Wojciech Kasperski (born April 25, 1981) is a Polish

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and producer. In 2006 he received the Grand Prix for ''

The Seeds The Seeds were an American psychedelic garage rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965, best known for their highest charting single " Pushin' Too Hard". The band's classic line-up featured frontman Sky Saxon, guitarist Jan Savag ...

'' for Best Documentary at

Kraków Film Festival The Kraków Film Festival ( pl, Krakowski Festiwal Filmowy) is one of Europe's oldest events dedicated to documentary, animation and other short film forms. It has been organised every year since 1961. The Artistic President of the festival is ...

, and went on to win several prestigious awards including Sterling Short Grand Jury Award at AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Festival. His

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s won over forty awards and recognitions around the world and garnered extensive media attention and critical acclaim. Winner of Golden Laurel, Russian Film Academy Award for Best Short Documentary.

Biography

He was born in Kartuzy and moved with his family to

Sopot Sopot is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, and has the status of the county, being the smallest ci ...

a seaside town on the coast of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

. In 2001–2002, he studied

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

at the

University of Gdańsk The University of Gdańsk ( pl, Uniwersytet Gdański) is a public research university located in Gdańsk, Poland. It is one of the top 10 universities in Poland and is also an important centre for the studies of the Kashubian language. History ...

, but subsequently gave it up, and studied at the

National Film School in Łódź National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

. He started working as a documentary filmmaker in far

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

, visiting small villages and secluded societies. He began his career in 2006 with the short documentary ''

'', followed by two other documentaries shot in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Career

He worked with many prominent Polish actors on his fiction short films. His '' The Refuge City'' was shown in main competition at

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

, San Francisco Shorts, Next Reel in Singapur and

Rhode Island International Film Festival Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) takes place every year in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island as well as satellite locations throughout the state. History Started in 1997, the Festival is produced by Flickers, the ...

among many others. He also worked at a theatre and directed

János Háy János or Janos may refer to: * János, male Hungarian given name, a variant of John Places * Janos Municipality, a municipality of Chihuahua ** Janos, Chihuahua, town in Mexico ** Janos Biosphere Reserve, a nature reserve in Chihuahua * Janos ...

’s performance

Child Geza A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

. He ran drama workshops at Studyjny Theatre. He has been working as a writer and screenwriter since 2008. Since 2009 he has run an independent production company, that has its place among Polish production houses focused on young filmmakers. Kasperski is a

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: *Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) *Ministry of Culture (Argentina) *Minister for the Arts (Australia) *Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan) * Ministry of ...

"Młoda Polska Scholarship" holder for most talented young Polish artists. Since 2008 he has been an expert for the

, evaluating film projects for financing by the Polish Film Institute. He was chosen by 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 ...

to take part in annual

Sunday in the country Sunday is the day of the week between Saturday and Monday. In most Western countries, Sunday is a day of rest and a part of the weekend. It is often considered the first day of the week. For most observant adherents of Christianity, Sunday ...

meetings. Polish newsmagazine ''

Przekrój ''Przekrój'' (; ''Cross-section'') was the oldest Polish weekly newsmagazine in operation, established in 1945 in Kraków. After temporary closure in 2013, it was bought by photographer Tomasz Niewiadomski and subsequently relaunched in December ...

'' called him one of the most promising young Polish directors of his generation in article "20 Hopes of polish cinema".

Filmography

Short Movies

* The Refuge City – short fiction 2006 * Przestrzeń – short fiction 2003 * Kasety - short fiction 2003

Short Documentaries

Chasm In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics. Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-graben w ...

– short documentary 2009 *

– short documentary 2006

Other Works

* Serce do Walki – short fiction 2011 (executive producer) * Z Miłości – film fabularny 2011 (producer) * Przyjdź do mnie – short fiction 2009 (executive producer) * Midway Through the Journey - short fiction 2007 (assistant director) * A Song for Rebecca – short fiction 2005 (assistant director)

Awards (selection)

''The Refuge City'' *Polish Independent Film Awards - 2007 Best Director * International Independent Feature Film Festiwal in Warsaw - 2007 1st prize * Media School International Film Festival - 2006 Special Prize *International Student Film Festival of Beijing Film Academy - 2006 Audience Award * International Film Festival Era New Horizons - 2007 Special Commendation * Etiuda & Anima International Film Festival Cracow - 2006 Audience Award * Sopot Film Festival - 2006 Special Commendation * The Sleepwalkers Student Film Festival in Tallinn - 2006 Grand Prix * Łodzią Po Wiśle - 2006 1st prize * International Film Festival ZOOM, Jelenia Góra - 2007 Grand Prix * Krakffa Film Festival - 2007 1st prize * Independent Movie Festival KAN - 2007 Silver Cane ''The Seeds'' http://filmpolski.pl/fp/index.php/4123899 Polish Internet Film Base (in Polish) * L'Alternativa Festival de cinema independent de Barcelona - 2006 Special commendation * Prix Europa Berlin - 2006 Nomination for Prix Europa and Special Commendation for documentary * Festival International de cine documental de la Ciudad de Mexico - 2007 Special Jury Prize * Kraków Film Festival - 2006 Grand Prix, Golden Hobby Horse * Kraków Film Festival - 2006 Kodak Award * Kraków Film Festival - 2006 Cracow Student Jury Award, Because '' we like it when the film avoids persuasion and the lives of the protagonists seem more intriguing than our own. It is with words small like seeds that you speak about a grand film. For the truth, the atmosphere and the shivers'' * Moscow Festival - 2006 Golden Laurel, Best Artistic Film * Media Festival Łódź - 2007 Special Jury Prize * Perm Documentary Film Festival - 2006 Great Silver Nanook, Best documentary * The CMU International Film Festival, Pittsburg - 2006 Grand Prix, International Short Film * European Film Week ON/OFF Warsaw - 2006 Special Jury Prize * AFI Discovery Channel Documentary Film Festival Silverdocs - 2006 Grand Prix, Short Documentary * Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, Montana - 2007 Special Jury Prize ''If Chekov and Rembrandt had collaborated on documentary film, it might have the visual richness and dramatic insight of Seeds''

Official Screenings (selection)

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

- 2007 screening, Tous Les Cinémas du Monde * INPUT Conference, Taipei - 2006 screening *

, New York - 2008 competition *

Beverly Hills Film Festival The Beverly Hills Film Festival (BHFF) is a film festival in the United States founded in 2001 by independent filmmaker Nino Simone. The festival is an international competition dedicated to showcasing the art and talent of emerging filmmakers a ...

, Los Angeles - 2006 competition *

Dok Leipzig DOK Leipzig is a documentary film festival that takes place every year in Leipzig, Germany. It is an international film festival for documentary and animated film founded in 1955 under the name "1st All-German Leipzig Festival of Cultural and Doc ...

- 2007 competition

References

External links

* * http://www.wojciechkasperski.com - official home page
Information about director at Polish Cultural Institute New York
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kasperski, Wojciech 1981 births Living people People from Kartuzy Łódź Film School alumni Polish screenwriters Polish film directors Media Wave Award winners