Wajda
Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the "Polish Film School". He was known especially for his trilogy of war films consisting of ''A Generation'' (1955), ''Kanał'' (1957) and '' Ashes and Diamonds'' (1958). He is considered one of the world's most renowned filmmakers whose works chronicled his native country's political and social evolution and dealt with the myths of Polish national identity offering insightful analyses of the universal element of the Polish experience – the struggle to maintain dignity under the most trying circumstances. Four of his films have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film: '' The Promised Land'' (1975), ''The Maids of Wilko'' (1979), ''Man of Iron'' (1981) and '' Katyń'' (2007). Early life Wajda was born in Suwał ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ashes And Diamonds (film)
''Ashes and Diamonds'' (Polish: ''Popiół i diament'') is a 1958 Polish drama film directed by Andrzej Wajda, based on the 1948 novel by Polish writer Jerzy Andrzejewski. Starring Zbigniew Cybulski and Ewa Krzyżewska, it completed Wajda's war films trilogy, following '' A Generation'' (1954) and ''Kanal'' (1956). The action of ''Ashes and Diamonds'' takes place in 1945, shortly after World War II. The main protagonist of the film, former Home Army soldier Maciek Chełmicki, is acting in the anti-Communist underground. Maciek receives an order to kill Szczuka, the local secretary of the Polish Workers' Party. Over time, Chełmicki increasingly doubts if his task is worth doing. ''Ashes and Diamonds'', although based on the novel that directly supported the postwar Communist system in Poland, was subtly modified in comparison with the source material. Wajda sympathized with the soldiers of the Polish independence underground; thus, he devoted most of the attention to Chełmi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Katyń (film)
''Katyń'' () is a 2007 Polish historical drama film about the 1940 Katyn massacre, directed by Academy Honorary Award winner Andrzej Wajda. It is based on the book ''Post Mortem: The Story of Katyn'' by Andrzej Mularczyk. It was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film for the 80th Academy Awards. Wajda’s Katyń is the first screen portrayal of this long-suppressed and “highly controversial historical event.” Historical Background Six months before the massacres at Katyn, on August 23, 1939, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin authorized the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a non-aggression agreement with Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany. Within days, German troops invaded western Poland, the first action aimed at fulfilling Hitler’s ultimate goal of “Lebensraum,” Within days, Stalin sent Soviet troops into eastern Poland, a region historically at odds with its former rival, Tsarist Russia. Hundreds of thousands of Poles, including soldiers, officers and civilians we ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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A Generation
''A Generation'' ( pl, Pokolenie) is a 1955 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It is based on the novel ''Pokolenie'' by Bohdan Czeszko, who also wrote the script. It was Wajda's first film and the opening installment of what became his Three War Films trilogy set in the Second World War, to be followed by ''Kanal'' and '' Ashes and Diamonds''. Plot ''A Generation'' is set in Wola, a working-class section of Warsaw, in 1942 and tells the stories of two young men at odds with the German occupation of Poland. The young protagonist, Stach ( Tadeusz Łomnicki), is living in squalor on the outskirts of the city and carrying out wayward acts of theft and rebellion. After a friend is killed attempting to heist coal from a German supply train, he finds work as an apprentice at a furniture workshop, where he becomes involved in an underground communist resistance cell. He is guided first by a friendly journeyman there, who in turn introduces Stach to the beautiful Dorota ( Urszula M ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kanał
''Kanał'' (, ''Sewer'') is a 1957 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It was the first film made about the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, telling the story of a company of Home Army resistance fighters escaping the Nazi onslaught through the city's sewers. The film is adapted from the story “They Loved Life” by Jerzy Stefan Stawinski. ''Kanał'' is the second film of Wajda's War Trilogy, preceded by '' A Generation'' and followed by '' Ashes and Diamonds''. The film was the winner of the Special Jury Award at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival. Plot It is 25 September 1944, during the last days of the Warsaw Uprising. Lieutenant Zadra leads a unit of 43 soldiers and civilians to a new position amidst the ruins of the now isolated southern Mokotów district of Warsaw. The composer Michał manages to telephone his wife and child in another part of the city that is being overrun by the Germans. After a few words, she tells him that the Germans are clearing the building and that they a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Krystyna Zachwatowicz
Krystyna Zachwatowicz-Wajda (born Krystyna Zachwatowicz; 16 May 1930) is a Polish scenographer, costume designer and actress. She is a daughter of architect and restorer Jan Zachwatowicz and Maria Chodźko ''h.'' Kościesza, and wife of film director Andrzej Wajda. Member of the Polish Film Academy. She is a co-founder (with Andrzej Wajda) of Centre of Japanese Art and Technology "Manggha" in Kraków. Biography Zachwatowicz was born on 16 May 1930 in Warsaw, Poland. She graduated from the History of Art Faculty of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków (1952) and Scenography faculty of the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków (1958). In 1958, she made her own debut as a scenographer in Marin Držić's ''Rzymska kurtyzana'' on the stage of Teatr Zagłębia in Sosnowiec. In 1960, she moved to Sosnowiec, where she was associated with student's theatre of the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice. There, she designed a scenography to Witold Gombrowicz's '' The Marriage'' ( pl, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Promised Land (1975 Film)
