Marczewski, Wojciech

(1944-)

   Highly regarded in Poland as a film director and screenwriter, Marczewski initially worked at the SE-MA-FOR and Czołówka studios, where he directed several television films mostly referring to World War II. From 1972 to 1994, he was a member of the film studio Tor. In 1979 he directed his first theatrical film, the very well-received Nightmares (Zmory), based on Emil Zegadłowicz's anticlerical novel, telling the coming-of-age story of a sensitive boy in a small Galician town (then part of the Austro-Hungar-ian monarchy). In 1981 Marczewski directed another coming-of-age story, this time set in the 1950s, Shivers (Dreszcze). This powerful film about Stalinism, dealing with institutionalized indoctrination and manipulation, tells the story of a teenage boy sent to a scouts' camp after Stalin's death. Nightmares and Shivers form a generational trilogy with Marczewski's later film Weiser (2001), an adaptation of a critically acclaimed contemporary novel by Paweł Huelle.

   After the declaration of martial law, as a gesture of protest Marczewski stopped making films for almost ten years. In 1990 he directed Escape from the "Freedom" Cinema (Ucieczka z kina "Wolność"), which won the Festival of Polish Films and received several international awards. This multilayered film tells the story of a disillusioned government censor (Janusz Gajos) who comes to fathom the misery of his present life. On another level, however, it clearly serves as an allegory for the situation in the 1980s, a reminder of the supremacy of politics over people's lives. Marczewski is also a well-known film teacher. Since 1984 he has taught regularly at film schools in Copenhagen, Denmark, conducted film workshops in several European countries, and cofounded the Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing.

   Other films: The Housekeeper (Klucznik, TV, 1979), Time of Betrayal (Czas zdrady, TV, 1997).

   Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema by Marek Haltof