Kolski was born in Wrocław, and comes from a family closely connected to cinema. His father, Roman Kolski, and his sister, Ewa Pakulska were film editors. His brother, Włodzimierz Kolski, is a production manager. His paternal grandfather was a film producer. Kolski's wife, Grażyna Błęcka-Kolska is an actress. From age eleven until age fourteen, Kolski lived in a small village, Popielawy, near Tomaszów Mazowiecki and Łódź. Those years became the inspiration for his later films. During the late 1970s, he worked his way through the ranks at a TV station in his home town, ending up as chief director of photography. He then studied cinematography at the famous Film School in Łódź, where he now runs a screenplay workshop. In 2007 he gained his doctoral degree in film art. He's also a lecturer at Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing.
Works
During the 1980s, Kolski made about twenty short films, including Umieranko ; Najpiękniejsza jaskinia świata ; Mały dekalog, Nie zasmucę serca twego, Jak mnie kochasz, Szkoła przetrwania, Pałkiewicz ma rację , Słowiański świt, Ładny dzień, Idź. The shorts won many awards in Poland. Many of Kolski's short films documented his passion for mountain climbing and speleology, which earned him a nickname 'The Stuntman of the Polish cinematography'. More recently, Kolski created three film diaries: Zobaczyc jak najwiecej, Gdzie jestes Paititi? and Między rajem a ziemią during his journeys to Asia and South America. Kolski's first feature, Pogrzeb kartofla, was shot in Popielawy in 1990, and was based on a real story of Kolski's maternal grandfather, Jakub Szewczyk. In that movie, as well as in his subsequent films, Kolski employed his own vision of the world enriched with magic, and is considered to be the founder of the 'magical realism' trend in Polish film making. Since then, Kolski has made many more films, most of them located in the same village or mythical countryside. Among those films are: Pograbek ; Magneto; Jańcio Wodnik ; Cudowne miejsce ; Grający z talerza ; Szabla od komendanta ; and Historia kina w Popielawach, which were all based on Kolski's own script. In 1994 Jańcio Wodnik won the Findling Award at the Filmfestival Cottbus. Daleko od okna, made in 2000, opened a new chapter in Kolski's filmography. The screenplay by Cezary Harasimowicz was based on a real-life story written by Hanna Krall, famous for writing about the Holocaust. His next work, Pornografia was in turn based on the novel with the same title by Witold Gombrowicz. The next two Jasminum and Afonia i pszczoły were based on his own original screenplays, whereas Wenecja, his latest movie, is based on a short story by Włodzimierz Odojewski. Kolski continued to work with television, and many of his films and other works were made for the medium. He wrote several plays for television, including Bajka o bardzo lekkim chlebie, Skrzypki, Noga dla Józefa, and Kamera marzen, which were primarily addressed to children. Others, such as Wyspa róż and Diabeł przewrotny, were Kolski's adaptations of original plays. Kolski also directed several commercials, video clips, and one television series, Małopole, czyli świat, in which he returns to the life in the countryside. Kolski's literary output includes short stories collected in two books – Jańcio Wodnik i inne nowele, and Mikroświaty ; a novel, Kulka z chleba ; and a book for children, Jadzia i małoludki. Kolski has won many awards in Poland and abroad. Among his major international successes is the Special Award at The Film Festival in Tokyo in 1995 for his Grający z talerza. In 2000, he also became a member of the European Film Academy. His 2000 film Keep Away from the Window was entered into the 23rd Moscow International Film Festival.
Filmography
School works
Odrobina bólu – Photography
Inauguracja 82 – Director, photography
Za górami – Photography
Red Box – Collaboration
Umieranko – Director, photography
Shorts
Najpiękniejsza jaskinia świata – Director, script, voice-over, photography
Mały dekalog – Information not available
Nie zasmucę serca twego – Information not available
Jak mnie kochasz – Information not available
Człowiek z ulicy Zielonej Gęsi – Photography
Słowiański świt. Początki Polski w Dzieje kultury polskiej – Director, screenplay, photography
Rekwizyty Wiesława Garbolińskiego – Photography
Trzy tematy Leszka Rózgi – Photography
Ładny dzień – Screenplay, director, photography, art director
Pałkiewicz ma rację – Director, script, photography
Szkoła przetrwania – Director, script, photography
