Łukasz Żal (; born 24 June 1981) is a Polish

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

, best known for his work on the films '' Ida'' (2014), ''

Loving Vincent ''Loving Vincent'' is a 2017 experimental animated historical drama film about the life of the painter Vincent van Gogh, in particular the circumstances of his death. It is the first fully painted animated feature film. The film, written and d ...

'' (2017), ''

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

'' (2018) and ''

The Zone of Interest Zone of Interest or The Zone of Interest can refer to: * Zone of Interest (Auschwitz), an area surrounding Auschwitz concentration camp * ''The Zone of Interest'' (novel), a 2014 novel by Martin Amis, named after the above * ''The Zone of Intere ...

'' (2023).

Life and career

Żal has said that he "fell in love" with cinema at the age of 16, when he attended a course on filmmaking held at a local gymnasium in his home town of

Koszalin Koszalin (; ; , ) is a city in northwestern Poland, in Western Pomerania. It is located south of the Baltic Sea coast, and intersected by the river Dzierżęcinka. Koszalin is also a county-status city and capital of Koszalin County of West Pomera ...

, Poland. His interest in photography was sparked by a friend, who asked to use him as a subject and also showed him how to use a camera. He went on to study photography at the Leon Schiller National Film, Television and Theatre School in

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

, from which he graduated in 2007. Whilst there, he watched many films and decided to pursue a career as a cinematographer because of the "stronger emotional content" he observed in movies. When preparing to work on a film, Żal has stated that he reads though the script and tries "to find part of [him]self in the movie". In 2019 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the British

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is the world's oldest photographic society having been in continuous existence since 1853. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as th ...

, from which he also received the annual Lumière Award. He has been named as the recipient of the Variety Artisan Award at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.Jeremy Kay
"TIFF adds Carolina Markowicz, Lukasz Zal, Andy Lau to tribute line-up"
''

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

'', August 22, 2023.

Filmography

Feature film

Awards and nominations

Major awards

Critics awards

References

External links

Łukasz Żal
at FilmPolski.pl
Łukasz Żal
at Filmweb.pl * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zal, Lukasz 1981 births Living people Polish cinematographers European Film Award for Best Cinematographer winners People from Koszalin