Anglo-Polish Filmmaker
Pawel Pawlikowski Wins
Best Director Award
… at the Cannes film festival for his movie “Cold War”
“Cold War” is a love story between two very different people who can’t live without each other but constantly quarrel whenever together. It was set in the 1950s Stalinist Poland, with scenes also filmed in Berlin, Yugoslavia and Paris. The film features a cast of top Polish actors such as Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot, Agata Kulesza and Borys Szyc.
Born in Warsaw in 1957, Pawlikowski left Poland with his family at the age of 14 and lived in Germany and Italy before settling down in Britain. He began his film-making career with documentaries before graduating to feature films. In 2015, his movie ”Ida”, also set in the grim Cold War era, won an Oscar for the best foreign-language film.
“Cold War” really brought the house down at Cannes and blew away an audience of seasoned festival-goers who gave it a 15-minute standing ovation. Pawlikowski expressed his gratitude for the award and noted that this was the first time in years that a Polish film had taken part in the festival’s main competition.
By Robert Strybel