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

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

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

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

'' for Best Documentary at

Kraków Film Festival The Krakow Film Festival () is one of Europe's oldest events dedicated to documentary, animation and other short film forms. It is one of the only five FIAPF accredited documentary and short film festivals in the world.https://fiapf.org/festiv ...

, 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 a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

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 Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Award for Best Short Documentary.

Biography

He was born in Kartuzy and moved with his family to

Sopot Sopot (; or ) 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, Pomerania Province and has the City with powiat ri ...

a seaside town on the coast of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. In 2001–2002, he studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at the

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

, 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, ...

. He started working as a documentary filmmaker in far

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, 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 country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

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 Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The festival ...

, 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. Started in 1997, the Festival is produced by Flickers, the Newpor ...

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

János Háy János is a masculine Hungarian given name. It originates from the Hebrew name Johanan and is thus a variant of the English name John. People Notable people with the name include: * János Aczél (mathematician) (1924–2020), Hungarian-Ca ...

’s performance

Child Geza A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''child ...

. 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 o ...

"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 a group of European film director, filmmakers who come together in Berlin on the occasion of the first presentation of the European Film Awards in November 1988. Every year, the European Film Academy honors films an ...

to take part in annual

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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 (school etudes excluded)

Director

* ''Icon'' (''Ikona'', 2016) – documentary: director, writer * ''The High Frontier'' (''Na granicy'', 2016) – short thriller: director, writer * ''A House at the end of the Road'' (''Dom na końcu drogi'', 2013) – short action: director, writer * ''Chasm'' aka ''Abyss'' (''Otchłań'', 2009) – short documentary: director, writer * ''The Seeds'' (''Nasiona'', 2005) – short documentary: director

Other works

* ''ORP Orzeł Jan Grudziński'' (2014) – short docudrama by

Cezary Iber Cezary is the Polish version of the given name Caesar. Notable people with the name include: *Cezary Balicki (born 1958), Polish bridge player *Cezary Czpak (born 1982), Polish footballer, playing as a midfielder *Cezary Geroń (1960–1998), Poli ...

: writer * ''Battleheart'' (''Serce do walki'', 2011) – short sport fiction by Tomasz Matuszczak: executive producer * ''With Love '' (''Z miłości'', 2011) – feature film by Anna Jadowska: producer * ''Come to me'' (''Przyjdź do mnie'', 2009) – short fiction by Ewa Banaszkiewicz: executive producer

Awards (selection)

''The Refuge City'' (''Miasto ucieczki''; school etude) *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 Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

- 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 ...

, Los Angeles - 2006 competition *

Dok Leipzig DOK Leipzig is a documentary film festival that takes place every October 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 an ...

- 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 Polish screenwriters Polish film directors Łódź Film School alumni Media Wave Award winners