Slawomir Idziak

Slawomir Idziak

Birth : 1945-01-25, Katowice, śląskie, Polska

History

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sławomir Idziak (Polish pronunciation: [swaˈvɔmir ˈid͡ʑak]; born 25 January 1945 in Katowice, Poland) is a Polish cinematographer and director who has worked on over forty Polish and foreign films. He has made fourteen films with Krzysztof Zanussi, including Kontrakt (The Contract), The Constant Factor and The Year of the Quiet Sun. He worked on all the early films of Krzysztof Kieślowski, including his television, feature film and foreign debuts, additionally, the two collaborated on A Short Film About Killing, The Double Life of Véronique and Three Colors: Blue. He has made films with such directors as Ridley Scott, John Sayles, Michael Winterbottom and John Duigan, and has also written and directed two films himself. He worked on Winterbottom's film I Want You, where he won an Honourable Mention at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival. He moved to more mainstream films such as Gattaca (1997), Proof of Life (2000), Black Hawk Down (2001), and King Arthur (2004). In 2002, he was nominated for an Academy Award as well as a BAFTA for 'Best Cinematography' in the film Black Hawk Down. Idziak was the director of photography for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth film adaptation of J.K. Rowling's popular fantasy series, directed by David Yates. He is also Director of Photography for Battle of Warsaw 1920 - the first of his films, and the first ever Polish-language feature film, to be shot in 3D. Sławomir Idziak teaches at film schools in Berlin, London and Copenhagen, and also conducts seminars in cinematography in other countries. He is currently working on a Virtual Film Studio Web site called Film Spring Open which gives users an opportunity to present work to global audiences and to make films online. Participants can share ideas, exchange equipment or write scripts together. The aim is to create an international community of filmmakers who will support each other, make films together and will care about the advertising and distribution of their films.

