Andrzej Wajda (born 6 March 1926) is a
PolishPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
film directorA film director, or filmmaker is a person who directs the making or production of a film. Some also consider a film producer to be a filmmaker....
. Recipient of an honorary Oscar, he is perhaps the most prominent member of the unofficial "
Polish Film SchoolPolish Film School refers to an informal group of Polish film directors and screenplay writers active between 1955 and approximately 1963....
" (active
circa 1955 to 1963). He is known especially for a trilogy of war films:
A GenerationA Generation is a 1955 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It is based on the novel Pokolenie by Bohdan Czeszko, who also wrote the script, and it was Wajda's first film and the opening installment of what became his Three War Films trilogy set against the second World War, completed by Kanal...
(1954),
KanalKanal may refer to one:* Kanal, a 1956 film directed by Andrzej Wajda* Kanal ob Soči, a municipality in Slovenia* Kanal, Zagreb, a neighborhood in Zagreb, Croatia* Kanal, a unit of measurement used in India & Pakistan...
(1956) and
Ashes and DiamondsAshes and Diamonds is a 1958 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda, based on the 1948 novel by Polish writer Jerzy Andrzejewski...
(1958).
A major figure of world and
Central EuropeCentral Europe is the region lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. The term and widespread interest in the region itself came back into fashion after the end of the Cold War, which, along with the Iron Curtain, had divided Europe politically into East and West,...
an cinema after
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Wajda made his reputation as a sensitive and uncompromising chronicler of his country's political and social evolution. He is currently listed as the 97th greatest director of all-time by film website They Shoot Pictures Don't They, with four of his movies nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language FilmThe Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
:
Land of Promise (1975),
The Maids of WilkoThe Maids of Wilko is a 1979 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. "Maids" is used in the sense of "maidens", hence another translation could be The Maidens of Wilko....
(1979),
Man of IronMan of Iron is a 1981 film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It depicts the Solidarity labour movement and its first success in persuading the Polish government to recognize the workers' right to an independent union....
(1981), and
KatyńKatyń is a 2007 Polish film about the 1940 Katyn massacre, directed by Academy Honorary Award winner Andrzej Wajda. It is based on the book novelization? Post Mortem: The Story of Katyn by Andrzej Mularczyk...
(2007).
Life and career
Wajda was born in Suwałki, the son of Aniela (née Biaxowas), a school teacher, and Jakub Wajda, a Polish
cavalryCavalry were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback in combat. Cavalry were historically the second oldest and most mobile of the combat arms...
officer murdered by
the Soviets in 1940The Katyn massacre, also known as the Katyn Forest massacre , was a mass murder of thousands of Polish military officers, policemen, intellectuals and civilian prisoners of war by Soviet NKVD, based on a proposal from Lavrentiy Beria to execute all members of the Polish Officer Corps...
in what became known as the
Katyn massacreThe Katyn massacre, also known as the Katyn Forest massacre , was a mass murder of thousands of Polish military officers, policemen, intellectuals and civilian prisoners of war by Soviet NKVD, based on a proposal from Lavrentiy Beria to execute all members of the Polish Officer Corps...
. After the war, he studied to be a painter at
Kraków's Academy of Fine ArtsThe Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, or Kraków Academy of Fine Arts , located in Kraków, Poland, is the oldest Polish fine-arts academy, established in 1818....
before entering the Łódź Film School.
In the 1940s, he was a member of the
Polish United Workers' PartyThe Polish United Workers' Party was the Communist party which governed the People's Republic of Poland from 1948 to 1989. Ideologically it was based on the theories of Marxism-Leninism.- The Party's Program and Goals :...
in
KrakówKraków , in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow and pronounced
, is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland and a popular tourist destination. Its historic centre was inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites as the first of its kind...
. On the heels of his apprenticeship to director
Aleksander FordAleksander Ford was a Polish film director. Polish filmmaker Aleksander Ford played a key role in establishing Poland's international reputation for excellent cinema...
