Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo
Encyclopedia
Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo (born 1975 in Warsaw
), is a Polish-American filmmaker and writer
.
where she graduated summa cum laude in 2003. Her debut short film Pâté
premiered at the Sundance Film Festival
and went on to win several prestigious awards including NYU's Wasserman Award
, the Fielle d'Or at the Beverly Hills Film Festival
, the Grand Jury Prize at the WorldFest Houston International Film Festival, New York Magazine's Award of Excellence and the Special Jury Prize at the Atlanta Film Festival
.
Filmmaker Magazine
named Wojtowicz-Vosloo as one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film.
In 2004 she collaborated with Laurie Anderson
on the acclaimed O Zlozony/O Composite, a multi-media project for the Paris Opera Ballet
with choreography by Trisha Brown
, based on Czeslaw Milosz
's poem "O Zlozony". The piece premiered at the Opera Garnier in Paris in December 2004.
Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo's first feature film After.Life
, a psychological horror thriller starring Liam Neeson
, Christina Ricci
and Justin Long
, premiered at the AFI
Film Festival in Los Angeles on 7 November 2009. Anchor Bay Entertainment
, a division of Overture Films
, acquired theatrical rights for the U.S. and the U.K., and released the film in theaters on 9 April 2010. The DVD and Blu-ray were released in the US on 3 August 2010.
Wojtowicz-Vosloo garnered extensive media attention after the release of After.Life
. Ronnie Scheib from Variety
called the film "an elegant exercise in horror", while the National Board of Review commented "Wojtowitcz-Vosloo masterfully manipulates the conventions of horror and thriller genres with an exceptionally assured sense of style and storytelling". Noted film reviewer James Berardinelli
added "I admire filmmakers who take chances and defy expectations. The echoes of 'After.Life' linger in the memory long after the impressions of countless safe cookie cutter productions have faded". Manohla Dargis' review in the New York Times however was mixed, "Ms. Wojtowicz-Vosloo seems to have spent too much time trying to make an art-house chiller instead of an effective film."
In a Wall Street Journal profile "Death Becomes Her" by Matthew Kaminski
, Liam Neeson
said Wojtowicz-Vosloo "reminds me a little of Kathryn Bigelow
," the Oscar-winning director of The Hurt Locker
. In July 2010 the filmmaker was featured in Elle
magazine and on the cover of Gazeta Wyborcza
, Poland's leading newspaper.
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
), is a Polish-American filmmaker and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
.
Biography
She studied film at Tisch School of the ArtsTisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....
where she graduated summa cum laude in 2003. Her debut short film Pâté
Pâté (film)
Pâté is a short film by writer/director Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to win several prestigious awards including NYU's Wasserman Award, the Fielle d'Or at the Beverly Hills Film Festival, The Grand Jury Prize at the WorldFest Houston...
premiered at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
and went on to win several prestigious awards including NYU's Wasserman Award
Wasserman Award
The Wasserman Award is NYU Film School’s top honor in recognition for outstanding achievement in film. The award honors the late Lew Wasserman and his wife Edie, major benefactors of the Tisch School of the Arts. Past winners include Spike Lee, Ang Lee, and Nancy Savoca....
, the Fielle d'Or at the Beverly Hills Film Festival
Beverly Hills Film Festival
The Beverly Hills Film Festival is a film festival in the United States founded by award-winning independent filmmaker Nino Simone in 2001. The festival debuted in 2001, and has shown regular growth each year...
, the Grand Jury Prize at the WorldFest Houston International Film Festival, New York Magazine's Award of Excellence and the Special Jury Prize at the Atlanta Film Festival
Atlanta Film Festival
The Atlanta Film Festival is an Academy Award qualifying, international film festival held in Atlanta, Georgia. Started in 1976 and occurring every April, the festival shows a diverse range of independent films, including genre films such as horror and sci-fi...
.
Filmmaker Magazine
Filmmaker Magazine
Filmmaker is a quarterly publication magazine covering issues relating to independent film. The magazine was founded in 1992 by Karol Martesko-Fenster, Scott Macaulay and Holly Willis...
named Wojtowicz-Vosloo as one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film.
In 2004 she collaborated with Laurie Anderson
Laurie Anderson
Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and art rock styles. Initially trained as a sculptor, Anderson did her first performance-art piece in the late 1960s...
on the acclaimed O Zlozony/O Composite, a multi-media project for the Paris Opera Ballet
Paris Opera Ballet
The Paris Opera Ballet is the oldest national ballet company in the world, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it...
with choreography by Trisha Brown
Trisha Brown
Trisha Brown is a postmodernist American choreographer and dancer.Brown was born in Aberdeen, Washington, and received a B.A. degree in dance from Mills College in 1958. Brown later received a D.F.A. from Bates College in 2000. For several summers she studied with Louis Horst at the American Dance...
