destructive than constructive".
In 1980, the Polish trade union "Solidarity" commissioned to compose music commemorating those killed in anti-government riots at the Gdansk shipyards. Penderecki initially composed "Lacrimosa" for the occasion. He was inspired enough to expand the work to one of his most famous compositions, "Polish Requiem". He revised it several times between 1980 and 2005.
By the 2000s, Penderecki won many international awards and his fame was well-established. He started working on a number of compositions which were never finished, in part due to poor health. His plans included an opera version of the French tragedy play "Phèdre" (1677) by Jean Racine (1639-1699), and a composition commemorating the Armenian Genocide's centennial.
In March 2020, Penderecki died in his home in Kraków, Poland, following a long illness. He was 86-years-old, and several of his compositions were regarded among the famous film music of the 20th century.- Director
- Writer
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Ryszard Bugajski began his career working with Andrzej Wajda at Studio X in the late 70's. When he was pressured by the secret police to become an informant at the Studio, Bugajski vowed to try and bring down the Communist regime. To that end he shot his first feature film, "Interrogation", as society crumbled around him during the Solidarity uprisings. A scathing attack against the system, "Interrogation" was completed in secret during martial law. Banned by the authorities, the film was watched illegally by millions of Poles on newly acquired VCRs.
Persecuted by the secret police and banned from working, Bugajski and his wife fled to Canada in 1985, where he quickly learned English and got work directing television series and films.
On the fall of Communism in Poland, "Interrogation" became the official Polish entry at the Cannes Film Festival in 1990, where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or, and its leading actress Krystyna Janda won Best Actress for her stunning performance.
Bugajski returned to his homeland in 1995 where he has been making feature films, documentaries, television series and television features. He has also published several novels and continues to receive awards at film festivals. In 2009, Bugajski made his acclaimed feature film, General Nil, and in 2013 "The Closed Circuit" opened to both critical acclaim and commercial success in Poland.- Agnieszka Paszkowska was born on 4 July 1960 in Lublin, Lubelskie, Poland. She was an actress, known for Strazacy (2015), A Few People, a Little Time (2005) and M jak milosc (2000). She died on 23 November 2017 in Konstancin-Jeziorna, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Andrzej Blumenfeld was born on 12 August 1951 in Zabrze, Slaskie, Poland. He was an actor, known for Delivery Man (2013), The Pianist (2002) and Mute (2018). He died on 14 August 2017 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Georg John was born on 23 July 1879 in Schmiegel, Poland. He was an actor, known for M (1931), Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922) and Die Nibelungen: Kriemhild's Revenge (1924). He died on 18 November 1941 in Lódz, Lódzkie, Poland.
- Writer
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- Producer
Tadeusz Chmielewski was born on 7 June 1927 in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Lódzkie, Poland. He was a writer and director, known for Eva Wants to Sleep (1958), Wierna rzeka (1987) and In Heaven as It Is on Earth (1998). He was married to Halina Chmielewska. He died on 4 December 2016 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Krzysztof Komeda was born on 27 April 1931 in Poznan, Wielkopolskie, Poland. He was a composer and actor, known for Rosemary's Baby (1968), The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) and Knife in the Water (1962). He was married to Zofia von Tittenbrun. He died on 23 April 1969 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.- Wladyslaw Stanislaw Reymont was born on 7 May 1867 in Kobiele Wielkie, Poland, Russian Empire [now Kobiele Wielkie, Lódzkie, Poland]. He was a writer, known for Chlopi (1922), Ziemia obiecana (1927) and Komediantka (1987). He was married to Aurelia Szablowska. He died on 5 December 1925 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Zbigniew Zapasiewicz was born on 13 September 1934 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland. He was an actor and director, known for Life as a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease (2000), Television Theater (1953) and Camouflage (1977). He was married to Olga Sawicka, Iwona Sloczynska and Krystyna Maciejewska-Zapasiewicz. He died on 14 July 2009 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.- Edith Frank was born on 16 January 1900 in Aachen, Germany. She was married to Otto Frank. She died on 6 January 1945 in Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp, Nazi German Occupied Poland [now Oswiecim, Malopolskie, Poland].