Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing

ANDRZEJ WAJDA

Wajda Polish film and theatrical director. Born on 6 march 1926 Suwalki, Poland. Graduated from: Academy of Fine Arts, Cracow (1946-49). And Film Academy lodz (1949- 1953). Theatre Director at Teatr Stary, Cracow (1962- 1998) President of the Polish Film Association (1978-82). Solidarity member from 1980. Member of President Lech Walesa Council ( 1982 -89). Senator of the Republic of Poland (1989-91)

Honorary doctorates:

American University Washington 1981;
Bologna University 1988;
Jagiellonian University Cracow 1989;
University of Lyon 1995;
University of Libre Bruxelle 1995.

Selected prizes:

Legion d`honneur France- Oficier 1982, Commandeur - 2001
Onassis prize, Greek 1982;
Pirandello Artistic Award, Italy 1986;
Kyoto Prize, Japan 1987 (used the Prize to establish the Centre of Japanese Art and Technology in Cracow)
Felix European Film Awards-Lifetime Achievement Award 1990; "Cracovia Merenti" for founding the Centre of Japanese Art and Technology - Cracow' 1995
Order of Rising Sun, Japan 1995.
Praemium Imperiale,Japan 1996
Member of the Institut de France since 1997.
Golden Lion Venice 1998
American Film Foundation Freedom Award 1999
"Oscar" American Academy Lifetime Achievement Avard 2000
The Great German Cross of Achievement

Selected films:

KANAL (Canal) 1957 (Jury special Award Silver Palm Cannes 1957)
POPIOL I DIAMENT (Ashes and Diamond )1958 (Fipresci Prize Venice 1959), D.O. Selznick`s Silver Laurel Award 1962)
WESELE ( The Wedding ) 1973 (Silver Shell San Sebastian 1973);
ZIEMIA OBIECANA (The Promised Land) 1975 (Gdansk Golden Lions 1975, Golden Medal Moscow 1975, Oscar Award Nomination 1976);
CZŁOWIEK Z MARMURU (Man of Marble ) 1977, (Fipresci prize, Cannes 1978, Jury Special Prize, Cartagena 1980 );
PANNY Z WILKA (The Maids of Wilko ) 1979, (Oscar Award Nomination 1980);
CZlOWIEK Z ZELAZA (Man of Iron) 1981 (Palme d`Or -Golden Palm Cannes 1981,Oscar Award Nomination 1982);
DANTON (Prix Luis Delluc 1982 ; "Cesar "- 1983 );
Korczak 1990;
NASTASYA ( with Tamasaburo Bando)1994;
WIELKI TYDZIEN (The Holy Week) 1995 ( Silver Bear, Berlin 1997);
PAN TADEUSZ 1999

Selected theater productions:

Shakespeare - Hamlet 1960,
Wyspianski - Wesele (The Wedding)1962, 1991,(1992 Salzburg Festival),
Noc Listopadowa (November Night) 1974;
based on Dostojewsky: Biesy (The Possessed) 1971,(1974 Yale Repertory);
Nastasya Filipowna (adaptation from Dostojewsky`s "Idiot")1977;
Zbrodnia i Kara (Crime and Punishment ) 1984, (1986 Schaubuhne, Berlin);
Sofocles - Antygone 1984;
Yukio Mishima -Mishima 1994;

page up

WOJCIECH MARCZEWSKI

WOJCIECH MARCZEWSKI Film Director, Screenwriter, Born in Lodz in 28.02.1944. Studied history and philosophy at Lodz University and graduated as a film director from the Theatre and Film School in Lodz. He participated as a screenwriter and director in many film and television projects. From 1972 to 1994 he was a member of Film Studio TOR and from 1986 to 1990 - the head-deputy of TOR. From 1980 to 1983 he was the head-deputy of Polish Filmmakers' Association and from 1984 to 1986 the head of Polish Cine Club Federation. During Marshall War he began to teach in West Germany and Denmark. Since 1984 he has worked for the National Film and Television School in Copenhagen, Denmark. Between 1992 and 1994 he was the Head of Directing Department in the National Film and Television School in Great Britain (in Beaconsfield). He has conducted many workshops for film directors, screenwriters and actors in Germany , Switzerland, Holland, Denmark and Poland. Since 1996 he has tought at the National Film School in Lodz and at the University in Katowice. His films were distributed in numerous countries, had taken part and were awarded in many international film festivals (Cannes, Berlin, San Sebastian, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Montreal, Tokyo, London, Avoriaz, Burgos, and many others). The retrospectives of his films took place in: Bergamo, Copenhagen, Prague, Budapest and Hamburg. He has also directed several TV dramas.

