Sobociński, Witold

(1929-)

   One of the most esteemed Polish cinematographers. After graduating from the Łódź Film School in 1955, Sobociński worked for television (1955-1959) and the studio Czołówka (1959-1964). In the mid-1960s, he worked as a camera operator on The Pharaoh (1966, Jerzy Kawalerowicz) and Ciphers (1966, Wojciech J. Has). His debut as a cinematographer came with Jerzy Skolimowski's Hands Up (1967, released in 1985). Later he also collaborated with Skolimowski on his films made abroad, The Adventures of Gerard (1970) and Torrents of Spring (1989). Sobociński, however, became internationally known for his work on Andrzej Wajda's classic films, including Everything for Sale (1969), The Wedding (1973), and The Promised Land (1975). In the 1970s, he also photographed Has's Hospital under the Hourglass (1973), Andrzej Żuławski's The Third Part of the Night (1972), and Edward Zebrowski's The Hospital of Transfiguration (1979).

   Sobociński also worked abroad. For example, he collaborated with Roman Polański on Pirates (1986) and Frantic (1988). He also photographed The Catamount Killing (1974) and several other films made outside of Poland by Krzysztof Zanussi, with whom he had made Family Life (1971). In the 1950s, Sobociński was a drummer in the first jazz group that emerged in Poland, Melomani (Music Lovers), headed by another cinematographer trained at Łódź, Jerzy "Duduś" Matuszkiewicz. In 1981 Feliks Falk made a film about this group, There Was Jazz, photographed by Sobociński and with him on-screen (as himself). In recent years Sobociński worked on two films directed by his fellow cinematographer Jerzy Wójcik: The Complaint (1991) and The Gates of Europe (1999). For the latter he won the Festival of Polish Films and the Polish Film Award "Eagle." Sobociński has also been a lecturer at the Łódź Film School. In 1994 he received the Lifetime Achievement award at the Camerimage film festival. He is cinematographer Piotr Sobocinski's father.

   Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema by Marek Haltof