POLISH FILM ACADEMY

Film and theatre director, screenwriter and actor. He was born on December 25, 1929 in Volodymyr-Volynsky (now Ukraine). A graduate of the State Higher School of Acting in Łódź (1953). He co-founded the student theatre movement, including the Red Serpent Cabaret/Kabaret Czerwony Wąż. He made his debut as an actor in November 1952 and for the next ten years he performed in theatre (including Powszechny Theatre in Łódź) and in film (supporting roles in Cellulose/Celuloza, Under the Phrygian Star/Pod gwiazdą frygijską, Mr. Anatol’s Hat/Kapelusz pana Anatola). During this period, he was also the director of the 7.15 theatre in Łódź (season 1957-1958), as well as actor and director at the Nowy Theatre in Łódź (since 1958). In 1959, he began directing TV Theatre. He worked first with the Łódź branch of Polish TV (TVP), and from 1963 to 1975 he served as head director and head of TV Theatre in Warsaw. He directed more than 130 televised plays, including Polish and world drama classics, such as Three Sisters and Uncle Vanya by Chekhov, Kordian and Fantazy by Juliusz Słowacki, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, as well as adaptations of novels and short stories, and plays for Theatre of Fact (The Nuremberg Epilogue/Epilog norymberski).

Concurrently, since the early 1960s, he was a film director. In 1962, he made his debut with a short film Old Professor/Stary Profesor, part of Jan Rybkowski's film Late By-Passers/Spóźnieni przechodnie, and completed the film version of Chekhov's Swan Song. He then directed Gunshot/Wystrzał (1965) and Master/Mistrz, (1966), which are considered TV classics.

He earned great popularity and recognition especially with two of his films (both have cinema and TV versions): The Countess Cosel/Hrabina Cosel (1968) and the remarkable family saga Nights and Days/Noce i dnie (1975, Oscar nomination) with his wife, actress Jadwiga Barańska, in the leading role.

In 1980, he co-created the TV series The Wall/Mur, directed by Robert Markowitz (USA), dedicated to the Warsaw ghetto uprising. Soon after, he and his wife emigrated to the United States. He return to directing in the 1990s. In Poland, he made The Lady of the Camelias (1994) and two television productions: Paths of Glory and Caesar and Pompey. In 2002, he directed a film based on a script he co-wrote with Jadwiga Barańska, Chopin. Desire For Love/Chopin. Pragnienie miłości.

For his contribution to the arts, he has received awards both in Poland and abroad. In 2008, he was awarded the Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis. He is a professor at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) where he teaches directing. In 2009, he published his memoir Nights and Days of My Life/Noce i dnie mojego zycia.

Beata Pieńkowska