Films:

2001 - "Weiser"- script & directing film in competition at Berlin Film Festival 2001 Award for editing and sound, National Film Festival Gdynia Poland 2001
1997 - "Time of Treachery"- script co-writing & directing Special Jury Prize and award for editing, National Film Festival Gdynia Poland 1997
1991 - " Escape from the Liberty Cinema" - script & directing Grand Prize, National Film Festival, Gdynia Poland 1991 Awarded also for the best actor - Janusz Gajos Editorial prize from "Film" magazine 1991 Cannes Film Festival (Selection Officiele Un Certain Regard) 1991 Grand Prize, Avoriaz International Film Festival, France 1992 Grand Prize, Burgos, Spain 1994 Film sold to: Germany, France, Australia, Austria, Mexico, South Korea, Hungary, Denmark, Holland
1980 - " Shivers" - script & directing Silver Prize, National Film Festival, Gdansk Poland 1981 Special Mention for actress, Teresa Marczewska, cinematography and editing Silver Bear, Berlin Film Festival 1982; Special Jury Prize for film showing greatest originality FIPRESCI, International Press Award Berlin Film Festival 1982 CICAE, International Art Cinema Confederation Prize Berlin Film Festival 1982 Film sold to: Germany, Japan, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Denmark, USA, France
1979 - "Keyskeeper" - script & directing Grand Prize, TV Festival at Olsztyn Poland 1980 Awarded also for best photography and music
1978 - "Nightmares" - directing Silver Prize, National Film festival Gdansk Poland 1979 OCIC, International Film Festival San Sebastian Spain 1979 Andrzej Munk's Prize for Best First Film 1979 Editorial Prize from "Film" magazine 1979 Film sold to: Japan, Germany, South Korea, Great Britain, USA, Russia
1976 - " Whiter then snow" - (1h TV film) - directing
1975 - "Easter" - (1h TV film) - script & directing
1970 -1972 - "Departures. Returns" - (3x1h TV film) - script co-writing & directing
1969 - " Travelers like other ones" - script co-writing & directing
1968 - "The Anatomy Lesson" - script &directing

page up

WARSAW FILM STUDIO (WFDiF)

Warsaw Film Studio is a film institution founded in 1949 r. In the beginning of its existence WFDiF was producing documentaries and Polish Film Chronicle. In the fifties films of Andrzej Munk were produced just here - THE STARS MUST BURN (Gwiazdy musza plonac), SUNDAY MORNING (Niedzielny poranek). After 1956 many talented directors, among them Jerzy Hoffman, Edward Skorzewski, Wladyslaw Slesicki, Kazimierz Karabasz (whose MUSICIANS was awarded all over the world) were connected to the Warsaw Film Studio. Thanks to them it became the place of creation of the Polish Documentary School's legend. Other directors also made their documentaries here, among them: Krzysztof Kieslowski, Jerzy Bossak, Tadeusz Makarczynski and Jan Lomnicki.

Apart from auteur documentaries and Polish Film Chronicle WFDiF produced also many documentaries for Polish Television.

In the beginning of the sixties WFDiF enlarged it's production profile. In 1961 the Studio started to produce feature films, up to 20 films a year. Andrzej Wajda's films such as THE WEDDING (Wesele), THE LANDSCAPE AFTER BATTLE (Krajobraz po bitwie), THE MAN OF MARBLE (Czlowiek z marmuru), Krzysztof Zanussi's BEHIND THE WALL (Za sciana), ILLUMINATION (Iluminacja), Krzysztof Kieslowski's DEKALOGUE (Dekalog) were produced here.

Great TV series were also made here: NIGHTS AND DAYS (Noce i dnie) by Jerzy Antczak, POLISH ROADS (Polskie drogi) by Janusz Morgenstern and THE HOUSE (Dom) by Jan Lomnicki.

