Krzysztof Marek Piesiewicz (ˈkʂɨʂtɔf pjɛˈɕɛvit͡ʂ; born on October 25, 1945 in
WarsawWarsaw 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...
,
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe 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...
) is a
PolishPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe 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...
lawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
,
screenwriterScreenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, and
politicianA politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, who is currently a member of the
Polish ParliamentThe Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
and head of the Ruch Społeczny (RS) or Social Movement Party.
Piesiewicz studied law at Warsaw University and began practicing in 1973. Through the late 1970s he became increasingly involved in political cases, defending opponents of the Communist regime, serving as a legal advisor for Solidarity, and assisting in the successful prosecution of the murderers of Jerzy Popiełuszko.
In 1982 he met the film director
Krzysztof KieślowskiKrzysztof Kieślowski was an Academy Award nominated influential Polish film director and screenwriter, known internationally for The Double Life of Veronique and his film cycles The Decalogue and Three Colors.-Early life:...
, who was planning to direct a
documentaryDocumentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
on political
show trialThe term show trial is a pejorative description of a type of highly public trial in which there is a strong connotation that the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal to present the accusation and the verdict to the public as...
s in Poland under
martial lawMartial law in Poland refers to the period of time from December 13, 1981 to July 22, 1983, when the authoritarian government of the People's Republic of Poland drastically restricted normal life by introducing martial law in an attempt to crush political opposition to it. Thousands of opposition...
. Piesiewicz agreed to help, though he doubted whether an accurate film could be made within the constraints of the judicial system; indeed, the filmmakers found that their presence in court seemed to be affecting the outcomes of cases, often improving the prospects of the accused, but making it hard to capture judicial abuses.
Kieślowski decided to explore the issue through fiction instead, and the two collaborated for the first time as writers on the feature film
No EndNo End is a 1985 film by Krzysztof Kieślowski ultimately concerning the state of Martial law in Poland after the banning of the trade union Solidarity in 1981....
, released in 1984.
Piesewicz returned to his law career, but remained in touch with Kieślowski and three years later persuaded him to create a series of films based on the
Ten CommandmentsThe Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
. This series,
The DecalogueThe Decalogue is a 1989 Polish television drama series directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski and co-written by Kieślowski with Krzysztof Piesiewicz, with music by Zbigniew Preisner...
, explored the filmmakers' mutual interest in
moralMorality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
and
ethicalEthics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
dilemmas in contemporary social and political life, and achieved (belated) critical acclaim around the world.
Their later collaborations,
The Double Life of VéroniqueThe Double Life of Véronique is a 1991 French- and Polish-language film directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski, co-written by Kieślowski and Krzysztof Piesiewicz, starring Irène Jacob, with original music by Zbigniew Preisner. The film was Kieślowski's first to be produced partly outside Poland.A...
and
Three ColorsThe Three Colours Trilogy is the collective title of three films – a trilogy – directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski, two made in French and one primarily in Polish: Trois couleurs: Bleu , Trzy kolory: Biały , and Trois couleurs: Rouge...
(
BlueThree Colors: Blue is a 1993 French drama film written, produced, and directed by the acclaimed Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski. Blue is the first of three films that comprise The Three Colors Trilogy, themed on the French Revolutionary ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity; it is...
,
WhiteThree Colors: White is a 1994 Polish mystery comedy-drama film co-written, produced, and directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski...
,
Red), focused on metaphysical questions of personal choice and appeared relatively apolitical, though the latter series was based on Piesiewicz's idea of dramatizing the
FrenchThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
political ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity in the same way they had previously dramatized the Ten Commandments.
Piesiewicz was credited as co-writer on all of Kieślowski's projects after
No End, the last of which was
Nadzieja, directed by Stanislaw Mucha after Kieślowski's death. He has begun writing a new series of films,
The Stigmatised; the first of these,
Silence, was directed by Michał Rosa and released in 2002.
Piesiewicz's career in electoral politics began in 1989, when he began working in the Social Movement for Solidarity Electoral Action (RS AWS) party, originally the political wing of the Solidarity union and the leading party in the center-right
AWSSolidarity Electoral Action was a political party coalition in Poland. Since 1997 its official name has been Akcja Wyborcza Solidarność Prawicy or Solidarity Electoral Action of the Right...
coalition. In 1991 he was elected to the
Polish SenateThe Senate is the upper house of the Polish parliament, the lower house being the 'Sejm'. The history of the Polish Senate is rich in tradition and stretches back over 500 years, it was one of the first constituent bodies of a bicameral parliament in Europe and existed without hiatus until the...
, served for two years, then returned in 1997. In 2002, RS AWS changed its name to RS and elected Piesiewicz as its leader.
He is a Roman Catholic.
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