Profile

Slawomir Idziak

Movies

A Tale of Love and Darkness
Director of Photography
The story of young Amos Oz, growing up in Jerusalem in the years before Israeli statehood with his parents; his academic father, Arieh, and his dreamy, imaginative mother, Fania.
Measuring the World
Director of Photography
Germany in the early 19th century. "Die Vermessung der Welt" follows the two brilliant and eccentric scientists Alexander von Humboldt and Carl Friedrich Gauss on their life paths.
Battle of Warsaw 1920
Director of Photography
Poland's winning battle against Soviet Russia as seen through the eyes of two young protagonists, Ola and Jan. She is a Warsaw cabaret dancer, while he is a cavalry officer and poet who believes in socialist ideals
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Director of Photography
Returning for his fifth year of study at Hogwarts, Harry is stunned to find that his warnings about the return of Lord Voldemort have been ignored. Left with no choice, Harry takes matters into his own hands, training a small group of students to defend themselves against the dark arts.
Still Alive: A Film About Krzysztof Kieslowski
Self
Maria Zmarz-Koczanowicz directed this insightful TV documentary (2005) tracing the Polish filmmaker's career. Former classmates reminisce about Kieslowski's happy beginnings at the Lodz film school and how his dissatisfaction with some of his early documentaries prompted the dramatic work and stylistic experimentation that led to his monumental series of films The Decalogue (1989). Wim Wenders, Agnieszka Holland, and Juliette Binoche are among the many admirers weighing in on his hard-driving work methods and preoccupation with the ephemeral. In Polish, French, and German with subtitles.
King Arthur
Director of Photography
The story of the Arthurian legend, based on the 'Sarmatian hypothesis' which contends that the legend has a historical nucleus in the Sarmatian heavy cavalry troops stationed in Britain, and that the Roman-British military commander, Lucius Artorius Castus is the historical person behind the legend.
Black Hawk Down
Director of Photography
When U.S. Rangers and an elite Delta Force team attempt to kidnap two underlings of a Somali warlord, their Black Hawk helicopters are shot down, and the Americans suffer heavy casualties, facing intense fighting from the militia on the ground.
Proof of Life
Director of Photography
Alice hires a professional negotiator to obtain the release of her engineer husband, who has been kidnapped by anti-government guerrillas in South America.
LiebesLuder
Director of Photography
Paranoid
Director of Photography
Chloe Keane is an stressed American fashion model living in London who is about to have the worst weekend of her life. She and her boyfriend are invited to attend a party at the house of a former rock-star named Stan and his weird family who live in the countryside. Chloe awakes the next morning only to find her boyfriend has abandoned her at Stan's house and she has been drugged and handcuffed to the bed.
The Last September
Director of Photography
In 1920s Ireland, an elderly couple reside over a tired country estate. Living with them are their high-spirited niece, their Oxford student nephew, and married house guests, who are trying to cover up that they are presently homeless. The niece enjoys romantic frolics with a soldier and a hidden guerrilla fighter. All of the principals are thrown into turmoil when one more guest arrives with considerable wit and unwanted advice.
Love & Rage
Director of Photography
Agnes MacDonnell, a strong and self-confident Englishwoman, owns a large estate on an island off the west coast of Ireland. When she begins a passionate but dangerous affair with her new estate manager, Agnes wages a desperate struggle to dominate this charismatic but destructive man.
I Want You
Director of Photography
A young boy and his sister are drawn into one man's obsessive pursuit of his former lover.
Gattaca
Director of Photography
In a future society in the era of indefinite eugenics, humans are set on a life course depending on their DNA. Young Vincent Freeman is born with a condition that would prevent him from space travel, yet is determined to infiltrate the GATTACA space program.
Men with Guns
Director of Photography
Dr. Fuentes is a medical professor approaching his retirement and journeys to find old students, with sometimes disturbing results.
Commandments
Director of Photography
Seth Warner has reached the end of his rope. Ever since his wife died two years earlier, his world has been in turmoil. He is despondent, his career has fallen apart, even his house has been destroyed. There seems to be nothing left for him to live for. Confused and angry after two years of suffering, he finally directs his wrath at God from the rooftop of his apartment building in New York City. In the midst of a wild thunderstorm he demands to know why he has been betrayed by the god he has believed in and honored his whole life. God's answer is to strike down Seth's dog in a bolt of lightning. Pushed beyond his limits, Seth decides to respond to his years of torment by breaking each of the biblical Ten Commandments.
Lilian's Story
Director of Photography
For forty years Lilian Singer has been locked up in a 'loony bin' by her father. Her release is eventually secured by her eccentric Aunt Kitty and her brother, John. Lilian starts to carve out a place for herself. As she explores Sydney and the people who live and work around her she sees others looking for love. Lilian shows us it is never too late to change your life and that even unusual choices can bring contentment.
Männerpension
Director of Photography