Currently WFDiF is a co-producer of many Polish feature films and a producer of its own projects.

page up

BARBARA PEC-ŚLESICKA

Barbara Pec-Ślesicka is one of the major Eastern European film producers, and has produced over 80 feature films, including some of the great classics of world cinema. She has produced 30 films of Andrzej Wajda (awarded Oscar for a lifetime achievement in 2002), including the internationally renowned “Everything For Sale”, “The Promised Land” “Man of Marble”, distributed throughout Eastern and Western Europe, many of them co-produced (“The Line of the Shadow” – Thames Television; “The Posessed” - Gaumont , Les Films du Losagne) and multiple-award-winning; the Oscar nominated “Europe, Europe” (dir. Agnieszka Holland) “The Saragossa Manuscript” (dir. Wojciech J. Has); and “The Passenger” (dir. Andrzej Munk). She was also a producer of TV films, including “Love of 20-year olds” dir. Andrzej Wajda ( a part of French-Italian-Japanese series: other films were directed by: Francois Truffaut; Renzo Rossellini; Marcel Ophuls; Shintaro Ishihara) and one of the episodes of “The Return of Arsene Lupin” ( the French TV series). In years 1972-1983 as a Head of Development and Production of “X” Film Unit Barbara Pec-Ślesicka produced films of it’s members (contracted film directors, mainly young talents, including: Agnieszka Holland, Feliks Falk, Ryszard Bugajski, Janusz Zaorski).

Of the 80 films produced by Ms. Pec-Ślesicka the most successful and numerous were these directed by Andrzej Wajda. Among them are numbered:

1995 THE HOLY WEEK dir. Andrzej Wajda; Silver Bear, Berlin 1997
1994 NASTASJA dir. Andrzej Wajda; (Say-To Workshop/Tokio)
1989 KORCZAK – dir. Andrzej Wajda;(Regina Ziegler Filmproduction, Erato Films, ZDF, BBC-Films)
1985 THE POSESSED - dir. Andrzej Wajda; (Gaumont Films, Les Films du Losagne)
1982 DANTON dir. Andrzej Wajda; (Gaumont Films, TV-1 Films-Production, Les Films du Losagne with support of French Ministry of Culture); Prix Luis Delluc 1982 ; "Cesar "- 1983
1981 MAN OF IRON dir. Andrzej Wajda Palme d`Or -Golden Palm Cannes 1981, Oscar Nomination 1982
1978 THE MAIDS OF WILKO dir. Andrzej Wajda (Pierson Production-Les Films Moliere); Oscar Award Nomination 1980
1973 THE WEDDING dir. Andrzej Wajda Silver Shell San Sebastian 1973
1975 THE PROMISED LAND dir. Andrzej Wajda Gdansk Golden Lions 1975, Oscar Nomination 1976
1977 MAN OF MARBLE dir. Andrzej Wajda Fipresci prize, Cannes 1978, Jury Special Prize, Cartagena
1976 THE SHADOW LINE dir. Andrzej Wajda (Thames Television)

Among the films developed and produced by Barbara Pec-Ślesicka as a Head of Development and Production of “X” Film Unit are over 40 films made by young film directors (both cinema and television formats). All the projects were made under the artistic supervision of Andrzej Wajda, the older-generation filmmaker, who was the founder of “X” Film Unit. These are examples:

1982: THE INTERROGATION /PRZESŁUCHANIE/, dir Ryszard Bugajski, awarded in PFF Gdynia Film Festival in 1989
1981 THE LONELY WOMAN dir. Agnieszka Holland; Gdansk-Gdynia (FPFF) Special Prize of Jury
1981 THE MOTHER OF KINGS dir. Janusz Zaorski
1980: THE WORKERS 80 /ROBOTNICY 80/, directed by A. Chodakowski and A.Zajączkowski, won Fipresci Award in Lille, France 1981
1980 JAN SERCE dir. Radosław Piwowarski, TV series
1979 TOP DOG dir. Feliks Falk
1978 PROVINCIAL ACTORS dir. Agnieszka Holland
1978 THE FORTY YEAR OLD dir. Jerzy Gruza, TV series