, Wajda was given the opportunity to direct his own film. With
A GenerationA Generation is a 1955 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It is based on the novel Pokolenie by Bohdan Czeszko, who also wrote the script, and it was Wajda's first film and the opening installment of what became his Three War Films trilogy set against the second World War, completed by Kanal...
(1954), the first-time director poured out his disillusionment over
jingoismJingoism is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "extreme patriotism in the form of aggressive foreign policy". In practice, it refers to the advocation of the use of threats or actual force against other countries in order to safeguard what they perceive as their country's national...
, using as his alter-ego a young anti-hero played by
Tadeusz LomnickiTadeusz Łomnicki was a Polish actor, one of the most notable stage and film artists of his time in Poland. He is remembered mostly for his roles in comedies and dramas, as well as for the role of Kordian in Juliusz Słowacki's play of the same title...
. There were also other future legends starring in this movie -
Zbigniew CybulskiZbigniew Cybulski was a Polish actor, one of the best-known and most popular personalities of Polish cinema after World War II...
,
Tadeusz JanczarTadeusz Janczar was a Polish film actor. He appeared in 26 films between 1952 and 1983.-Selected filmography:* Landscape After the Battle * Bad Luck * Farewells * Kanał...
and
Roman PolańskiRoman Raymond Polanski is a Polish-French film director, producer, writer, and actor. Polanski began his career in Poland, and later became a critically-acclaimed director of both art house and commercial films....
.
Wajda went on to make two more films which developed further the anti-war theme of
A Generation:
Kanal (1956) (The Silver Palm Award at
Cannes Film FestivalThe Cannes Film Festival , founded in 1946, is one of the world's oldest and most prestigious film festivals. The private festival is held annually at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, in the resort town of Cannes, in the south of France.The 62nd edition started 13 May and ended 24 May 2009...
in 1957, ex aequo with
Ingmar BergmanErnst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. His influential body of work often dealt with themes such as bleakness and despair, as well as comedy and hope, in his cinematic exploration of the human condition...
's
The Seventh SealThe Seventh Seal is a 1957 Swedish drama film directed by Ingmar Bergman, about the journey of a medieval knight across a plague-ridden landscape, and a monumental game of chess between himself and the personification of Death, who has come to take his life. Bergman developed the film from his...
) and
Ashes and DiamondsAshes and Diamonds is a 1958 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda, based on the 1948 novel by Polish writer Jerzy Andrzejewski...
(1958) (
FIPRESCIFIPRESCI , in English known as International Federation of Film Critics, is an association of the national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world for "the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests." It...
Award at
Venice Film FestivalThe Venice Film Festival is the oldest film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the Lido, Venice,...
in 1959), also starring Cybulski. Wajda started working in the theatre at this time, where he directed several shows (
Kapelusz pelen deszczu (
Hatful of rain) and
Dwoje na hustawce (
Two on a seesaw)) and
HamletThe Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601. The play, set in Denmark, recounts how Prince Hamlet exacts revenge on his uncle Claudius, who has murdered Hamlet's father, the King, and then...
.
While capable of turning out mainstream commercial fare (often dismissed as "trivial" by his critics), Wajda was more interested in works of
allegoryAllegory is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than the literal. An allegory is a device that can be presented in literary form, such as a poem or novel, or in visual form, such as in painting or sculpture...
and
symbolismSymbolism is the use of symbols to represent things such as ideas and emotions. Symbolism is sometimes used to refer specifically to totemic symbols that stand on their own, as opposed to linguistic symbols....
, and certain symbols (such as setting fire to a glass of liquor, representing the flame of youthful idealism that was extinguished by the war) recur often in his films. But he explored other fields of human activity making for example a French new wave style film
Innocent SorcerersInnocent Sorcerers is a 1960 film directed by Polish film director, Andrzej Wajda.-External links:...
, with jazz music by
Krzysztof KomedaKrzysztof Komeda was a Polish film music composer and jazz pianist. Perhaps best-known for his work in film scores, Komeda wrote the scores for Roman Polański’s films Rosemary’s Baby, The Fearless Vampire Killers, Knife in the Water and Cul-de-sac...
