Andrzej Wajda (b. 1926) is one of Poland's most influential and renowned film directors. His critically acclaimed body of work encompasses almost 6 decades of moviemaking and has often been recognized as iconic and quintessential to Polish cinema. Screenwriter, painter, theater director, author and teacher, Wajda has made over 44 films and has been nominated three times for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. In 2000 he received an Honorary Academy Award® for Lifetime Achievement, introduced by producer Robert Rehme then president of the Academy with words: By showing both the loftiest heights and the darkest depths of the European soul, he has inspired all of us to reexamine the strength of our common humanity. Wajda belongs to Poland, but his films are part of the cultural treasure of all mankind. Andrzej Wajda was born in Suwalki (Northern Poland) and became a resistance fighter in the Home Army at 16, following the death of his father, a cavalry officer, in the Katyn forest massacre of 1940, which would later inspire his film, Katyn (2007). After the war, Wajda attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow but soon joined the newly established Lodz Film School. He began his film career as an assistant to Aleksander Ford on Five from Barska Street / Piatka z ulicy Barskiej (1954). After making several documentaries, Wajda went on to establish his directing career with "wartime" trilogy, A Generation (1955), Kanal (1957), and Ashes and Diamonds (1958), which earned him international recognition and drew attention to the new phenomenon of Polish post-war cinema - the so-called " Polish Film School ." Kanal received a Special Award of the Jury (La Palme d'Argent) in Cannes in 1957 and Ashes and Diamonds - a FIPRESCI in Venice (1959). Deeply rooted in the Polish Romantic tradition; inspired by Polish history, literature, and fin-du-siècle art, Wajdas films have often been hailed as visual masterpieces for their innovative and stylistically rich imagery, vivid symbolism and dynamic storytelling. He flawlessly combined classic literary themes with modern acting style (having discovered for cinema such talents as Zbigniew Cybulski, Daniel Olbrychski and Krystyna Janda) and leading-edge filming. Wajda's visually mesmerizing adaptations of Polish nineteenth- and twentieth-century classics like Ashes (1965), The Wedding (1973), and, most notably, The Promised Land (1975; nominated for the Oscar) rendered them relevant for a new era. On the other hand, his Innocent Sorcerers (1960) or Everything for Sale (1968; the Polish 8 ½ ) represented yet another trait: a strong influence of European New Wave. The 1970s were particularly fruitful for Wajda, who has made over ten films, including Rough Treatment (1978), and the "Solidarity diptych," Man of Marble (1977) and Man of Iron (1981) - incisive contemporary studies of moral ambiguity and poignant commentaries on the Communist regime. The Promised Land (1975), The Maids of Wilko (1979), Man of Iron (1981), and Katyn (2007) were all nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film: In 1977, Man of Marble received a FIPRESCI Award at the Cannes Film Festival and, in 1981, Man of Iron won the Palme d'Or. The Orchestra Conductor (1980) garnered Andrzej Seweryn the Silver Bear for Best Actor in Berlin. In 1988, Wajda's French adaptation of Dostoevsky, Les Possédés was nominated for the Golden Bear in Berlin, and in 1996, Holy Week won the Silver Bear for an outstanding artistic contribution. In 2006 Wajda's work was celebrated with Honorary Golden Bear at the 56th International Film Festival in Berlin for lifetime achievement. Wajda is also lauded as a theater director in his own country and abroad, having directed classic and contemporary plays at Krakow's Stary Teatr (Old Theater), and productions throughout Europe and beyond, including residencies at the Yale Repertory Theater. In 1994, after receiving Kyoto Prize, he founded the Manggha Centre of Japanese Art and Technology" in Krakow designed by Arata Isosaki. He also holds multiple Doctorates Honoris Causa. More about the director SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY 1955 A Generation / Pokolenie 1956 Kanal 1958 Ashes and Diamonds / Popiol i diament 1959 Lotna 1960 Innocent Sorcerers / Niewinni czarodzieje 1961 Samson 1962 Siberian Lady Macbeth / Powiatowa Lady Makbet 1967 Gates to Paradise / Wrota niebios 1968 Roly Poly / Przekladaniec 1968 Everything for Sale / Wszystko na sprzedaz 1969 Hunting Files / Polowanie na muchy 1970 The Birch Wood / Brzezina 1970 Landscape After Battle / Krajobraz po bitwie 1972 Pilate and Others / Pilat i inni 1973 The Wedding / Wesele 1975 The Promised Land / Ziemia obiecana 1976 The Shadow Line / Smuga cienia 1977 Man of Marble / Czlowiek z marmuru 1978 Rough Treatment / Bez znieczulenia 1979 The Maids of Wilko / Panny z Wilka 1980 The Orchestra Conductor / Dyrygent 1981 Man of Iron / Czlowiek z |elaza 1983 Danton 1983 A Love in Germany /Milosc w Niemczech 1986 Chronicle of Love Affairs / Kronika wypadkow miBosnych 1988 The Possessed / Biesy 1990 Korczak 1993 The Ring with a Crowned Eagle / Pierscionek z orlem w koronie 1994 Nastassya / Nastazja 1995 Holly Week / Wielki Tydzien 1996 Miss Nobody / Panna Nikt 1999 Pan Tadeusz 2002 Revenge / Zemsta 2007 Katyn 2009 Sweet Rush / Tatarak 2012 Walesa
