Agnieszka Piotrowska
Encyclopedia
Agnieszka Piotrowska is a BBC trained documentary filmmaker. She was amongst the 30 most successful creative Polish people featured in the recent exhibition at the Barbican¹s Museum of London (October/November 2009) entitled London Creatives/Polish Roots organised in conjunction with the Polish Cultural Institute.
Piotrowska went to school in Sopot, Poland and Sweden
. She studied at Hull University, and received a MA in Modern European Drama at Reading University with special supervision at Christ Church, Oxford. She was taught by professor James Knowlson who is a world authority on Samuel Beckett.
Over the years she has interviewed Roman Polanski
, David Puttnam
, Micky Rourke, Sting, Oscar de la Renta
, Lech Wałęsa
, and other celebrities as well as working with convicted criminals or the dispossessed around the world, particularly in Africa.
, has been called a definitive piece on the subject and was nominated for BAFTA a few years ago. She has also worked on drama documentaries and in the theatre. She won the Gulbenkian Prize
in 1995. Michael Nyman, who composed the music for a couple of her films, called her film Out of The Ruins "a seminal documentary" about grief.
Piotrowska has been nominated three times for an Emmy (one for Sex, Lies and Jerzy Kosinski, 1995, about the Polish-American writer
who committed suicide in New York), and has been awarded international prizes and distinctions for her films, mostly for the BBC and Channel 4 (including Showgirl Stories 1998).
Rivercourt's 2002 documentary Poker Club, shown on Channel 4
in their Cutting Edge series, was heavily criticised by Victoria Coren
in her Poker
memoir For Richer, For Poorer: A Love Affair with Poker.
, brought his further activities to light assisting with his former stepdaughter, Julia Lafleur's fight to bring him to justice in Canada. His court appearances began in 2009 and continue on through November 2010.
Her Cutting Edge Trapped By My Twin (2007) was both the highest rating documentary in the last run of the strand and has been put forward by channel 4 for a Mental Health Award and Broadcast Award. Her documentary Married to the Eiffel Tower (Channel Five, 2008) about objectum sexuals has attracted unprecedented press attention and has been broadcast globally.
Also in 2008, she became involved with the charity Aid Armenia International, which released her documentary about Armenia (Out of the Ruins) in December 2008 with a view of raising money for the region continuously affected both by the natural disasters and struggles with the bordering Muslim Azerbaijan.
In 2009 Piotrowska filmed, produced and directed the only globally made documentary about the "Best Job in the World" phenomenon, a one hour film which was recently broadcast on BBC1 gaining the best ratings for the week. In July 2010 the film was one of the highlights at the Birkbeck College's Business Week. Her work featured during the International Extravagant Bodies Festival in Zagreb, Croatia in October 2010 and she was the British Council guest of the International Festival for Women in Harare, Zimbabwe in November 2010. Piotrowska is working on a film about Solidarity and communism in collaboration with the European Solidarity Centre to be completed in the spring of 2011
Piotrowska lives in London and visits Poland regularly. She is collaborating with London Film Academy and is a visiting lecturer at a number of Universities in London. She is studying for a Phd in at the Psychosocial Department of Birkbeck College, University of London, under the supervision of Professor Stephen Frosh.
Piotrowska went to school in Sopot, Poland and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. She studied at Hull University, and received a MA in Modern European Drama at Reading University with special supervision at Christ Church, Oxford. She was taught by professor James Knowlson who is a world authority on Samuel Beckett.
Over the years she has interviewed Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
, David Puttnam
David Puttnam
David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, FRSA is a British film producer. He sits on the Labour benches in the House of Lords, although he is not principally a politician.-Early life:...
, Micky Rourke, Sting, Oscar de la Renta
Oscar de la Renta
Oscar de la Renta is one of the world's leading fashion designers. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1973.-Career:...
, Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer, and human-rights activist. A charismatic leader, he co-founded Solidarity , the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland between 1990 and 95.Wałęsa was an electrician...
, and other celebrities as well as working with convicted criminals or the dispossessed around the world, particularly in Africa.
Awards
Her first film (Three Men and a Cake), which she made as a trainee, won the Best First Film prize at BBC Television in 1989. She has since made many acclaimed documentaries. Her 2000 film about domestic violence, Cutting Edge for Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, has been called a definitive piece on the subject and was nominated for BAFTA a few years ago. She has also worked on drama documentaries and in the theatre. She won the Gulbenkian Prize
Gulbenkian Prize
The Art Fund Prize, formerly known as the Gulbenkian Prize, is an annual prize awarded to a museum or gallery in the United Kingdom for a "track record of imagination, innovation and excellence"...
in 1995. Michael Nyman, who composed the music for a couple of her films, called her film Out of The Ruins "a seminal documentary" about grief.
