Małgorzata Szumowska (; born 26 February 1973) is a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

film director, screenwriter and producer, born 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 ...

. Her 2013 film '' In the Name Of'' received the

Teddy Award The Teddy Award is an international film award for films with LGBT topics, presented by an independent jury as an official award of the Berlin International Film Festival (the Berlinale). In the most part, the jury consists of organisers of gay ...

for Best Feature at the

63rd Berlin International Film Festival The 63rd annual Berlin International Film Festival took place in Berlin, Germany between 7 and 17 February 2013. Chinese film director Wong Kar-wai was announced as the President of the Jury and his film '' The Grandmaster'' was the opening fil ...

, and received the Grand Prix at the 32nd annual

Istanbul Film Festival The Istanbul Film Festival ( tr, İstanbul Film Festivali) is the first and oldest international film festival in Turkey, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. It is held every year in April in movie theaters in Istanbul, T ...

. Her film ''

Body Body may refer to: In science * Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space * Body (biology), the physical material of an organism * Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of anima ...

'' was selected to be screened in the main competition section of the

65th Berlin International Film Festival The 65th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 February 2015, with American film director Darren Aronofsky as the President of the Jury. German film director Wim Wenders was presented with the Honorary Golden Bear. The ...

. Szumowska won the

Silver Bear for Best Director The Silver Bear for Best Director (german: Silberner Bär/Bester Regie) is an award presented annually at the Berlin International Film Festival since 1956. It is given for the best achievement in directing and is chosen by the International Jury ...

for ''

''. In 2018, she received

Jury Grand Prix The Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize (also Jury Grand Prix, Grand Prize of the Jury) is an award given by the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival to one of the feature films in competition. It is the runner-up to the Golden Bear prize a ...

at the

68th Berlin International Film Festival The 68th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 15 to 25 February 2018. German filmmaker Tom Tykwer served as Jury President. American film director Wes Anderson's animated film '' Isle of Dogs'' opened the festival, becoming ...

for her film ''

Mug A mug is a type of cup typically used for drinking hot drinks, such as coffee, hot chocolate, or tea. Mugs usually have handles and hold a larger amount of fluid than other types of cup. Typically, a mug holds approximately of liquid. A mug i ...

''.

Career

Szumowska spent two years studying

history of art The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetic visu ...

at the Jagiellonian University before she started

film studies Film studies is an academic discipline that deals with various theoretical, historical, and critical approaches to cinema as an art form and a medium. It is sometimes subsumed within media studies and is often compared to television studies. ...

. Szumowska graduated from the celebrated National Film School in Łódź, which boasts such alumni as

Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the ...

Roman Polański Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a ( né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, tw ...

Krzysztof Kieślowski Krzysztof Kieślowski (; 27 June 1941 – 13 March 1996) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He is known internationally for '' Dekalog'' (1989), ''The Double Life of Veronique'' (1991), and the ''Three Colours'' trilogy (1993 –1994 ...

. As a student, Szumowska made a short which was ranked 14th in the history of

Łódź Film School The Leon Schiller National Film School ( pl, Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Filmowa, Telewizyjna i Teatralna im. Leona Schillera) is a Polish academy for future actors, directors, photographers, camera operators and television staff. It was founded o ...

. ''Cisza'' (''Silence'') is a short documentary film in which Szumowska tried to capture a simple life of a Polish rural family. In 2001, she became a member of the

European Film Academy The European Film Academy is an initiative of a group of European filmmakers who came together in Berlin on the occasion of the first presentation of the European Film Awards in November 1988. The Academy—under the name of European Cinema Soc ...

. In 2016, she was a member of jury headed by

Meryl Streep Mary Louise Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as "the best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throu ...

at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. In 2018, she was also selected a member of the jury headed by Guillermo del Toro at the 75th Venice International Film Festival. In 2020, her film co-directed with

Michał Englert Michał Englert (born 4 May 1975) is a Polish cinematographer and screenwriter from Warsaw.Michał Engler ...

Never Gonna Snow Again ''Never Gonna Snow Again'' ( pl, Śniegu już nigdy nie będzie) is a 2020 Polish-German comedy-drama film directed by Małgorzata Szumowska and Michał Englert. It stars Alec Utgoff, Maja Ostaszewska, Agata Kulesza, Weronika Rosati, Katarzy ...