, starring
Roman PolańskiRoman Raymond Polanski is a Polish-French film director, producer, writer, and actor. Polanski began his career in Poland, and later became a critically-acclaimed director of both art house and commercial films....
in one of the episodes. After this, Wajda returned to a war theme in a story about a Jewish boy
SamsonSamson is a 1961 film made by Academy Award-winning Polish director Andrzej Wajda that uses art house aesthetics to tell a story about the Holocaust. Wajda's World War II film alludes to the Old Testament story of Samson, who had supernatural physical strength...
.
In 1967, Cybulski was killed in a train accident, and the director articulated his grief with what is considered his most personal film,
Everything for Sale (1969).
The 1970s were the most lucrative and beneficial period for Wajda's artistic activity. He made over ten films, some of which were acclaimed as masterpieces:
Pilate and others,
Landscape After the BattleLandscape After the Battle is a 1970 drama film directed by Andrzej Wajda and starring Daniel Olbrychski. It was entered into the 1970 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Daniel Olbrychski - Tadeusz* Stanislawa Celinska - Nina...
,
The WeddingWesele is a motion picture made in 1972 in Poland by Andrzej Wajda as an adaptation of a play by the same title written by Stanisław Wyspiański in 1901. Wajda also directed "Wesele" for the theatre....
,
The Promised LandThe Promised Land is a 1975 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda, based on a novel by Władysław Reymont. Set in the industrial city of Łódź, The Promised Land tells the story of a Pole, a German, and a Jew struggling to build a factory in the raw world of 19th century capitalism.Wajda presents a...
,
Man of MarbleMan of Marble is a 1976 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It chronicles the fall from grace of a heroic Polish bricklayer, Mateusz Birkut , who became the symbol of the worker in Nowa Huta, a new socialist city near Kraków...
,
The Orchestra Conductor - starring
John GielgudSir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor/director/producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
,
Rough Treatment,
The Birchwood and
Maids of Wilko. Wajda continued his work in theatre and many of his most famous shows were shown at that time (his versions of Dostoyevsky's
The Possessed and
The IdiotThe Idiot is a novel written by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky and first published in 1868. It was first published serially in Russian in Russky Vestnik, St. Petersburg, 1868-1869. The Idiot is ranked, along with other works from Dostoevsky, as one of the most brilliant literary...
-
Nastasja Filippovna,
November Night,
The ImmigrantsHaOlim was a short-lived one-man political faction in Israel.-Background:The faction was formed when Yigal Yasinov broke away from Shinui towards the end of the 16th Knesset's term following the party's split into Shinui and the Secular Faction.Soon after its establishment, Yasinov joined the the...
,
The Danton affair and
Dürrenmatt'sFriedrich Dürrenmatt was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theater whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant-garde dramas, philosophically deep crime novels, and often macabre satire...
Play Strindberg.
Wajda's later devotion to Poland's emerging Solidarity movement was manifested in
Man of IronMan of Iron is a 1981 film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It depicts the Solidarity labour movement and its first success in persuading the Polish government to recognize the workers' right to an independent union....
(1981), with Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa appearing as himself in the film, and earlier in
Man of MarbleMan of Marble is a 1976 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It chronicles the fall from grace of a heroic Polish bricklayer, Mateusz Birkut , who became the symbol of the worker in Nowa Huta, a new socialist city near Kraków...
(1976). The director's involvement in this movement would prompt the
Polish governmentThe Polish People's Republic was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990.Although the Polish People's Republic was a sovereign state as defined by international law, its leaders were at the very least approved by the Kremlin...
to force Wajda's production company out of business. For
Man of Iron Wajda won the
Palme d'OrThe Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded to competing films at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film...
at the
Cannes Film FestivalThe Cannes Film Festival , founded in 1946, is one of the world's oldest and most prestigious film festivals. The private festival is held annually at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, in the resort town of Cannes, in the south of France.The 62nd edition started 13 May and ended 24 May 2009...
