Andrzej Żuławski


Andrzej Żuławski was a Polish film director and writer. He was born in Lviv, Ukrainian SSR. Żuławski often went against mainstream commercialism in his films, and enjoyed success mostly with European art-house audiences.
In the late 1950s, he studied cinema in France. His second feature, The Devil, was banned in Poland, and Żuławski went to France. After the success of in 1975, he returned to Poland where he spent two years making On the Silver Globe. The work on this film was interrupted by the Polish authorities. After that, Żuławski moved to France where he became known for controversial and violent art-house films. Żuławski is also known for his work with actresses including Romy Schneider, Isabelle Adjani and Sophie Marceau.
His films have received awards at various international film festivals. Żuławski had also written several novels, for example: Il était Un Verger, Lity Bór, W Oczach Tygrysa, and Ogród Miłości.

Biography

Andrzej Żuławski was born in Lviv. He was an assistant of the filmmaker Andrzej Wajda.
When his second film The Devil was banned in Poland, he decided to move to France, where he made with Romy Schneider.
After returning to Poland he worked for two years on a film which the authorities did not allow him to finish, based on a book by his great-uncle Jerzy Żuławski. Since then he lived and worked mostly in France, making art films.
Being a maverick who always defied mainstream commercialism, Żuławski enjoyed success mostly with the European art-house audiences. His wild, imaginative, and controversial pictures have received awards at various international film festivals. He also wrote the novels Il était Un Verger, Lity Bór, W Oczach Tygrysa, and Ogród Miłości.
In 2006 he was the Head of the Jury at the 28th Moscow International Film Festival.
Żuławski worked many times with composer Andrzej Korzyński, beginning in The Third Part of the Night. Their last collaboration was for Cosmos, which was also Żuławski's last film.
On 17 February 2016, Żuławski died at a hospital in Warsaw from cancer.

Personal life

He had three sons from different relationships. Żuławski's ex-wife was Małgorzata Braunek, who was a Polish film and stage actress. Their son, Xawery, is also a film director.
He was in a relationship with the French actress Sophie Marceau for sixteen years, with whom he made four films over a 15-year period. They had a son Vincent together. They broke up in 2001.

Selected filmography

Family tree