Advanced search
- TITLES
- NAMES
- COLLABORATIONS
Search filters
Enter full date
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
Only includes names with the selected topics
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
1-17 of 17
- 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.- Michalina Labacz was born in 1992 in Suwalki, Podlaskie, Poland. She is an actress, known for Hatred (2016), Pod powierzchnia (2018) and Rozwodnicy (2024).
- Music Department
- Actor
- Composer
Tomasz Organek was born on 30 November 1976 in Suwalki, Podlaskie, Poland. He is an actor and composer, known for Pilsudski (2019), Organek, Brodka & Rogucki: Niebosklon (2017) and EO (2022).- Emir Buczacki was born on 1 September 1935 in Suwalki, Podlaskie, Poland. He was an actor, known for Pharaoh (1966), Nights and Days (1975) and Noce i dnie (1978). He died on 16 May 1990 in Zabrze, Slaskie, Poland.
- Camera and Electrical Department
Marek Bojsza was born on 7 December 1963 in Suwalki, Podlaskie, Poland. He is known for Minority Report (2002), Tenet (2020) and War of the Worlds (2005).- Renata Kretówna was born on 25 November 1948 in Suwalki, Podlaskie, Poland. She is an actress, known for Break Point (2004), Przemytnicy (1985) and The Art of Loving: Story of Michalina Wislocka (2017).
- Agnieszka Judycka was born on 25 April 1983 in Suwalki, Podlaskie, Poland. She is an actress, known for Budapest Diaries (2024), M jak milosc (2000) and Po prostu przyjazn (2016).
- Director
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Lechoslaw Marszalek was born on 9 March 1922 in Suwalki, Podlaskie, Poland. He was a director and writer, known for Reksio (1967), Bolek i Lolek (1963) and Adventures of the Blue Knight (1984). He died on 26 March 1991 in Poland.- Zbigniew Cynkutis was born on 18 August 1938 in Suwalki, Podlaskie, Poland. He was an actor, known for Zamach (1959), Podziemny front (1965) and Akropolis (1969). He died on 9 January 1987 in Wroclaw, Dolnoslaskie, Poland.
- Aleksandra Pilsudska was born on 12 December 1882 in Suwalki, Poland, Russian Empire [now Suwalki, Podlaskie, Poland]. She died on 31 March 1963 in London, England, UK.
- Actor
- Camera and Electrical Department
Marek Cichucki was born on 22 September 1961 in Suwalki, Podlaskie, Poland. He is an actor, known for Reich (2001), Gibel imperii (2005) and Wielka wsypa (1992).- Editor
- Actor
- Director
Vsevolod Massino was born on 16 January 1893 in Verzhbolovo, Suwalki Governorate, Congress Poland, Russian Empire [now Virbalis, Lithuania]. He was an editor and actor, known for Martin Vagner (1928), V kvadrate 45 (1956) and Khleb i rozy (1960). He died on 8 October 1966 in the USSR.- Writer
- Soundtrack
Maria Konopnicka was born on 23 May 1842 in Suwalki, Poland, Russian Empire [now Suwalki, Podlaskie, Poland]. She was a writer, known for Television Theater (1953), Teatr Polskiego Radia (2004) and Panna z mokra glowa (1995). She was married to Jaroslaw Konopnicki. She died on 8 October 1910 in Lemberg, Galicia, Austria-Hungary [now Lviv, Ukraine].- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Leszek Aleksander Moczulski was born on 18 February 1938 in Suwalki, Poland. He is known for Television Theater (1953), The Mire (2018) and Kulig (1968). He died on 17 December 2017 in Krakow, Poland.- Wanda Tatarkiewicz-Malkowska was born on 11 January 1890 in Suwalki, Suwalki Governorate, Congress Poland, Russian Empire [now Suwalki, Podlaskie, Poland]. Wanda was married to Malkowski, Witold. Wanda died on 13 October 1972 in Konstancin-Jeziorna, Warszawskie, Polish People's Republic [now Konstancin-Jeziorna, Mazowieckie, Poland].
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Stanislaw Gruszczynski was born on 6 January 1891 in Ludwinowo, Suwalki Governorate, Russian Empire [now Liudvinavas, Lithuania]. He was an actor, known for Ziemia obiecana (1927), Romans panny Opolskiej (1928) and November Night (1932). He died on 3 February 1959 in Milanówek, Mazowieckie, Poland.- Elena Bindokaite was born on 2 February 1899 in Volkovyshki, Volkovyshki uyezd, Suwalki Governorate, Russian Empire [now Vilkaviskis, Marijampole County, Lithuania]. She was an actress, known for Tadas Blinda (1972). She died on 10 February 1990 in Klaipeda, Lithuanian SSR, USSR [now Lithuania].