. In 1983 he directed
DantonDanton is a 1983 French language film depicting the last months of Georges Danton, one of the leaders of the French Revolution. It is an adaptation of the Polish play The Danton Case by Stanislawa Przybyszewska....
starring
Gerard DepardieuGérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu is a French actor. He has won a number of honors including a nomination for an Academy Award for the title role in Cyrano de Bergerac and the Golden Globe award for Best Actor in Green Card....
in the title role, a film set in 1794 (Year Two) dealing with the Post-
Revolutionary TerrorThe Reign of Terror , also known as the The Terror was a period of violence that occurred four years and two months after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of the...
. For some critics in Poland, the film carries sharp parallels with the Post-Revolutionary period in Russia as well as with fascist Germany. Wajda attempted at showing how easily revolution can become terror and how quickly it can start to 'eat its own children'. The film was criticized in France as biased and manipulating the history of the French revolution. Then Wajda made
Love in Germany,
Chronicle of Amorous Accidents and his film version of Dostoyevky's
The Possessed. In theater Wajda worked on a Dostoyevsky adaptation for the third time with
Crime and PunishmentCrime and Punishment is a novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky that was first published in the literary journal The Russian Messenger in twelve monthly installments in 1866. It was later published in a single volume...
and directed some other works like
Dybuk or
Antygone. In 1990 he showed another film "
KorczakKorczak is a Polish noble family name. It may also refer to:* Korczak Coat of Arms* Janusz Korczak, a pseudonym of Henryk Goldszmit, Polish pediatrician, children's writer and pedagogist, murdered by the Germans at the Treblinka extermination camp...
".
In the early 1990s, he was elected a senator and also appointed artistic director of Warsaw's Teatr Powszechny. He continued to make films, addressing the topic of World War II in 1993's
The Crowned-Eagle Ring and 1996's
Holy WeekHoly Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
.
In 1997, the director went in a different direction with
Miss Nobody, a coming-of-age drama that explored the darker and more spiritual aspects of a relationship between three high-school girls. In 1999 there was a big artistic and box office success with Wajda's
Pan TadeuszPan Tadeusz is a 1999 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It is based on the eponymous epic poem by Polish poet, writer and philosopher Adam Mickiewicz. It was Poland's official Best Foreign Language Film submission at the 72nd Academy Awards, but did not manage to receive a nomination.Pan...
. After that Wajda made a fanstastic political television spectacle
Bigda idzie!, starring
Janusz GajosJanusz Gajos is a Polish actor.He graduated in 1965 from the National Film School in Łódź as one of its best students despite having been rejected during entrance exams for three times. He debuted while he was still in film school in children's film Panienka z okienka in 1964...
and the film version of
ZemstaThe Revenge is the English title for Zemsta, a film released in 2002, directed by Andrzej Wajda. This film is an adaptation of a perennially popular stage farce of the same name by the Polish dramatist and poet Aleksander Fredro....
(
The Revenge), starring Roman Polański and
Janusz GajosJanusz Gajos is a Polish actor.He graduated in 1965 from the National Film School in Łódź as one of its best students despite having been rejected during entrance exams for three times. He debuted while he was still in film school in children's film Panienka z okienka in 1964...
.
At the
2000 Academy AwardsThe 73rd Academy Awards ceremony was the last to take place at the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium. It was hosted by first-time host Steve Martin, who was nominated for an Emmy Award for his presentation....
, Wajda was presented with an honorary
OscarThe Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is...
for his numerous contributions to cinema; he subsequently donated the award to Kraków's
Jagiellonian UniversityThe Jagiellonian University was established in 1364 by Casimir III the Great in Kraków...
. In 2001 he opened the Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing. In February 2006, Wajda received an honorary
Golden BearAccording to legend, the Golden Bear was a large golden Ursus arctos. Members of the Ursus arctos species can reach masses of . The Grizzly Bear and the Kodiak Bear are North American subspecies of the Brown Bear....
for lifetime achievement at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Andrzej Wajda has been married four times. His third wife was the popular actress
Beata TyszkiewiczBeata Maria Helena Tyszkiewiczówna-Kalenicka is a Polish actress.Her debut was in Zemsta in 1956. She received a prestigious award for actors at the Festiwal Polskich Filmów Fabularnych...