'' was selected as the Polish entry for the Best International Feature Film at the

93rd Academy Awards The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released from January 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles. The ceremony was held on April 25, 202 ...

''Szczęśliwy człowiek'' (''Happy man'')

Szumowska graduated from the film college in 1998 and made her debut feature film ''Szczęśliwy człowiek'' (''Happy Man'') in 2001. The film was nominated to The

European Film Award The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the mo ...

and Szumowska became a member of the

in the same year. The plot explores complicated relationships among three people facing enormous difficulties who nonetheless strive to achieve happiness, or, at least, steer clear of tragedy.

''Ono'' (''Stranger'')

Her next film, ''Ono'' (''Stranger''), focused on the relationship between a pregnant woman and the baby she is expecting. Having decided not to have an abortion, the mother tries to prepare her child for the experience of the outside world. Things get complicated when the woman faces health problems.

''Ojciec'' (''Father'')

In 2005 Szumowska made a short film ''Ojciec'' (''Father''), one of thirteen contemporary stories written by Polish film directors to celebrate Solidarity which made up the film ''Solidarność, Solidarność'' (''Solidarity, Solidarity''). Based on her father's experiences, Szumowska's film uses archival footage from his documentaries.

''33 sceny z życia'' (''33 Scenes from Life'')

A significant breakthrough in Szumowska's career came in 2008, with ''33 sceny z życia'' (''33 Scenes from Life''), starring Julia Jentsch, which won a Special Prize at the

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, ...

. Inspired by her own life, but, as she is careful to emphasize, "not autobiographical", the film tells the story of Julia. A talented photographer married to Piotr, a successful composer, Julia has a perfect and financially comfortable life until one day the idyll is interrupted.

''Elles''

Szumowska worked also as a co-producer of ''

Antichrist In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form)1 John ; . 2 John . ...

'',

Lars von Trier Lars von Trier ('' né'' Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish filmmaker, actor, and lyricist. Having garnered a reputation as a highly ambitious, polarizing filmmaker, he has been the subject of several controversies: Cannes, in addition to nomina ...

's horror film released in 2009. In 2011, she completed her international project, '' Elles'', starring Juliette Binoche. The worldwide première of ''Elles'' took place at

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

. It tells the story of Anne, a Parisian

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

investigating prostitution among the students. Her research takes her to two girls, Charlotte and Alice, whose lives differ greatly from her own. They let her discover a world which she finds both repulsive and seductive.

''In the Name Of''

Adam is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest who discovered his calling as a servant of God at the relatively late age of 21. He now lives in a village in rural

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

where he works with teenagers with

behavioral Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as we ...

problems who fight and yell abuse. He declines the advances of a young brunette named Ewa; saying he is already spoken for. However; celibacy is not the only reason for his rejection. Adam knows that he desires men and that his embrace of the priesthood has been a flight from his own sexuality. When he meets Dynia; the strange and taciturn son of a simple rural family; Adam's self-imposed abstinence becomes a heavy burden.

Personal life

Szumowska is the daughter of journalists Maciej Szumowski and Dorota Terakowska and the sister of Wojciech Szumowski, a documentary film director. She has been married to actor

Mateusz Kościukiewicz Mateusz Kościukiewicz (; born 1 May 1986 in Nowy Tomyśl) is a Polish film actor. Life and career He grew up in Nowy Tomyśl, where he attended the General and Post-Secondary Schools. He studied at the Kraków State Higher Theater School. In ...

since 2011. They have one daughter Alina born on 3 December 2012. She has a son Maciej from a previous relationship with the editor Jacek Drosio.

References

External links

*
Małgorzata Szumowska
at culture.pl
33 Scenes from Life – reviewSzumowska's Elles on the 2012 Berlinale ShortlistThe Transposition of Loneliness at the 63rd Berlinale
{{DEFAULTSORT:Szumowska, Malgorzata 1973 births Living people Polish film directors Polish screenwriters Polish women film directors Polish women writers Polish women screenwriters Film people from Kraków Silver Bear for Best Director recipients