Andrzej Wajda(1926-2016)
- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Andrzej Wajda is an Academy Award-winning director. He is the most
prominent filmmaker in Poland known for
The Promised Land (1975),
Man of Iron (1981), and
Katyn (2007).
He was Born on March 6, 1926, in Suwalki, Poland. His
mother, Aniela Wajda, was a teacher at a Ukrainian school. His father,
Jakub Wajda, was a captain in the Polish infantry. Wajda described his
childhood as a happy pastoral country life before the Second World War.
In 1939, Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany and Soviet Union. In
1940, Wajda's father was killed by Stalin's agents in the Katyn
massacre.
Young Wajda survived the Second World War with his mother and his
brother in Nazi-occupied Poland. In 1942, Wajda joined the Polish
resistance and served in the Armia Krajowa until the war ended in
1945. In 1946 he moved to Kraków. There Wajda went to Academy of Fine
Arts. He studied painting, particularly the impressionist and
post-impressionist painting, and was especially fond of Paul Cezanne.
From 1950-1954 he studied film directing at the High Film School in
Lódz under directors Jerzy Toeplitz and
Aleksander Ford. Later, Wajda
described the influential and eye-opening experience from seeing French
avant-garde films, like
Ballet mécanique (1924) by
artist-director Fernand Léger.
In 1955 he made his debut as director of full-length
A Generation (1955), about the generation
of youth coming of age during the Nazi occupation of Poland. His
award-winning Kanal (1957) and
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
concluded the trilogy about life in Poland during WWII. Although he was
under pressure from the Soviet-dominated Polish authorities, Wajda
positioned himself as an artist who was above the conflict. He still
managed to show the undeclared civil war between two anti-Nazi Polish
forces, which were divided by political ideology: the Polish communists
and the partisans - folk heroes of the Home Army.
His Oscar-nominated
The Promised Land (1975) was a work
of multi-layered allegory and Symbolism. Wajda's witty depiction of the
19th century capitalism in Poland actually alluded to the contemporary
Communist politics. The shooting of workers in the final scenes was
actually unmasking of the official politics of killing workers in the
Soviet Union in 1962, under
Nikita Khrushchev, and in Poland a few
years later. The story of a film student who traces the life of defamed
"hero" in
Man of Marble (1977) was
a deconstruction of the false impressions that official propaganda was
using to brainwash the public. The same main characters in
Man of Iron (1981)
continued unmasking the Communist regime's manipulations against
working class people. In 1981, Wajda joined the "Solidarity" labor
movement of Lech Walesa.
From 1989 to 1991 Wajda was elected Senator of the Republic of Poland.
From 1992 to 1994 he was Member of Presidential Council for Culture. In
1994 he founded the Center of Japanese Art and Technology in Kraków,
and was awarded the Order of Rising Sun in Japan (1995). Wajda was
President of Polish Film Association (1978-1983). He was Member of
"Solidarity" Lech Walesa Council (1981-1989). He won an honorary Oscar
(2000) for his contribution to cinema, and an honorary Golden Bear
(2006) at the Berlin Film Festival.
Wajda's Katyn (2007) was nominated for
Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year in 2008, and received
many other awards and nominations. The film shows historic events in
Katyn during WWII, where Wajda's father was among thousands of Polish
officers killed by Soviet communists under the dictatorship of
Joseph Stalin. Wajda's film was well
received by the last Soviet leader,
Mikhail Gorbachev, who initially
opened the facts about Katyn to help people understand each other and
overcome the tragic past.
"We never hoped to live to see the fall of the Soviet Union, to see
Poland as a free country", said Andrzej Wajda.
prominent filmmaker in Poland known for
The Promised Land (1975),
Man of Iron (1981), and
Katyn (2007).
He was Born on March 6, 1926, in Suwalki, Poland. His
mother, Aniela Wajda, was a teacher at a Ukrainian school. His father,
Jakub Wajda, was a captain in the Polish infantry. Wajda described his
childhood as a happy pastoral country life before the Second World War.
In 1939, Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany and Soviet Union. In
1940, Wajda's father was killed by Stalin's agents in the Katyn
massacre.
Young Wajda survived the Second World War with his mother and his
brother in Nazi-occupied Poland. In 1942, Wajda joined the Polish
resistance and served in the Armia Krajowa until the war ended in
1945. In 1946 he moved to Kraków. There Wajda went to Academy of Fine
Arts. He studied painting, particularly the impressionist and
post-impressionist painting, and was especially fond of Paul Cezanne.
From 1950-1954 he studied film directing at the High Film School in
Lódz under directors Jerzy Toeplitz and
Aleksander Ford. Later, Wajda
described the influential and eye-opening experience from seeing French
avant-garde films, like
Ballet mécanique (1924) by
artist-director Fernand Léger.
In 1955 he made his debut as director of full-length
A Generation (1955), about the generation
of youth coming of age during the Nazi occupation of Poland. His
award-winning Kanal (1957) and
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
concluded the trilogy about life in Poland during WWII. Although he was
under pressure from the Soviet-dominated Polish authorities, Wajda
positioned himself as an artist who was above the conflict. He still
managed to show the undeclared civil war between two anti-Nazi Polish
forces, which were divided by political ideology: the Polish communists
and the partisans - folk heroes of the Home Army.
His Oscar-nominated
The Promised Land (1975) was a work
of multi-layered allegory and Symbolism. Wajda's witty depiction of the
19th century capitalism in Poland actually alluded to the contemporary
Communist politics. The shooting of workers in the final scenes was
actually unmasking of the official politics of killing workers in the
Soviet Union in 1962, under
Nikita Khrushchev, and in Poland a few
years later. The story of a film student who traces the life of defamed
"hero" in
Man of Marble (1977) was
a deconstruction of the false impressions that official propaganda was
using to brainwash the public. The same main characters in
Man of Iron (1981)
continued unmasking the Communist regime's manipulations against
working class people. In 1981, Wajda joined the "Solidarity" labor
movement of Lech Walesa.
From 1989 to 1991 Wajda was elected Senator of the Republic of Poland.
From 1992 to 1994 he was Member of Presidential Council for Culture. In
1994 he founded the Center of Japanese Art and Technology in Kraków,
and was awarded the Order of Rising Sun in Japan (1995). Wajda was
President of Polish Film Association (1978-1983). He was Member of
"Solidarity" Lech Walesa Council (1981-1989). He won an honorary Oscar
(2000) for his contribution to cinema, and an honorary Golden Bear
(2006) at the Berlin Film Festival.
Wajda's Katyn (2007) was nominated for
Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year in 2008, and received
many other awards and nominations. The film shows historic events in
Katyn during WWII, where Wajda's father was among thousands of Polish
officers killed by Soviet communists under the dictatorship of
Joseph Stalin. Wajda's film was well
received by the last Soviet leader,
Mikhail Gorbachev, who initially
opened the facts about Katyn to help people understand each other and
overcome the tragic past.
"We never hoped to live to see the fall of the Soviet Union, to see
Poland as a free country", said Andrzej Wajda.