Lech Majewski (pronounced [maˈjɛfski], ‘Ma-yev-ski’) (born 30 August 1953) is a Polish-American poet, filmmaker, media artist, writer, and theater director. He is a member of the Directors Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Biography
Lech Majewski was born in Katowice, Poland.
His experimental film Wojaczek (1999) received over 20 international awards and was called by The New York Times a "virtuoso achievement." In 2000, Majewski released Angelus.
Museum exhibitions and video art
Majewski’s works have been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Louvre, and the Venice Biennale. In 2006, MoMA hosted a retrospective titled Lech Majewski: Conjuring the Moving Image.
His video art series Blood of a Poet premiered at MoMA in 2006 and became part of the 52nd Venice Biennale. The work was later reassembled into the film Glass Lips (2007), praised by The New York Times for its "hypnotic expressiveness."
Later works
Majewski’s 2011 film The Mill and the Cross, starring Rutger Hauer, Charlotte Rampling, and Michael York, was based on Pieter Bruegel’s painting The Way to Calvary and received critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival. Roger Ebert described it as a "film of great beauty and attention before which words fall silent."
His subsequent works include Onirica / Field of Dogs (2014), a contemporary adaptation of Dante’s Divine Comedy, and Valley of the Gods (2019), featuring John Malkovich and Josh Hartnett.
Filmography
The Annunciation (Zwiastowanie) (1978) writer/director
The Knight (Rycerz) (1980) writer/director
The Flight of the Spruce Goose (Lot Świerkowej Gęsi) (1986) writer/director/producer
Prisoner of Rio (Więzień Rio) (1988), produced between England and Brazil, a fictionalized story of Ronnie Biggs, mastermind of The Great Train Robbery of 1963 writer/director/producer
The Gospel According to Harry (Ewangelia według Harry'ego) (1992) writer/director/producer
Basquiat (developed project, eventually credited as co-writer and co-producer) (1996) writer/producer
The Roe's Room (Pokój Saren) (1998) writer/director/producer/composer/set designer
Accident (Wypadek) (1998) writer/director/producer
Wojaczek (aka Life Hurts) (1999) writer/director/editor
Angelus (2001) writer/director/set designer/composer/editor
The Garden of Earthly Delights (2004) writer/director/producer/composer
Glass Lips (2007) (feature film version of the Blood of a Poet installation (2006)) writer/director/producer/cinematographer/ editor/composer
The Mill and the Cross (2011) writer/director/producer/cinematographer/set designer/editor/composer
Field of Dogs / Onirica (2014) writer/director/producer/cinematographer/set designer/editor/composer
Valley of the Gods (2019) writer/director/producer/cinematographer/set designer/editor/composer
Brigitte Bardot Forever (Brigitte Bardot cudowna) (2021) writer/director/producer/cinematographer/set designer/editor/composer
Opera
Ubu Rex (1995) director
Carmen (1995) director/producer
Pokój Saren (1996) composer/librettist/director/producer/set designer/choreographer
Carmen (2002) director/producer
Harnasie / King Roger (2008) director/set designer