Biography of Krzysztof Kieślowski

Biography of Krzysztof Kieslowski

Krzysztof Kieslowski was born in Warsaw on June 27, 1941. Between the years 1957-1962 he was at the vocational school for the theatrical
technology. He studied directing at the Lodz Film School from 1964 to 1968. His graduation film was a documentary From the City of Lodz (Z
miasta Lodzi). His TV debut was the documentary The Photograph (Fotografia) in 1969. For some time he worked for documentary studios, WFD (Wytwornia Filmow Dokumentalnych). In 1974 he joined the Tor film production unit (Zespol FIlmowy "Tor"), of which he became a deputy director in 1984. (Currently the director of Tor is Krzysztof Zanussi.)

In his early years he made a number of documentaries, the most famous of which was Workers '71 (Robotnicy '71), about the Szczecin strikes
in 1971. His documentary First Love (Pierwsza milosc) has won the Golden Dragon Prize at the International Festival of Short Films in Cracow in 1974.

His first feature film, Personnel (Personel), was made for television in 1975, and also has won 1st prize at Mannheim Festival in Germany.
In the following years Kieslowski worked for the television, making documentaries and features. He also directed a number theatrical performances, including his own play Biography (Zyciorys) at the Stary Theater in Cracow (1978).

Kieslowski's first feature for the cinema came in 1976 with The Scar (Blizna). This film has won first prize at the Moscow Film Festival and established Kieslowski as a leading figure in the Polish cinematic school of 'moral anxiety'. His next feature, Blind Chance (Przypadek), was made during the rise of the Solidarity movement, but was banned after the declaration of martial law in December of 1981,
and stayed on the shelves until 1987.

In 1984 Kieslowski made No End (Bez konca), the first feature film he co-scripted with lawyer, Krzysztof Piesiewicz. Their next project was Decalogue (Dekalog), 1988. In 1990 they wrote together The Double Life of Veronica (La Double Vie de Veronique), filmed in France and Poland. Their last effort is the trilogy Three Colours (Trois Couleurs), released in 1993 and 1994.

In numerous statements over the past two years Kieslowski said that he decided to quit the filmmaking. A recent interview by his co-writer, Krzysztof Piesiewicz, confirmed however, that currently they are working on a new film project.

Kieslowski is a member of the Polish Filmmaker Association; where he was a deputy chairman from 1979 to 1981. In the Fall of 1990 he was awarded a Fellowship of the British Film Institute. He is also a member of the European Film Academy.

For his films Kieslowski has been awarded numerous awards at the film festivals around the world, for example in Cracow (1974, 1975, 1977, 1979), in Mannheim (1975), Gdansk (1975, 1976, 1979, 1988), Moscow (1979), Cannes (1988, 1991), Venice (1989, 1993), Berlin (1980, 1994), San Sebastian (1988), Chicago (1980), Lyon (1979), and Sao Paulo (1988).

Kieslowski has lectured on directing and script writing at the universitites in Katowice (1979-1982), West Berlin (1984), Helsinki (1988) and Switzerland (1985, 1988, 1992).

He is married, with one daughter, and lives in Warsaw.