Antoni Bohdziewicz (11 September 1906 – 20 October 1970) was a Polish screenplay writer and director, best known for his 1956 adaptation of '' Zemsta'' by

Aleksander Fredro Aleksander Fredro (20 June 1793 – 15 July 1876) was a Polish poet, playwright and author active during Polish Romanticism in the period of partitions by neighboring empires. His works including plays written in the octosyllabic verse (''Zemst ...

. Bohdziewicz was born in the city of

Vilna Vilnius ( , ; see also #Etymology and other names, other names) is the capital and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the munic ...

(modern Vilnius), then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. In 1928, he graduated from the Technical Faculty of the

Warsaw University of Technology The Warsaw University of Technology ( pl, Politechnika Warszawska, lit=Varsovian Polytechnic) is one of the leading institutes of technology in Poland and one of the largest in Central Europe. It employs 2,453 teaching faculty, with 357 professor ...

and was simultaneously studying at the Faculty of Humanities of the Stefan Batory University. In 1928, he became a speaker at the newly established branch of the

Polish Radio Polskie Radio Spółka Akcyjna (PR S.A.; English: Polish Radio) is Poland's national public-service radio broadcasting organization owned by the State Treasury of Poland. History Polskie Radio was founded on 18 August 1925 and began making ...

in his native city. In 1931 however he obtained a state scholarship and left for France. In Paris he joined the prestigious ''Ecole Technique de Photographie et de Cinématographie'', where he also made his first documentaries. In 1935, he returned to Poland and worked as a journalist and cameraman for the state-owned Polska Agencja Telegraficzna Film Chronicle (PAT), the most popular

newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, inform ...

in Poland. He also worked as a journalist and columnist for the "Pion" weekly. In late 1930s he made numerous documentaries for the PAT agency, as well as for the SAF film studio. In 1939, he began working on his first

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

'' Zazdrość i medycyna'', based on a novel by Michał Choromański. However, the shooting was interrupted by the outbreak of the

Invasion of Poland (1939) The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week afte ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

he was an active member of the

Home Army The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) est ...

and collaborated with the Bureau of Information and Propaganda as the head of the photo and film department. In 1943, he also started a ''Tres'' photographic studio in Warsaw, which became a clandestine outpost of the Home Army. During the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...

he became the head of the group of cameramen to prepare daily newsreels and was one of the people to prepare '' Warszawa walczy'', a documentary filmed and shown entirely in besieged Warsaw. After the war he continued his career in the same role and became one of the first members of the Polish Film Chronicle (PKF) company. Working in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, already in March 1945 he started a Film Atelier for the Youth, the first

film school A film school is an educational institution dedicated to teaching aspects of filmmaking, including such subjects as film production, film theory, digital media production, and screenwriting. Film history courses and hands-on technical training ar ...

to be opened in Poland after the end of the German occupation. In December of that year he converted his atelier into a regular study, which became a direct predecessor of the Kraków Film School. In 1948 he moved to

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...

, where he became the chairman of the Department of Direction of the National Film School. In that role he became a teacher of several generations of Polish film directors. He also remained an active director himself. His first film, '' 2*2=4'', was released already in 1945 and was among the first feature films to be shot in Poland after World War II. Between 1956 and 1962 Bohdziewicz served as an artistic director of the ''Droga Film Team'' and then the TOR Film Studio (1968–1970). Simultaneously he was also a teacher at the

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

-based ''

Institut National Supérieur des Arts du Spectacle The Institut national supérieur des arts du spectacle et des techniques de diffusion, better known as INSAS, is a Belgian film and drama school founded by Raymond Ravar, André Delvaux, Paul Anrieu, and Jean Brismée in 1962. Director Fabrice ...

''. He died on 20 October 1970 in Warsaw.

References

*
Antoni Bohdziewicz
at Filmpolski.pl *

at the wiem.onet.pl encyclopaedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Bohdziewicz, Antoni 1906 births 1970 deaths Writers from Vilnius People from Vilna Governorate Polish film directors Warsaw University of Technology alumni Home Army members Vilnius University alumni 20th-century Polish screenwriters Male screenwriters 20th-century Polish male writers Photographers from Vilnius