Wójcik, Jerzy

(1930-)

   Accomplished cinematographer whose name is synonymous with some of the best-known achievements of the Polish School. He worked as a camera operator on Andrzej Wajda's Kanal (1957) and as a cinematographer on Wajda's Ashes and Diamonds (1958). He also photographed Andrzej Munk's Ero-ica (1958) as well as Kazimierz Kutz's Cross of Valor (1959) and Nobody Is Calling (1960), where he and Kutz challenged the dominant aesthetics of Polish films. In addition, Wójcik contributed photography to the classics directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz-Mother Joan of the Angels (1961) and The Pharaoh (1966)—and Jerzy Hoffman's The Deluge (1974). Beginning with Westerplatte (1967), Wójcik started a long-term collaboration with Stanisław Różewicz and photographed films such as Leaves Have Fallen (1975), Lynx (1981), and A Woman with a Hat (1985).

   Wójcik also scripted and directed two films: The Complaint (Skarga, 1991), which referred to the brutally suppressed strikes in the Szczecin shipyard in 1970, and The Gates of Europe (Wrota Europy, 1999), set during the Polish-Soviet war in 1920. Both films were photographed by Witold Sobociński. In addition, he directed several television theater plays. Since 1984 Wójcik has been teaching the art of cinematography at the Łódź Film School, where he has also acted as an artistic supervisor on a number of student films.

   Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema by Marek Haltof