, with whom he has a daughter Karolina (born 1967). His fourth and current wife is actress and costume designer
Krystyna ZachwatowiczKrystyna Zachwatowicz-Wajda , born Krystyna Zachwatowicz, is a Polish scenographer, costume designer and actress. She is a daughter of architect and restorer Jan Zachwatowicz and Maria Chodźko h. Kościesza, and wife of film director Andrzej Wajda. Member of the Polish Film Academy. She is a...
.
Wajda's very personal project, the film
KatyńKatyń is a 2007 Polish film about the 1940 Katyn massacre, directed by Academy Honorary Award winner Andrzej Wajda. It is based on the book novelization? Post Mortem: The Story of Katyn by Andrzej Mularczyk...
(2007) concerns the
Katyn massacreThe Katyn massacre, also known as the Katyn Forest massacre , was a mass murder of thousands of Polish military officers, policemen, intellectuals and civilian prisoners of war by Soviet NKVD, based on a proposal from Lavrentiy Beria to execute all members of the Polish Officer Corps...
, in which his father lost his life. The director shows this tragedy from the perspective of those (mothers, wives and daughters) who wait for their relatives. In August 2008 he started shooting his next film based upon another novel by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz
Tatarak (
Sweet Rush) with
Krystyna JandaKrystyna Janda is a Polish film and theater actress best known in the West for playing leading roles in several films by Polish director Andrzej Wajda, including Man of Marble and Man of Iron .In 1982, she played the lead character in Ryszard Bugajski's film...
in the main role who also appears as herself. The film was shown in the main section during the 59th
Berlin International Film FestivalThe Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
in February 2009 and Andrzej Wajda was given very prestigious Alfred Bauer Prize for "developing new ways of film making". Sweet Rush happens to be poetic meditation about death, Wajda mixes true story and fiction.
Andrzej Wajda has founded Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology in
KrakówKraków , in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow and pronounced
, is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland and a popular tourist destination. Its historic centre was inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites as the first of its kind...
. He has also founded and leads his own film school: Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing, where students have different one year courses (led by famous European film makers) and work on their own projects. Many polish actors became famous due to their acting in Wajda's films (
Daniel OlbrychskiDaniel Olbrychski is a Polish actor. He played leading roles in several Andrzej Wajda movies. Played one of the leading roles in Volker Schlöndorff's rendering of Nobel-prize awarded German writer Günther Grass's book "Die Blechtrommel"...
,
Wojciech PszoniakWojciech Pszoniak , is a Polish film and theater actor.Pszoniak gained international visibility following Andrzej Wajda's 1975 film The Promised Land, in which he played Moritz, one of the three main characters....
,
Andrzej SewerynAndrzej Seweryn is a Polish actor and director.His parents Zdzisław and Zofia were captured and forced into slave labor in Germany, during World War II. After the birth of Andrzej, they returned to Poland....
,
Jerzy RadziwiłowiczJerzy Radziwiłowicz is a Polish film actor. He has appeared in 37 films since 1974.-Selected filmography:* Man of Marble * Man of Iron * Passion * The Story of Marie and Julien...
or
Krystyna JandaKrystyna Janda is a Polish film and theater actress best known in the West for playing leading roles in several films by Polish director Andrzej Wajda, including Man of Marble and Man of Iron .In 1982, she played the lead character in Ryszard Bugajski's film...
).
Style
Once dubbed a symbol for a besieged country, Wajda is known for drawing from Poland's history to suit his tragic sensibility—crafting an oeuvre of work that devastates even as it informs. His films are also famous of their visual sides. Wajda shows some symbolic scenes, very often he transforms some paintings onto the screen or makes new versions of some paintings from Polish and European history.