, based on Czeslaw Milosz
Czeslaw Milosz
Czesław Miłosz was a Polish poet, prose writer and translator of Lithuanian origin and subsequent American citizenship. His World War II-era sequence The World is a collection of 20 "naive" poems. He defected to the West in 1951, and his nonfiction book The Captive Mind is a classic of...
's poem "O Zlozony". The piece premiered at the Opera Garnier in Paris in December 2004.
Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo's first feature film After.Life
After.Life
After.Life is a 2009 American science fiction horror film starring Liam Neeson, Christina Ricci and Justin Long, directed by Agnieszka Wójtowicz-Vosloo from her original screenplay.-Plot:...
, a psychological horror thriller starring Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson
Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
, Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci is an American actress. Ricci received initial recognition and praise as a child star for her performance as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , and her role as Kat Harvey in Casper...
and Justin Long
Justin Long
Justin Jacob Long is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Galaxy Quest, Jeepers Creepers, Dodgeball, Live Free or Die Hard, He's Just Not That into You, Drag Me to Hell, and Youth in Revolt, and his personification of a Mac in Apple's "Get a...
, premiered at the AFI
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
Film Festival in Los Angeles on 7 November 2009. Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment is a U.S. based home entertainment and production company and is a division of Starz Media, which is a unit of Starz, LLC. It was previously owned by IDT Entertainment until 2006 when IDT was purchased by Starz Media. Anchor Bay markets and sells feature films, series,...
, a division of Overture Films
Overture Films
Overture Films, LLC is an American film production and distribution company. It is a subsidiary of Liberty Media ....
, acquired theatrical rights for the U.S. and the U.K., and released the film in theaters on 9 April 2010. The DVD and Blu-ray were released in the US on 3 August 2010.
Wojtowicz-Vosloo garnered extensive media attention after the release of After.Life
After.Life
After.Life is a 2009 American science fiction horror film starring Liam Neeson, Christina Ricci and Justin Long, directed by Agnieszka Wójtowicz-Vosloo from her original screenplay.-Plot:...
. Ronnie Scheib from Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
called the film "an elegant exercise in horror", while the National Board of Review commented "Wojtowitcz-Vosloo masterfully manipulates the conventions of horror and thriller genres with an exceptionally assured sense of style and storytelling". Noted film reviewer James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli is an American online film critic.-Personal life:Berardinelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and spent his early childhood in Morristown, New Jersey. At the age of nine years, he relocated to the township of Cherry Hill, New Jersey...
added "I admire filmmakers who take chances and defy expectations. The echoes of 'After.Life' linger in the memory long after the impressions of countless safe cookie cutter productions have faded". Manohla Dargis' review in the New York Times however was mixed, "Ms. Wojtowicz-Vosloo seems to have spent too much time trying to make an art-house chiller instead of an effective film."
In a Wall Street Journal profile "Death Becomes Her" by Matthew Kaminski
Matthew Kaminski
Matthew Kaminski is a journalist and member of the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board.-Biography:Before joining the editorial board in New York in summer of 2008, Kaminski was the editorial page editor of the Journal's European edition, based in Paris, from 2005-08.Kaminski reported for the...
, Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson
Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
said Wojtowicz-Vosloo "reminds me a little of Kathryn Bigelow
Kathryn Bigelow
Kathryn Ann Bigelow is an American film director. Her best-known films are the cult horror film Near Dark , the surfer/bank robbery action picture Point Break , the science fiction/film noir Strange Days , the historical/mystery film The Weight of Water and the war drama The Hurt Locker...
," the Oscar-winning director of The Hurt Locker
The Hurt Locker
The Hurt Locker is a 2009 American war film about a three-man United States Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team during the Iraq War. The film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow and the screenplay was written by Mark Boal, a freelance writer who was embedded as a journalist in 2004 with a US bomb...
. In July 2010 the filmmaker was featured in Elle
Elle (magazine)
Elle is a worldwide magazine of French origin that focuses on women's fashion, beauty, health, and entertainment. Elle is also the world's largest fashion magazine. It was founded by Pierre Lazareff and his wife Hélène Gordon in 1945. The title, in French, means "she".-History:Elle was founded in...
magazine and on the cover of Gazeta Wyborcza
Gazeta Wyborcza
Gazeta Wyborcza is a leading Polish newspaper. It covers the gamut of political, international and general news. Like all the Polish newspapers, it is printed on compact-sized paper, and is published by the multimedia corporation Agora SA...
, Poland's leading newspaper.