Began his career as an assistant director and turned out his own first feature in 1951. Kawalerowicz has been praised for his meticulous visual style; his work ranges from well-observed psychological studies to historical dramas such as "Mother Joan of the Angels" (1960), a Jury Prize winner at Cannes. He has contributed to the scripts of most of his films and his wife, actress Lucyna Winnicka, has appeared in a number of his productions. From 1955 until its disbandment in 1968, Kawalerowicz served as head of the "KADR" production unit, whose members then included Andrzej Wajda, Andrzej Munk and Tadeusz Konwicki. (He was named artistic director of the unit when it was reconstituted in 1972.) In 1983 Kawalerowicz signed a report commissioned by the Communist government, condemning filmmakers sympathetic to the Solidarity movement and advocating the dismantling of the production units then headed by Andrzej Wajda ("X") and Krzysztof Zanussi ("TOR"); a move by the Polish authorities to elect him as President of the Polish Film Makers Association was subsequently blocked by the association's membership.
Profession(s):
director, screenwriter, assistant director, artistic director
Sometimes Credited As:
Cannes Film Festival Jury Prize Award "Mother Jones and the Angels" 1961
1972 Appointed artistic director of "Kadr"
1955 Appointed head of "Kadr" production unit
1951 Film directorial debut "The Village Mill"