Filmography
- The Bad Boy (Zły chłopiec, 1951)- short film
- The Pottery at Ilza (Ceramika ilzecka, 1951) -short film
- While you are sleeping (Kiedy ty śpisz, 1953) -short film
- A Generation
A Generation is a 1955 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It is based on the novel Pokolenie by Bohdan Czeszko, who also wrote the script, and it was Wajda's first film and the opening installment of what became his Three War Films trilogy set against the second World War, completed by Kanal...
(Pokolenie, 1954)
- Towards the Sun
Towards the Sun is the English title for Idę do słońca, a documentary film about Xawery Dunikowski released in 1955, directed by Andrzej Wajda....
(Idę do słońca, documentary on Xawery DunikowskiXawery Dunikowski was a Polish sculptor and artist, notable for surviving Auschwitz concentration camp, and best known for his Neo-Romantic sculptures and Auschwitz-inspired art....
, 1955)
- Kanal (1956)
- Ashes and Diamonds
Ashes and Diamonds is a 1958 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda, based on the 1948 novel by Polish writer Jerzy Andrzejewski...
(Popiół i diament 1958)
- Lotna
Lotna is a Polish war film released in 1959 and directed by Andrzej Wajda.-Overview:This highly symbolic movie is both the director's tribute to the long and glorious history of the Polish cavalry, as well as a more ambiguous portrait of the passing of an era...
(1959)
- Innocent Sorcerers
Innocent Sorcerers is a 1960 film directed by Polish film director, Andrzej Wajda.-External links:...
(Niewinni czarodzieje, 1960)
- Siberian Lady Macbeth
Siberian Lady Macbeth , also translated as Fury Is a Woman, is a 1961 film directed by Andrzej Wajda, based on the novel Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by Nikolai Leskov....
(Powiatowa lady Makbet, 1961)
- Samson
Samson is a 1961 film made by Academy Award-winning Polish director Andrzej Wajda that uses art house aesthetics to tell a story about the Holocaust. Wajda's World War II film alludes to the Old Testament story of Samson, who had supernatural physical strength...
(1961)
- Love at Twenty (L'amour à vingt ans, 1962)
- The Ashes
The Ashes is a 1965 Polish drama film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It was entered into the 1966 Cannes Film Festival. -Cast:* Daniel Olbrychski - Rafal Olbromski* Boguslaw Kierc - Krzysztof Cedro* Piotr Wysocki - Jan Gintult...
(Popioly, 1965)
- Everything For Sale (Wszystko na sprzedaż, 1968)
- Roly Poly (Przekładaniec, 1968)
- Gates to Paradise
Gates to Paradise is a 1968 movie by Polish director Andrzej Wajda. The film is set in medieval France and is based on a story by Polish writer Jerzy Andrzejewski that seeks to expose the motives behind youthful religious zeal.- Plot synopsis :...
(Bramy Raju, 1968)
- Hunting Flies (Polowanie na muchy, 1969)
- The Birch Wood (Brzezina, 1970)
- Landscape After the Battle
Landscape After the Battle is a 1970 drama film directed by Andrzej Wajda and starring Daniel Olbrychski. It was entered into the 1970 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Daniel Olbrychski - Tadeusz* Stanislawa Celinska - Nina...
(Krajobraz po bitwie, 1970)
- Pilate and Others (Pilatus und andere, 1972)
- The Wedding
Wesele is a motion picture made in 1972 in Poland by Andrzej Wajda as an adaptation of a play by the same title written by Stanisław Wyspiański in 1901. Wajda also directed "Wesele" for the theatre....
(Wesele, 1973)
- The Promised Land
The Promised Land is a 1975 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda, based on a novel by Władysław Reymont. Set in the industrial city of Łódź, The Promised Land tells the story of a Pole, a German, and a Jew struggling to build a factory in the raw world of 19th century capitalism.Wajda presents a...
(Ziemia obiecana, 1974)
- The Shadow Line
The Shadow Line is a short novel based at sea by Joseph Conrad, one of his later works, being published in 1917. The novella depicts the development of a young man upon taking a captaincy in the Orient, with the shadow-line of the title representing the threshold of this development.The novella is...
