POLISH FILM ACADEMY

Film director, screenwriter, editor. She was born on June 1, 1957 in Łódź. In the years 1976-1978, she studied at the Faculty of Cultural Studies at the University of Łódź. Later, she studied at the Directing Department of Moscow VGIK, and then at the State School of Film, Television and Theatre in Łódź (1981). As a child, she tried acting in films by her mother, Jadwiga Kędzierzawska, who specialised in feature films for younger audiences.

Her student film Jajko/Egg (1982) was nominated for a student “Oscar”. She made her debut with the television feature film Koniec świata/End of the World (1988) – a poignant study of an old lonely married couple who had lived together for several decades; she completed her first feature film for the big screen three years later. Diabły, diabły/Devils, Devils (awards in Gdynia and in Cannes) is set in a small sleepy town, the daily life of which is somewhat disrupted by the arrival of a Gypsy group. Often, the heroes of Kędzierzawska’s films are children, for example in Wrony/Crows (1994, awards in Cannes, Gdynia, Poznań), the touching story of girls looking for love; Jestem/I Am (2005, awards in Gdynia, Berlin, Belgrade, Taiwan) tells the story of an 11-year-old boy from an orphanage looking for his place in life, or Jutro będzie lepiej/Tomorrow Will Be Better (2010, awards in Berlin, Moscow, Athens), in which the protagonists – three homeless boys living at a railway station in a Russian city, decide to escape across the border to Poland.

Nic/Nothing (1988, awards in Gdynia, Passport "Policy" Eagle for Best Director) is an unusual film in Kędzierzawska’s oeuvre; it is the moving story of a young woman – the mother of three children – who gets pregnant once again. She does not tell her husband, afraid that he will leave her if he finds out. The film is steeped in an atmosphere of hopelessness that lurks in each frame, but it also stunning thanks to the beautiful cinematography of Arthur Reinhart and a mature performance by Anita Kuskowska-Borkowska (Crystal Star in Brussels).

In 2007, Kędzierzawska made Pora umierać/Time to Die (awards in Gdynia, Trieste, San Francisco, New York City, Malmo, Zimbabwe), a universal story, full of warmth and discreet humour, about the most important matters, with a brilliant performance by Danuta Szaflarska (Eagle award, Golden Duck award, awards in Gdynia and in Wrzesnia), who plays a cheerful and optimistic old lady. Five years later, Kędzierzwska directed Inny świat/Another World, a compelling document about that very actress (the film is 97 minutes long, and Szaflarska was 97 years old when it was made).

Since Wrony/Crows (1994), Kędzierzawska has been collaborating with Arthur Reinhart, an excellent operator, editor and producer. She won the Platinum Goats award at Poznań Ale Kino! Festival (2006), the Golden Alexander for life achievements at the festival in Thessaloniki (2012) and many other prestigious awards.

Jerzy Armata