Camerimage, the cinematography-oriented film festival, will present its Lifetime Achievement Award to auteur director Krzysztof Zanussi.
Born in Warsaw in 1939, Zanussi studied at the National Film School in Lodz, Poland, but even before enrolling he was making amateur films that won awards at various festivals.
His directorial debut, The Death of a Provincial (1966), with cinematography by Jan Hesse, foreshadowed the central themes of his work – the juxtaposition of the sacred and the profane, youth and old age, life and death.
After several medium-length and documentary films, Zanussi directed his first feature film, “The Structure of Crystal” (1969), with Stefan Matyjaszkiewicz as DP.
The film is considered part of the so-called third wave of Polish cinema, which combines asceticism, a lack of traditional plot and a deep sense of realism reflected in the cinematography – all defining characteristics of the director’s early work.
In the 1970s, Zanussi created a series of films that have become an integral part of the history of Polish cinema. “The Illumination” (1973), shot by Edward Kłosiński; “Camouflage” (1976), with DP Kłosiński, awarded the Gdańsk Lions at the 4th Polish Film Festival in Gdańsk; “Family Life” (1970), with cinematographer Witold Sobociński; and “The Spiral” (1978), shot by Kłosiński.
Zanussi’s “The Constant Factor” (1980), with DP Sławomir Idziak, won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
In the 1980s, Zanussi began to make more projects abroad, especially in West Germany. “In A Year of the Quiet Sun (1984), shot by Sławomir Idziak, won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
Since the 1990s, Zanussi has been reaching out to new audiences, often by experimenting with different film genres. Titles from this later period include At Full Gallop (1995), with cinematographer Jarosław Żamojda, and Life as a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease (1999), with Kłosiński behind the camera. Zanussi has also worked on films such as Foreign Body (2014), Ether (2018) and The Perfect Number (2022), all of which were shot by Piotr Niemyjski.
Zanussi will visit Camerimage, which takes place in Toruń, Poland, from 11 to 18 November, to collect his trophy.