(Smuga cienia, 1976)
- Man of Marble
Man of Marble is a 1976 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It chronicles the fall from grace of a heroic Polish bricklayer, Mateusz Birkut , who became the symbol of the worker in Nowa Huta, a new socialist city near Kraków...
(Człowiek z marmuru, 1977)
- Without Anesthesia
Without Anesthesia is the English-language title for the Polish film Bez znieczulenia, released in 1978, directed by Andrzej Wajda...
aka Rough Treatment (Bez znieczulenia, 1978)
- The Maids of Wilko
The Maids of Wilko is a 1979 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. "Maids" is used in the sense of "maidens", hence another translation could be The Maidens of Wilko....
(Panny z Wilka, 1979)
- As years go by, as days go by ("Z biegiem lat, z biegiem dni", 1980 serial tv)
- The Orchestra Conductor (Dyrygent, 1980)
- Man of Iron
Man of Iron is a 1981 film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It depicts the Solidarity labour movement and its first success in persuading the Polish government to recognize the workers' right to an independent union....
(Człowiek z żelaza, 1981)
- Danton
Danton is a 1983 French language film depicting the last months of Georges Danton, one of the leaders of the French Revolution. It is an adaptation of the Polish play The Danton Case by Stanislawa Przybyszewska....
(1983)
- Love in Germany (Eine Liebe in Deutschland, 1983)
- A Chronicle of Amorous Accidents (Kronika wypadków miłosnych, 1985)
- The French as seen by...
The French as seen by... was the title and subject of a series of five short films by notable directors. It was initiated and sponsored by the newspaper Le Figaro, as part of the 1988 celebration of the tenth anniversary of its magazine section...
(Proust contre la déchéance, 1988)
- The Possessed (Les possédes, 1988)
- Korczak
Korczak, is a 1990 film by Andrzej Wajda about Polish-Jewish humanitarian Janusz Korczak. It was screened out of competition at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Wojciech Pszoniak - Henryk Goldszmit vel Janusz Korczak...
(1990)
- The Crowned-Eagle Ring (Pierścionek z orłem w koronie, 1992)
- Nastasja
Nastasja is a Polish/Japanese film released in 1994, directed by Andrzej Wajda.The film is an adaptation on the last chapter of Fyodor Dostoyevski's novel The Idiot, in which Prince Mishkin and Rogozin return to the past in a conversation over the dead body of Nastasja...
(1994)
- The Holy Gral (Wielki Tydzień, 1995)
- Miss Nobody (Panna Nikt, 1996)
- Pan Tadeusz
Pan Tadeusz is a 1999 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It is based on the eponymous epic poem by Polish poet, writer and philosopher Adam Mickiewicz. It was Poland's official Best Foreign Language Film submission at the 72nd Academy Awards, but did not manage to receive a nomination.Pan...
(1999)
- Bigda idzie - tv theatre "Bigda idzie!"; 1999)
- The Condemnation of Franciszek Klos (Wyrok na Franciszka Kłosa, 2000)
- June night ("Noc czerwcowa" -tv theatre, 2001)
- Broken Silence (Przerwane milczenie, 2002)
- The Revenge (Zemsta, 2002)
- Czlowiek z nadziei (2005)
- Katyń
Katyń is a 2007 Polish film about the 1940 Katyn massacre, directed by Academy Honorary Award winner Andrzej Wajda. It is based on the book novelization? Post Mortem: The Story of Katyn by Andrzej Mularczyk...
(2007)
- Sweet Rush
Sweet Rush , directed by the acclaimed Andrzej Wajda, is partly based on a short story by Polish writer Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz. Wajda previously made three films based on Iwaszkiewicz's stories: The Birch Wood, The Young Ladies of Wilko, and the TV movie Noc czerwcowa...
