Radosław Piowowarski
Director, writer. He was born on February 20, 1948, in Olszówka Dolna (now a district of Bielsko-Biała). A graduate of the Film School in Łódź (1971). After graduation, he made a series of documentaries (including Chruśniak 1972 Stójka/Flaps (1975, award at the festival in Oberhausen), Odwiedziny/The Visit (1976,Special Award at the festival in Krakow). In 1975, he directed the novella Piorun kulisty/Thunderball, planned as part of the film CDN (other novellas were made by Paweł Kędzierski and Zbigniew Kamiński), which was eventually abandoned (it was considered offensive). The very first television films by Piwowarski, such as Ciuciubabka/Blind Man's Bluff (1977) and Córka albo syn/Daughter or Son (1979, Jury Award for best screenplay at the TV festival in Olsztyn) addressed themes which would return in all his works: emotions and, above all, love. In 1984, he directed the sentimental Yesterday, about a group of high school graduates from a provincial town in 1964 obsessed with the Beatles, who succumb to the grim Polish reality. The film received numerous awards, including the Golden Shell at the San Sebastian Festival, the FIPRESCI award in Venice, the Grand Prix in Istanbul and the award for best debut at the Polish Film Festival in Gdansk. He employed similar poetics in his subsequent films: the melodrama Kochankowie mojej mamy/My Mother’s Lovers (1985, award for best director and best screenplay at Gdansk festival), the comedy Pociąg do Hollywood/Train to Hollywood (1987, Grand Prix of the festival in Orleans) and Kolejności uczuć/Sequence of Feelings (1993, Grand Prix at the festival in Gdynia). He is known for his ability to portray women and find acting talents (he worked with Krystyna Janda, Katarzyna Figura, Maria Seweryn, Anna Przybylska). In Marcowe migdały/March Almonds (1989), made in the nostalgic style of a fairy-tale, he portrays the generation of young people who entered adulthood during the anti-Semitic witch-hunt of 1968.
He has made several television series, including Jan Serce/John Heart, Złotopolscy, Na dobre i na złe/For Better And For Worse, Stacyjka/The Little Station, Szpilki na Giewoncie/High Heels on Giewont.
In 1988, he received the Diploma of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for promoting Polish culture abroad. Both his sons, Kordian and Cyprian, are directors.
