Ryszard Bugajski (27 April 1943 – 7 June 2019) was a Polish
film director
A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...
and
screenwriter
A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
. He directed 23 films and television shows since 1972. His 1982 film ''
Interrogation'' starring
Krystyna Janda and
Adam Ferency, described as "the most
anti-Communist film in the history of
Polish People's Republic" was entered into the
1990 Cannes Film Festival after being suppressed by the Polish communist authorities for several years.
Life and career
He was born on 27 April 1943 in
German-occupied Poland. His family was slated to be killed by firing squad, but a bomb fell before the wall they were lined up to be shot that saw the squad killed instead. His father was Edward Bugajski, a member of the pre-war
Polish Socialist Party (PPS). He had told his family to hide in a safe place, which led to them staying in suburban Warsaw in a place called Choszczowka. Bugajski had numerous interests as a youth, initially aspiring to become a musician, but he later thought he would become a painter. However, he did not know exactly what he wanted to be by the time he graduated high school. He studied
philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
at the
University of Warsaw for three years, but an accidental viewing of ''
8½'' spurred him into wanting to become a filmmaker. He was accepted into studying
directing at the
National Film School in Łódź, which he graduated from in 1973.
In 1976, he joined the
X Film Unit managed by
Andrzej Wajda, where he directed the films ''A Woman and a Woman'' and ''Classes''. In 1981, he made the full-length feature film ''
Interrogation'', which was banned by the communist censorship because of the film's message being incompatible with the political line of the Polish authorities after the imposition of
martial law. As a result of this, the X Unit was officially dissolved. In 1985, Bugajski decided to emigrate to Canada where he became a director of popular
television series
A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...
. The official premiere of ''Interrogation'' took place in December 1989, after the
collapse of communism in Poland. He had kept the film alive in the underground movement by making copies of the film and giving them out for showings in church basements.
He was a recipient of numerous film awards including the Golden Grape Award, Special Award at the
Gdynia Film Festival
The Gdynia Film Festival aka FPFF (until 2011: Polish Film Festival, Polish: ''Festiwal Polskich Filmów Fabularnych w Gdyni'') is an annual film festival first held in Gdańsk (1974–1986), now held in Gdynia, Poland.
It has taken place every ...
and
Silver Hugo Award at the
Chicago International Film Festival.
In June 2008, he was awarded the Officer's Cross of the
Order of Polonia Restituta
The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...
for "his outstanding contributions to the democratic transformations in Poland as well as for achievements for the country in his professional and social work".
In October 2008, he received the Golden
Medal for Merit to Culture - Gloria Artis from the-then Minister of Culture and National Heritage
Bogdan Zdrojewski.
He died on 7 June 2019 in Warsaw after a long illness.
Selected filmography
* ''Kobieta i kobieta'' (1979)
* ''
Interrogation'' (made in 1981 but not released until 1989)
* ''
Clearcut'' (1990)
* ''Gracze'' (1995)
* ''The Death of Captain Pilecki'' (2006)
* ''
Generał Nil'' (2009)
* ''
Układ zamknięty'' (2013)
* ''
Blindness'' (2016)
See also
*
Cinema of Poland
*
List of Poles
References
External links
*
Ryszard Bugajskiat Culture.pl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bugajski, Ryszard
1943 births
2019 deaths
Film people from Warsaw
Polish film directors
Polish screenwriters
Łódź Film School alumni
Recipients of the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis
Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta