Krzysztof Ptak

Krzysztof Ptak

Birth : 1954-04-03, Sulejów, Poland

Death : 2016-08-19

Profile

Krzysztof Ptak

Movies

Birds Are Singing in Kigali
Director of Photography
We meet ornithologist Anna in 1994 just as genocide is raging in Rwanda, perpetrated by the majority Hutus against the Tutsis. Anna manages to save the daughter of a colleague whose family has been murdered, and she takes her to Poland. But the woman returns to Rwanda to visit the graves of her loved ones. The director originally worked on the movie with her husband Krzysztof Krauze (My Nikifor – Crystal Globe, KVIFF 2005), but after his death in 2014 she eventually finished this challenging picture alone.
Doll
Director of Photography
The rise and fall of the most distinguished Polish-Gypsy poetess Bronislawa Wajs, widely known as Papusza, and her relationship with her discoverer, writer Jerzy Ficowski.
Manipulation
Cinematography
Set in Zurich in the 1950s, a special agent who is near retirement receives a major assignment: Bring down Harry Wind, a top PR manager who has been accused of spying.
The Dark House
Director of Photography
Poland, 1978. Edward Srodon, a zootechnician, makes an accidental stop at the Dziabas family farm, located in the remote area of the Bieszczady Mountains. Years later, on a winter day during Martial Law, a People's Militia investigation team examines a crime scene.
Jasminum
Director of Photography
The peaceful world of a monastery, in a small town Jasmine, is destroyed by the arrival of monument restorers, Natasha, along with her daughter Eugenia. The legend associated with the monastery bode revelation in him a saint in the near future. Despite initial reluctance, Natasha starts the maintenance of the image stored there. The secrets of the monastery are unraveled: the unhappy lovers bodies placed in the catacombs, the secret elixir of love, created with the smell of the monks.
My Nikifor
Director of Photography
From his birth in 1895 through his death in 1968, the gifted Polish naïve artist Nikifor Krynicki (AKA Epifan Drowniak) lived his life and eked out a career cloaked in obscurity - a casualty of both his extreme speech impediment (his tongue was attached to the roof of his mouth, which prompted others to errantly tag him as mentally incapacitated) and his self-effacing decision to sell the majority of his work for meager amounts. Krzysztof Krauze's biopic My Nikifor travels to the tail end of Krynicki's (Krystyna Feldman) life journey, dramatizing the period that surrounded his interaction with the well-established artist Marian Wlosinski (Roman Gancarczyk).
Edi
Cinematography
The film tells a story of two scrap pickers - the title hero Edi and his friend Jureczek. Edi is wrongly accused of having raped the girl whose brothers have got the control over one of the city areas. Edi is severely punished for that but he accepts his fate taking care of the girl's child.
Weiser
Director of Photography
The film is based on the well-known, translated into many languages novel of writer Pawel Huelle. It is imbued with nostalgia and the atmosphere of mystery story of a group of children, fascinated by the figure of a man named David Weiser.
Dzień wielkiej ryby
Cinematography
A Time of Betrayal
Director of Photography
A drama set in the year 1516 in Tuscany. Niccolo Machiavelli, stripped of office, remains in exile awaiting his return to favor by the new duke. When this moment finally arrives, Machiavelli discovers himself to be the victim of a plot hatched by the duke.
Nocne Graffiti
Director of Photography
A Gentle Creature
Director of Photography
A grieving man tries to find the cause of his young wife's suicide by spending the night next to her dead body and bringing back memories from their past.
SuperWizja
Director of Photography
A world of the future where society is addicted to the drug of television. Supervision sessions create a perfect illusion of reality, making it almost impossible to return to reality.
Cynga
Cinematography
A young Varsovian runs away from the Nazi’s attack on the East. He falls into the hands of the NKVD. Suspected of espionage, he ends up in a camp in Siberia. He will spend the war in a psychiatric hospital.
300 Miles to Heaven
Director of Photography
Based on a true story dating back to 1985 when two Polish boys, a teenager and his little brother, escaped from communist Poland all the way to Sweden, hidden under a truck. In the movie, their destination has been changed to Denmark.
Kornblumenblau
Cinematography
Based on a true story of a Polish musician who survived the concentration camp only because he could play on the accordion the title melody.
Tabu
Cinematography
Story of a tragic love triangle that develops between a mother daugther and a farmhand. A good-looking widow lives alone on a farm with her teenage daughter. Their neighbor occasionally helps them in the farmwork. He would have eventually married the mother, but the daughter tries to seduce him at all costs. He becomes the lover of both women, but eventually runs away leaving the mother shattered and the daughter pregnant.
Fik-Mik
Director of Photography
Wigilia '81
Cinematography
Martial law. Three women at the festive table await the return of Witek, with whom they have had no contact for ten days.
Killing Auntie
Director of Photography
A grotesque fairy tale of fantasies in a 21-year old's mind. First he confesses to a priest about killing his aunt. Then he is sending parcels from the post office. Just when it appears that he is going to be arrested, the aunt appears alive and well from her trip. This time though, he decides to go for it...
A Few Stories About a Man
Director of Photography
The film is a portrait of Jerzy Orłowski, an armless graphic artist. Impressionistic scenes present the protagonist in various situations: when he has to deal with everyday chores, when he jumps into water, skis and draws. Even the simplest activity requires struggle, resilience and outstanding fitness from him. Many takes are in slow motion, contemplating the smallest detail, which the director is so skilfully able to bring out.
Ślepy bokser
Director of Photography
A distinguished engineer is informed of being forcibly transferred from his current workplace to another construction site.
The Arena of Life
Director of Photography
The last performance of the Grand Circus in the 1978 season. The camera meticulously captures important details, gestures, situations and emotions on the faces of circus artists.
Hockey
Second Unit Director of Photography
A documentary about ice hockey from the point of view of the hockey puck.