Ein Förderprogramm bringt die beiden Kanckis Gerd und Steinbock in die Obhut von Frauen. Dort sollen sie beweisen, dass sie in der Lage sind sich in die Gesellschaft zu integrieren. Nun bringt Gerd dummerweise einen Barbesitzer um. Damit hat der Ausflug in die Freiheit vorlaeufig ein Ende.
Tears of Stone
Director of Photography
About Icelandic composer Jon Leifs (1899-1968) who spent much of his life in Germany before WWII. The film begins in the 1930s after he has married the daughter of an industrialist, Annie, who is also a concert pianist. This era was frustrating for Leifs because his works were seldom performed. Iceland's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1995
The Journey of August King
Director of Photography
The Journey of August King is a multi-dimensional drama about a North Carolina farmer in 1815. August King, a widower, is on his way home as he does every year after selling his produce and purchasing the stock and goods he will need to survive the winter. On his journey, he comes upon a run-away slave, a young woman about 19 and August King must decide to violate the law and help this slave to freedom or else leave her to be hunted down and, ultimately, returned to her slave owner.
Three Colors: Blue
Author
Julie is haunted by her grief after living through a tragic auto wreck that claimed the life of her composer husband and young daughter. Her initial reaction is to withdraw from her relationships, lock herself in her apartment and suppress her pain. But avoiding human interactions on the bustling streets of Paris proves impossible, and she eventually meets up with Olivier, an old friend who harbors a secret love for her, and who could draw her back to reality.
Three Colors: Blue
Director of Photography
Julie is haunted by her grief after living through a tragic auto wreck that claimed the life of her composer husband and young daughter. Her initial reaction is to withdraw from her relationships, lock herself in her apartment and suppress her pain. But avoiding human interactions on the bustling streets of Paris proves impossible, and she eventually meets up with Olivier, an old friend who harbors a secret love for her, and who could draw her back to reality.
Das lange Gespräch mit dem Vogel
Director of Photography
Enak
Director
The astronaut Charles Enak refuses to come back to Earth after completing a mission in orbit. While he also refuses to give any explanation for his behaviour, the world enters its biggest crisis since the Cold War. As journalists try to find out more about Enak and his backstory in communist Poland, they discover that he possesses the ability to influence people's sub-consciousness.
The Double Life of Véronique
Director of Photography
Véronique is a beautiful young French woman who aspires to be a renowned singer; Weronika lives in Poland, has a similar career goal and looks identical to Véronique, though the two are not related. The film follows both women as they contend with the ups and downs of their individual lives, with Véronique embarking on an unusual romance with Alexandre Fabbri, a puppeteer who may be able to help her with her existential issues.
Inventory
Director of Photography
Difficulty of human relations in a 3-cornered tale: a neurotic woman, idealistic young man and his mother. Tomek is a clean-cut, high-minded geography student. He lives with his mother Zofia, a sensitive, practicing Catholic, like her son. When he meets Julia, a depressed woman older than he, he first tries to comfort her, then invites her to stay with him and his mother. Tomek makes a trip to West Berlin to visit his well-off father. He refuses to take money from him and looks for work as a house painter. Julia ends up in a rest home for treatment, while Tomek is trying to make their relationship work.
Decalogue V
Camera Operator
Jacek, an angry drifter, murders a taxi driver, brutally and without motive. His case is assigned to Piotr, an idealistic young lawyer who is morally opposed to the death penalty, and their interactions take on an emotional honesty that throws into stark relief for Piotr the injustice of killing of any kind.
Wherever You Are...
Director of Photography
An Uruguayan diplomat brings his new wife with him on a business trip to Poland in the summer immediately preceding the outbreak of World War II.
A Short Film About Killing
Director of Photography
Jacek climbs into the taxi driven by Waldemar, tells him to drive to a remote location, then brutally strangles him, seemingly without motive.
Harmagedon
Cinematography
Film by Juha Rosma
Power Of Evil
Director of Photography
An unsuspecting student thinks that the wife of an arms dealer is unhappy, but in reality she appears as cynical as her capitalist man.
A Year of the Quiet Sun
Director of Photography
Shortly after World War II an American soldier (Norman) and a Polish refugee (Emilia) fall in love. Eventually he will return to the U.S. and both expect that she will soon follow him with her mother. Emilia's mother is sick, but will recover with the right medicine. But the mother, and not Emilia, knows that there will only be one ticket...
Der Fall Bachmeier - Keine Zeit für Tränen
Editor
Der Fall Bachmeier - Keine Zeit für Tränen
Director of Photography
Imperativ
Director of Photography
Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi once more explores the dilemma of intellectualism at the expense of humanity in 1982's Imperative. The story concerns math professor Robert Powell, who feels that there is something lacking in his ever-so-precise life. What is missing is truth, specifically philosophical truth. Thus he philosophizes at great length, allowing director Zanussi plenty of room for didactic but little room for warmth. Leading ladies Brigette Fossey and Leslie Caron occasionally melt through the cold logic of Imperative.
Versuchung
Director of Photography
From a Far Country
Director of Photography
This heroic story follows the life of Karol Wojtyla, a Polish Roman catholic who ascends the throne of St. Peter as Pope John Paul II. As a young boy, Karol is a bright and talented student. Archbishop Sapieha recognizes the very special, moving qualities Karol possesses and encourages him to consider the priesthood. Although determined to study Polish literature, Karol turns to the church; he is ordained and studies in Italy, France, and Belgium. Torn by fear and repression in post-Stalin Eastern Europe, Karol becomes a poisonous thorn in the communists' side. His deer reverence and commitment return him to Poland as Pope John Paul II.
The Contract
Director of Photography
Bearing traces of the old Anton Chekhov play The Wedding, The Contract is set during an "arranged" ceremony. The bride and groom barely know each other, but this matters not at all to their tradition-bound families. At the last minute, the bride balks. Only slightly nonplused, the groom's father, a status-seeking doctor, decides to go ahead with the expensive reception anyway. Polish director Krzysz Zanussi uses this scenario to stick it to capitalist corruption, and to society's destruction of the individual spirit. Leslie Caron, the one recognizable member of the cast, is outstanding as a wealthy, over-the-hill ballerina who happens to be a kleptomaniac.
The Constant Factor
Director of Photography
The main character in this effective, convincing drama is Witold (Tadeusz Bradecki) who is high in what later would be termed the "emotional quotient" or the ability to bounce back from adverse, tragic circumstances. Witold has been nursing both his sick mother and a deeply rooted desire to climb the Himalayas. His father had died climbing in those mountains, and they have an allure for Witold as well. But his dreams begin to crumble when his mother succumbs to her illness and trouble brews at work. The situation becomes bad enough to scramble Witold's life with no indication of future improvement.
The Conductor
Director of Photography
A violinist in a provincial Polish orchestra, whose husband is the director of the ensemble, on a visit to the US ties up with the world- renowned symphony conductor. As it turns out he was once in love with violinist's mother. The conductor, a slightly unstable hypochondriac, returns to Poland to lead the provincial orchestra. He also tries to revive old love affair using the violinist as a surrogate of her mother. Her husband is resentful of the conductor for both personal and professional reasons.
Nauka latania
Writer
A story about the difficult experiences of a nine-year-old boy who tries to understand and assimilate the laws governing the world of adults. Left to himself, Tomek deeply experiences his anxieties and finally decides to rebel .
Nauka latania
Director
A story about the difficult experiences of a nine-year-old boy who tries to understand and assimilate the laws governing the world of adults. Left to himself, Tomek deeply experiences his anxieties and finally decides to rebel .
The Scar
Director of Photography
When a political decision is made as to the location of a new large chemical factory, Stefan Bednarz is put in charge of it. This honest communist party man has to confront the local community opposing the construction.
Slate
Director of Photography
A short making-of from the set of Kieslowski's feature film "Blizna", which uses a lot the word "Action!" and the slate.
A Woman's Decision
Director of Photography
The main character is a bookkeeper, 40, who lives a quiet, uninteresting life with her husband and son of school age. She realizes that soon she won't be needed much at home as the boy grows up and the relationship with her husband crumbles. It's only when an embezzlement is discovered at the office and she stands up to her management, that she realizes life has more to offer. She meets a well-off former classmate, married to an American. Then she meets Jacek and starts contemplating possibilities of a new start. She discovers love for the first time, but turns to old ways rather than to break loose.
Pedestrian Subway
Director of Photography
A school teacher from a small town in Poland comes to Warsaw to see his estranged wife, a window dresser, in the hope that she will return to him rather than give him a divorce.
Cicha noc, święta noc
Writer
A village in Podhale, the time of Christmas. The then folk culture confronts the occupation of the Germans.
Cicha noc, święta noc
Director of Photography
A village in Podhale, the time of Christmas. The then folk culture confronts the occupation of the Germans.
The Criminal Who Stole a Crime
Director of Photography
A retired police captain, Siwy, tells a reporter about his latest action, carrying on his own investigation into the mysterious death of a Eve Salm, a.k.a. Princess. She was a witness in a case where the defendant pled guilty and was sentenced to eight years in prison. Siwy doubts the defendant's guilt and risks his life to apprehend the real killer.
The Game
kochanek Małgorzaty
Professionally active, childless, married woman loses her father during a business trip. With an overwhelming sense of transience and the fear of death, she doubts her attachment to her husband. It turns out that in marriage, too, he only plays his part, with greater or lesser conviction.
Podróżni jak inni
Cinematography
Heart Attack
Director of Photography
One of his first and the most famous undergrad shorts, which seems to forshadow the director's death. A prize winner at a film festival in Oberhausen, it does not bear any great resemblance to Wiszniewski's later films.It attempts to illustrate the subjective states of a character through expressionistic photography, hardcore jazz and associative editing.
Każdemu to, czego mu wcale nie trzeba
Cinematography
Surreal film of non-sequiturs, swimming, death and the holocaust.
13 piętro