Agnieszka Holland
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Agnieszka Holland (born November 28, 1948 in Warsaw, Poland) is a film and TV director and screenplay writer.
She graduated from the Prague Film and TV Academy (FAMU). She first assisted Krzysztof Zanussi and Andrzej Wajda before directing films on her own. A friend of the great Polish writer and director, Krzysztof Kieslowski, she collaborated on the screeplay for his film, Three Colors: Blue. Like Kieslowski, in her films Holland frequently examines issues of faith. She also worked upon Wajda's Danton (1982). When interviewed by Barbara Quart 1988 p 231) Holland said that although women were important in her films feminism was not an issue. Instead she suggested that at that time there was a cross-gender solidarity against censorship which was seen as the main political issue.
In 1979 Holland made her third film Provincial Actors
A Woman Alone 1981 was the last film Holland made in Poland. Just martial law came into force in Poland in December 1981, Holland moved to Paris.
Angry Harvest (1985) was made in Germany about a Jewish women on the run in World War II. It received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.
Europa Europa (1991) was based upon the true story of a Jewish teenager who suffered from Kristallnacht escaping from Germany to Poland and then avoiding the German invasion of Poland he fled to the Soviet occupied part of Poland. Later captured after operation Barbarossa he manages to convinces the Nazis that he is pure German. Eventually he ends up being trained in as SS elite training academy. Involved in fighting in the siege of Berlin he manges to go over to the Soviets and eventually manages to emigrate to Israel.
This was followed up by Olivier Olivier another tale of assumed identity which the New York Times suggests was not so well received as Europa Europa.
In 1993 she made The Secret Garden
Recent films includeGolden Dreams for Disneyland, Shot in the Heart (2001) for HBO and Julia Walking Home (2001).
Holland's most recent film is The Healer (2004). She also worked on the script of Blue (1993) the first part of Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colours trilogy.
Films directed
- Grzech Boga (God's Sin, 1970, 25')
- Wieczór u Abdona (Evening at Abdon's, 1975, 48', based on a story by Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz)
- Dziewczyna i "Akwarius" (A Girl and Acquarius, 1975, 80')
- Niedzielne dzieci (Sunday Children1977, 80')
- Zdjęcia próbne (Screen tests, 1976, 90')
- Coś za coś (Something for something, 1977, 62', TV)
- Aktorzy prowincjonalni (Provincial actors, 1978, 108', International Critics Prize at Cannes Film Festival)
- Gorączka (Fever, 1980, 122')
- Kobieta samotna (A Lonely Woman, 1981, 93')
- Postcards from Paris (1982, francuski film TV)
- Culture (1985, documentary)
- Bittere Ernte (Angry Harvest, 1985, 101', Germany, Oscara nominee for the best foreign language film)
- Kill the Priest (1988, France-UK, about murder of Jerzy Popieluszko, Polish priest killed by security services)
- Europa, Europa (1990, 113', France-Germany, Oscar nominne for the best screenplay)
- Olivier, Olivier (1991, 110', France)
- The Secret Garden (1993, 102')
- Red Wind (1994, TV film based on a novel of Raymond Chandler)
- Total Eclipse (1995, 111')
- Washington Square (1997, 110')
- The third miracle (1999, 119')
- Shot in the heart (2001, 98')
- Julia walking home (2001)
- Golden Dreams (2001, documentary for Disneyland)
Literature
- Quart Barbara Koenig. 1988. Women Directors: The Emergence of a New Cinema. New York: Praeger. ISBN 0-275-93477-3
External links
- Holland's official site (http://www.perfectnet.com/holland/)de:Agnieszka Holland