''The Promised Land'' ( pl, Ziemia obiecana) is a 1975 Polish drama film directed by Andrzej Wajda, based on a novel by Władysław Reymont. Set in the industrial city of Łódź, ''The Promised Land'' tells the story of a Pole, a German, and a Jew struggling to build a factory in the raw world of 19th-century capitalism. Wajda presents a shocking image of the city, with its dirty and dangerous factories and ostentatiously opulent residences devoid of taste and culture. The film follows in the footsteps of Charles Dickens, Émile Zola and Maxim Gorky, as well as German expressionists such as Knopf, Meidner and Grosz, who gave testimony of social protest. In the 2015 poll conducted by the Polish Museum of Cinematography in Łódź, ''The Promised Land'' was ranked first on the list of the greatest Polish films of all time. Plot Karol Borowiecki ( Daniel Olbrychski), a young Polish nobleman, is the managing engineer at the Bucholz textile factory. He is ruthless in his career pu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Man Of Iron
''Man of Iron'' ( pl, Człowiek z żelaza) is a 1981 film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It depicts the Solidarity labour movement and its first success in persuading the Polish government to recognize the workers' right to an independent union. The film continues the story of Maciej Tomczyk, the son of Mateusz Birkut, the protagonist of Wajda's earlier film, '' Man of Marble''. Here, Maciej is a young worker involved in the anti-Communist labour movement, described as "the man who started the Gdańsk Shipyard strike", and a journalist working for the Communist regime's radio station, who is given a task of slandering Maciej. The young man is clearly intended as a parallel to Lech Wałęsa (who appears as himself in the movie). ''Man of Iron'' clarifies the ending of ''Man of Marble'', which left the death of Mateusz Birkut ambiguous. ''Man of Iron'' explicitly states that Mateusz was killed in clashes at the shipyards in 1970. The film was made during the brief thaw in Communist ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Maids Of Wilko
''The Maids of Wilko'' ( pl, Panny z Wilka) is a 1979 Polish drama film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 52nd Academy Awards. "Maids" is used in the sense of "maidens", hence another translation could be ''The Maidens of Wilko''. Plot At the age of 40, Wiktor Ruben (Daniel Olbrychski) returns to the family property (Wilko) where he'd spent his late teens/early twenties as a tutor of young sisters. Now they are all adult women - mostly wives and mothers. Wiktor discovers that Fela, once the closest to him, has been dead for some time; the other sisters aren't keen to talk about her, and her grave is mostly forgotten. He is also disappointed by how all the women have changed. Julia ( Anna Seniuk), now a mother of two, doesn't resemble his first object of desire and doesn't show him the affection he might have expected. Jola ( Maja Komorowska), seemingly unhappy in her marriage, chases him and makes fun of him unti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Beata Tyszkiewicz
Beata Maria Helena Tyszkiewicz (born 14 August 1938) is a retired Polish actress and TV personality. Career Beata Tyszkiewicz has worked mostly on the big screen but acted in several French TV movies, becoming famous through her portrayal of distinguished ladies in costume dramas like '' The Doll'' by Wojciech Has and ''The Ashes'' by Andrzej Wajda. She has worked with leading directors such as Agnieszka Holland, Krzysztof Zanussi, André Delvaux and former husband Andrzej Wajda. Tyszkiewicz has appeared in more than a hundred films. Her debut was in '' Zemsta'' in 1956. In 1968 she was cast in '' The Doll'', directed by Wojciech Has. ''The Doll'' was adapted from the Polish novel, ''Lalka'' by Boleslaw Prus. In 1971 she was a member of the jury at the 7th Moscow International Film Festival. In 1995 she was awarded with an Honorable Diploma at the 19th Moscow International Film Festival. In 1997 she was a member of the jury at the 20th Moscow International Film Festival. S ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Honorary Golden Bear
The Honorary Golden Bear (german: Goldener Ehrenbar) is the Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...'s honorary award for lifetime achievement by important figures in the world of film. The award was first presented in 1982. The award was not presented in 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1991, 1992, and 2021. The award is presented for an exceptional artistic career and is given to the guest of honour of the Homage. List of honorees References External links Berlinale website {{DEFAULTSORT:Honorary Golden Bear Golden Bear Honorary Award Winners Lifetime achievement awards Awards established in 1982 1982 establishments in Germany ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Honorary Oscar
The Academy Honorary Award – instituted in 1950 for the 23rd Academy Awards (previously called the Special Award, which was first presented at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929) – is given annually by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Since 2009, it has been presented at the separate annual Governors Awards rather than at the regular Academy Awards ceremony. The Honorary Award celebrates motion picture achievements that are not covered by existing Academy Awards, although prior winners of competitive Academy Awards are not excluded from receiving the Honorary Award. Unless otherwise specified, Honorary Award recipients receive the same gold Oscar statuettes received by winners of the competitive Academy Awards. Unlike the Special Achievement Award instituted in 1972, those on whom the Academy confers its Honorary Award do not have to meet "the Academy's eligibility year and deadline requirements." Like the Special Achievement Awa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Polish Film School
Polish Film School ( pl, Polska Szkoła Filmowa) refers to an informal group of Polish film directors and screenplay writers active between 1956 and approximately 1963. Among the most prominent representatives of the school are Andrzej Wajda, Andrzej Munk and Jerzy Kawalerowicz. Overview The group was under the heavy influence of Italian neorealists. It took advantage of the liberal changes in Poland after 1956 Polish October to portray the complexity of Polish history during World War II and German occupation. Among the most important topics were the generation of former Home Army soldiers and their role in post-war Poland and the national tragedies like the German concentration camps and the Warsaw Uprising. The political changes allowed the group to speak more openly of the recent history of Poland. However, the rule of censorship was still strong when it comes to history after 1945 and there were very few films on contemporary events. This marked the major difference betwe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |