POLISH FILM ACADEMY

Director, writer. He was born on August 16, 1924, in Radomsko. He started in 1947 as an assistant to director Jerzy Zarzycki. In the same year, together with Wojciech Has, he made Ulica Brzozowa/The Birch Street – a film about the reconstruction of Warsaw after the war, which was later withheld by the censors. His debut feature film was Trudna miłość/Tough Love (1953), a socialist realist drama inspired by the Roman Bratny novel. At the same time, he developed his filmmaking skills, working as a second unit director on films directed by Jan Rybkowski and Jerzy Zarzycki. His actual debut was the 1956 film Trzy kobiety/Three Women – the story of the friendship between three former concentration camp prisoners. Afterwards, most of the films he directed addressed the war and occupation: Wolne miasto/Free City (1958, written by Jan Józef Szczepański), Świadectwo urodzenia/Birth Certificate (1961, Grand Prix at the Youth Film Festival in Cannes and FIPRESCI), Westerplatte (1967, Silver Medal at the festival in Moscow), Opadły liście z drzew/Leaves Fell From The Trees (1975, Grand Prix of the Jury at the Festival of Polish Feature Films in Gdansk), Ryś (1981). In 1977, he made the historical drama Pasja/The Passion, about the last days of the life of Edward Dembowski – nineteenth-century philosopher and revolutionary (Grand Prix at the festival in Gdansk).

His other area of interest is intimate psychological cinema, focused on moral attitudes and feelings. This part of his oeuvre is represented by films such as: Echo (1964), Samotność we dwoje/Lonely Together (1968), Romantyczni/The Romantics (1970), Drzwi w murze/Doors In The Wall (1974, Golden Shell at the San Sebastian Festival), Pensja pani Latter/Mrs. Latter’s School (1982) based on the novel by Bolesław Prus, or the aesthetically sophisticated Anioł w szafie/Angel in the Closet (1987). In 1984, he directed Kobieta w kapeluszu/The Woman in the Hat, set among the milieu of theatre artists (Grand Prix at the Festival in Gdańsk, Silver Medal at the festival in Moscow).

He collaborated with his brother Tadeusz Różewicz – poet and playwright – with whom he wrote screenplays for films such as: Komedia pomyłek/The Comedy of Errors, Drzwi w murze/Doors in The Wall, Samotność we dwoje/Lonely Together, Świadectwo urodzenia/Birth Certificate. In the 1990s, he mostly directed Television Theatre, including several productions based on his brother’s plays (Wyszedł z domu/He Left The House, Pułapka/The Trap, Śmieszny staruszek/Funny Old Man), as well as Mateczka/Mother by Władysław Terlecki and Mother And Child by Jon Fosse. Occasionally, he also worked in theatre (including the Wybrzeże Theatre in Gdansk, Studio Theatre and Powszechny Theatre in Warsaw).

He served two terms as the head of the "Tor" Film Studio (in 1967-1968 and 1972-1980).

He was awarded the Commander's Cross Order of Polonia Restituta (1969), Medal of Merit for National Culture (1987), and the Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta for outstanding contribution to national culture and achievements in creative work. He won numerous awards for lifetime achievement.

He died on November 9, 2008, in Warsaw.