BIOGRAPHY

A director, cameraman, screenplay writer, writer. Born January 29, 1956 in Wroclaw, Poland. A son of a film editor Roman Kolski and brother of Ewa Pakulska, also a film editor. Some of his formative years (between 11 and 14 year of age) he spent in a small village Popielawy near Tomaszow Mazowiecki and Lodz. Those years became the inspiration for his later films. During the late 1970s he worked his way through the ranks at a TV station in his home town, ending as chief director of photography. He then studied cinematography at the famous Film School in Lodz.

During the 80's, he made about twenty short films including Umieranko (A Little Dying), Najpiękniejsza jaskinia świata (The Most Beautiful Cave in the World); Mały dekalog (The Little Ten Commandments), Nie zasmucę serca twego (I Won't Make You Sad), Jak mnie kochasz (How Do You Love Me?), Szkoła przetrwania (The Survival School), Pałkiewicz ma rację (Palkiewicz Is Right), Słowiański świt (The Dawn of the Slavonic Tribes), Ładny dzień (A Nice Day) , Idź (Walk), winning many awards in Poland. Many of those shorts documented his passion for mount climbing and speleology, which earned him a nickname "Stuntman of the Polish cinematography". With Zobaczyc jak najwiecej (To see everything), Gdzie jestes Paititi? (Where are you, Paititi?) and Między rajem a ziemią (Between Paradise and Earth) - three film diaries made during recent journeys to Asia and South America Kolski shows that this passion for adventure still streams in his veins.

His first feature, Pogrzeb kartofla (Burial of a Potato) was shot in Popielawy in 1990, and was based on a real story of his grandfather Jakub Szewczyk. Nevertheless in that movie, as well as the next ones, Kolski employed his own vision of the world enriched with magic, and is considered to be the founder of the "magical realism" trend in Polish filmmaking. Since then Kolski has made many more films, most of them located in the same village or mythical countryside. Among those films are: Pograbek (Gravedigger), Magneto, Jańcio Wodnik (Johnny the Aquarius), Cudowne miejsce (Miraculous Place), Grający z talerza (Playing from the Plate), Szabla od komendanta (The Sabre From The Commmander), and Historia kina w Popielawach (History of Cinema in Popielawy), the last film so far based on Kolski's own script.

Daleko od okna (Away from the Window), made in 2000, opened a new chapter in Kolski's filmography. The screenplay by Cezary Harasimowicz was based on a real life story written by Hanna Krall, famous for writing about the Holocaust. His latest work, Pornografia (Pornography) is in turn based on a novel by Witold Gombrowicz.

Kolski is closely connected with TV and many movies and other works were made for this medium. He wrote several theatre plays for TV including Bajka o bardzo lekkim chlebie (Fable of Very Light Bread), Skrzypki (Fiddles), Noga dla Józefa (Leg for Jozef), and Kamera marzen (Dream Camera), mostly addressed to children. The other, like Wyspa róż (Rose Island) and Diabeł przewrotny (Again the Devil) were his adaptations of original plays. He also directed several commercials, video clips, and one TV series Małopole, czyli świat (Malopole, or the World), where he returns to the countryside life.

His literary output includes short stories collected in two books - Jańcio Wodnik i inne nowele (Johnnie the Aquarius and Other Stories), and Mikroświaty (Microworlds); a novel Kulka z chleba (A Bread Pellet); and a book for children Jadzia i małoludki (Jadzia and The Little People).

Jan Jakub Kolski won many awards in Poland and abroad. Among his major international successes is the Special Award at The Film Festival in Tokyo in 1995 for his Grający z talerza (Playing From The Plates). In 2000 he also became a member of the European Film Academy.

FILMOGRAPHY

School Works

Odrobina bólu (A Bit of Pain ),1982, Photography Inauguracja 82 (Inauguration '82), 1983, Director, Photography Za górami (Across the mountains),1983, , Photography Red Box 1984, Collaboration Umieranko (A Little Dying)1984), Director, Photography

Shorts

Najpiękniejsza jaskinia świata (The Most Beautiful Cave in the World); 1983; Director, Script, Voice-over, Photography Mały dekalog, (The Little Ten Commandments);1983, Information not available Nie zasmucę serca twego, (I Won't Make You Sad);1984, Information not available Jak mnie kochasz, (How Do You Love Me?);1985, Information not available Człowiek z ulicy Zielonej Gęsi (A Man from the Zielona Ges Street);1986 Photography Słowiański świt. Początki Polski w Dzieje kultury polskiej [WFO] (The Dawn of the Slavonic Tribes);1986; Director, Screenplay, Photography Rekwizyty Wiesława Garbolińskiego(The Wieslaw Garbolinski's Props); 1987; Photography Trzy tematy Leszka Rózgi (Three Topics of Leszek Rozga);1987; Photography Ładny dzień (A Nice Day); 1988; Screenplay, Director, Photography, Art Director Pałkiewicz ma rację (Palkiewicz Is Right);1988; Director, Script, Photography Szkoła przetrwania (The Survival School);1988; Director, Script, Photography Idź (Walk); 1989; Photography Piosenki polne i okoliczne (Songs from the Fields and Near-bys) (1996) Director, Script Videoclips ojDADAna Zobaczyć jak najwięcej (To See Everything) (2001) Director, Script, Photography Gdzie jesteś Paitii? (Where Are You, Paititi?) (2002) Director, Script, Photography

Features

Pogrzeb kartofla (Burial Of A Potato); 1990 Pograbek (Gravedigger); 1992 Magneto  ;1993 Jańcio Wodnik (Johnnie the Aquarius); 1993 Cudowne miejsce (Miraculous Place); 1994 Grający z talerza (Playing from the Plate); 1995 Szabla od komendanta (The Sabre From The Commmander); 1995 Historia kina w Popielawach (History of Cinema in Popielawy); 1998 Daleko od okna (Keep Away From The Window); 2000 Małopole czyli świat (Malopole, Or The World); 2000 - 2001 TV series Pornografia (Pornography); 2002

TV theatre plays

Diabeł przewrotny (Devil Again) - (1997) Adaptation and Director Bajka o bardzo lekkim chlebie (Fable of Very Light Bread) - (1997) Screenplay and Director Noga dla Józefa (Leg for Jozef) - (1997) Screenplay Wyspa róż (Rose Island) - (1998) Director Skrzypki (Fiddles) - (1999) Screenplay and Director Kamera marzeń (Dream Camera) - (2001) Screenplay and Director