POLISH FILM ACADEMY

Film, theatre and television director, screenwriter, cinematographer, educator, writer. He was born on January 29, 1956 in Wrocław. A graduate of the Cinematography Department of the State School of Film, Television and Theatre in Łódź (1985). In the years 1977-1981 he worked at the Polish Television Centre in Wroclaw as a cameraman. He comes from a family with a long cinema tradition. His grandmother was the owner of one of the first cinemas in Łódź – Théâtre Optique Parisien (1907-1922), his grandfather was a film distributor, his father – Roman Kolski – a well-known editor, as was his sister, Ewa Pakulska.

Jan Jakub Kolski first worked with Jarosław Zamojda – together they made documentaries on nature and geography, such as Najpiękniejsza jaskinia świat/ The Most Beautiful Cave In The World (1983, award for best cinematography in Budapest), Polskie parki i rezerwaty przyrody/Polish Parks And Nature Reserves (1985), as well as short documentaries and feature films, the most famous one being Ładny dzień/Nice Day (1988), a romantic ballad about an old married couple living in the middle of nowhere. In 1990, he made his first feature film – Pogrzeb kartofla/The Burial Of A Potato, the poignant story of a man returning from a concentration camp after the war only to discover that all his possessions had been stolen during his absence. Two years later, he made his first TV feature – Pograbek/A Knacker (awards in Gdynia and Łagów), the story of a peasant who kills old horses for a living, and who is desperately trying to make his wife come back to him. He gained popularity and critical acclaim with his Jańcio Wodnik/Johnnie Aquarius aka Johnnie Waterman (1993, awards in Gdynia, Łagów, Bratislava, Cottbus, Moscow and Svetlogorsk), a beautiful parable about the things that matter most. The title character has the special gift of being able to heal with water. He leaves his wife and goes into the world to bring help to the suffering. Soon, however, he grows full of pride, succumbing to easy temptations and enjoying his new life, only to eventually lose all his powers in the end.

From the very beginning, Kolski had his own, distinctive style, full of magic and poetry, combining the beauty of Polish peasant literature with that of Latin American magical realism. All that is filtered through the director’s own imagination, both visual and verbal. His subsequent films were made in this style, with equally unique protagonists: the made-for-TV film Magneto (1993), about a man whose body attracted metals, Cudowne miejsce/A Wonderful Place (1994), about a woman with stigmata, Grający z talerza/ Playing from the Plate (1995), the love story of a little woman and a man with two faces, or Szabla od komendanta/The Commander's Sword aka Legacy of Steel (1995), the funny story of a soldier called Jakubek, who, for his heroic deeds during the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1920, was given a sword from Marshall Józef Pilsudski and is trying to take it to heaven with him when he dies – despite Saint Peter’s ban. The crowning achievement of this style is Historia kina w Popielawach/The History of Cinema in Popielawy (1998, Golden Lions in Gdynia), in which the director expresses his love for cinema and his faith in its huge potential. It is the story of Józef Andryszek, inventor – long before the Lumière brothers – of the so-called “cinemachine”, a device that displays hand-painted images.

His subsequent films, which also received various honours at festivals, depart slightly from his previous style: Daleko od okna/Keep Away From The Window (2000) is based on the short story by Hanna Krall, Pornografia/Pornography (2003) is a film version of the novel by Witold Gombrowicz, and Wenecja/Venice (2010) – a short story by Władzimierz Odojewski. He returns to his earlier style in Jasminum (2006), a mysterious and magical story, infused with sensual scents, filled with the special light only love can shine.

Kolski is also a successful writer. He published a collection of short stories Jańcio Wodnik i inne nowele/Johnny the Waterman and Other Stories, and two novels – Kulka z chleba/Ball Of Bread and Egzamin z oddychania/Breathing Exam. He was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta for his artistic and teaching achievements (2011).

Jerzy Armata