(Tatarak) (2009)
Man of IronMan of Iron is a 1981 film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It depicts the Solidarity labour movement and its first success in persuading the Polish government to recognize the workers' right to an independent union....
won the Palme d'OrThe Palme d'Or is the highest prize awarded to competing films at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the organising committee. From 1939 to 1954, the highest prize was the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film...
at the Cannes Film FestivalThe Cannes Film Festival , founded in 1946, is one of the world's oldest and most prestigious film festivals. The private festival is held annually at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, in the resort town of Cannes, in the south of France.The 62nd edition started 13 May and ended 24 May 2009...
in 1981. Four of Wajda's works (The Promised LandThe Promised Land is a 1975 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda, based on a novel by Władysław Reymont. Set in the industrial city of Łódź, The Promised Land tells the story of a Pole, a German, and a Jew struggling to build a factory in the raw world of 19th century capitalism.Wajda presents a...
, The Maids of WilkoThe Maids of Wilko is a 1979 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. "Maids" is used in the sense of "maidens", hence another translation could be The Maidens of Wilko....
, Man of IronMan of Iron is a 1981 film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It depicts the Solidarity labour movement and its first success in persuading the Polish government to recognize the workers' right to an independent union....
, and KatyńKatyń is a 2007 Polish film about the 1940 Katyn massacre, directed by Academy Honorary Award winner Andrzej Wajda. It is based on the book novelization? Post Mortem: The Story of Katyn by Andrzej Mularczyk...
) have been nominated for an
Academy AwardThe Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is...
for best foreign language film. In 2000, Wajda received an honorary Oscar from the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and SciencesThe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures....
, as another Pole who received the Award after Warner Brothers,
Leopold StokowskiLeopold Stokowski was a famous orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski performed with the Cincinnati Symphony...
, Bronisław Kaper,
Zbigniew RybczyńskiZbigniew Rybczyński is an Academy Award winning Polish filmmaker who has won numerous prestigious industry awards both in the United States and internationally. He was also a teacher of cinematography, and digital cinematography...
,
Allan StarskiAllan Mieczysław Starski is a Polish Academy Award winning production designer and set decorator.Allan Starski is the son of Ludwik Starski famous screenwriter and popular songwriter . In 1969, he graduated with a degree in architecture from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw Allan Mieczysław...
,
Ewa BraunEwa Braun - is a Polish Academy Award winning set decorator, costume designer and production designer.She has been working in production design since the 1960s...
,
Roman PolańskiRoman Raymond Polanski is a Polish-French film director, producer, writer, and actor. Polanski began his career in Poland, and later became a critically-acclaimed director of both art house and commercial films....
or Jan A.P. Kaczmarek..
See also
- Cinema of Poland
The history of cinema in Poland is almost as long as history of cinematography, and it has universal achievements, even though Polish movies tend to be less commercially available than movies from several other European nations....
- List of Polish language films
- The Museum of Communism in Poland
The Museum of Communism was founded in 1999 by Czeslaw Bielecki, Jacek Fedorowicz and Andrzej Wajda, with the cooperation of Teresa Bogucka, Anna Fedorowicz and Krystyna Zachwatowicz. The Museum is situated in the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, Poland...
External links
- Andrzej Wajda's official website
- Andrzej Wajda at the Internetowa Baza Filmu Polskiego (pl
Polish is a West Slavic language and the official language of Poland. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet which corresponds basically to the Latin alphabet with a few additions...
)
- http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21012Katyń movie review by Anne Applebaum
Anne Elizabeth Applebaum is a journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author who has written extensively about communism and the development of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe. She has been an editor at The Economist, and a member of the editorial board of the Washington Post .-Early...
]
- Andrzej Wajda - An Introduction - the complete text of a 90-minute lecture by Michael Brooke, given at London's BFI Southbank and the POSK Polish Cultural Centre in May 2008
- Interview with Wajda on Katyń - in the Krakow Post
The Krakow Post is an English-language monthly newspaper based in Krakow, Poland and owned by Lifeboat Ltd. It covers local and national news, politics, human interest stories, culture, business, and sports and uses only original content. It came under new ownership in April 2008, beginning with...
- Wajda bibliography (via UC Berkeley)
- What was the Nationality of the Stuffed Teddy Bear, by Adam Michnik About the criticism towards Katyn in Le Monde, April 2008 origorinally published in Gazeta Wyborcza, English translaton by www.salon.eu.sk