Piotrowska has been nominated three times for an Emmy (one for Sex, Lies and Jerzy Kosinski, 1995, about the Polish-American writer
Jerzy Kosinski
Jerzy Kosiński , born Józef Lewinkopf, was an award-winning Polish American novelist, and two-time President of the American Chapter of P.E.N.He was known for various novels, among them The Painted Bird and Being There...
who committed suicide in New York), and has been awarded international prizes and distinctions for her films, mostly for the BBC and Channel 4 (including Showgirl Stories 1998).
Rivercourt Productions
From 1999 to 2004 she made a number of successful films through her own company Rivercourt Productions, mostly for National Geographic, and also occasionally acting as executive producer. She has filmed extensively in the United States and around the world. In the last couple of years, Piotrowska has returned to directing documentaries for British terrestrial channels, focusing on difficult psychological issues. The films produced by Rivercourt for National Geographic include the acclaimed series SELF PORTRAIT as well as the partially animated series called RUNNING FOR FREEDOM including the film about Muslim/Jewish Roxanna.Rivercourt's 2002 documentary Poker Club, shown on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in their Cutting Edge series, was heavily criticised by Victoria Coren
Victoria Coren
Victoria Elizabeth Coren is a British writer, presenter and champion poker player. Coren writes weekly columns for The Observer and The Guardian newspapers and hosts the BBC Four television quiz show Only Connect....
in her Poker
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
memoir For Richer, For Poorer: A Love Affair with Poker.
Recent work
In late 2005, Agnieszka¹s feature length documentary, made by Granada and entitled "The Bigamists, has been critically acclaimed and won the Fred Wiseman Masterclass Award at the Dublin Film Festival. In 2006, Piotrowska's documentary Conman With 14 Wives, about international fraudster Oliver KilleenOliver Killeen
Oliver Killeen is an international bigamist and fraudster. He pretended to be a doctor of psychology in Waterford, Ireland for five years in the late 90's conning thousands of people into believing he was a highly trained psychotherapist. He also wrote articles for Irish newspapers during that...
, brought his further activities to light assisting with his former stepdaughter, Julia Lafleur's fight to bring him to justice in Canada. His court appearances began in 2009 and continue on through November 2010.
Her Cutting Edge Trapped By My Twin (2007) was both the highest rating documentary in the last run of the strand and has been put forward by channel 4 for a Mental Health Award and Broadcast Award. Her documentary Married to the Eiffel Tower (Channel Five, 2008) about objectum sexuals has attracted unprecedented press attention and has been broadcast globally.
Also in 2008, she became involved with the charity Aid Armenia International, which released her documentary about Armenia (Out of the Ruins) in December 2008 with a view of raising money for the region continuously affected both by the natural disasters and struggles with the bordering Muslim Azerbaijan.
In 2009 Piotrowska filmed, produced and directed the only globally made documentary about the "Best Job in the World" phenomenon, a one hour film which was recently broadcast on BBC1 gaining the best ratings for the week. In July 2010 the film was one of the highlights at the Birkbeck College's Business Week. Her work featured during the International Extravagant Bodies Festival in Zagreb, Croatia in October 2010 and she was the British Council guest of the International Festival for Women in Harare, Zimbabwe in November 2010. Piotrowska is working on a film about Solidarity and communism in collaboration with the European Solidarity Centre to be completed in the spring of 2011
Piotrowska lives in London and visits Poland regularly. She is collaborating with London Film Academy and is a visiting lecturer at a number of Universities in London. She is studying for a Phd in at the Psychosocial Department of Birkbeck College, University of London, under the supervision of Professor Stephen Frosh.
Further reading
- Rosenthal, Alan, Writing, directing and producing documentary films and Videos, 4th edition, Southern Illinois University Press 2007, ISBN 978-0-8093-2742-3
External links
- Biography
- Rivercourt Productions
- www.telegraph.co.uk/.../How-jokey-tale-of-the-man-with-14-wives-became-a-horror-story.html
- DVD Out of the Ruins
- http://www.bbk.ac.uk/news/news-releases/how-would-you-apply-for-the-best-job-in-the-world
- http://www.kontejner.org/married-to-the-eiffel-tower-english