Wojciech Słota, courtesy of his personal archives
In the first half of the '90s, he was involved in promoting rock music and organised concerts and festivals. Together with friends, he set up the Cyberstudio recording studio. He also worked as a manager for the bands Myslovitz and Nowy Horyzont.
Słota was involved in promoting rock music during the first half of the 1990s- organising concerts and festivals. Together with friends he founded the Cyberstudio recording studio. He worked as a manager for the Myslovitz group and Nowy Horyzont. From 1997-2000 he was enrolled at Film School in Łódź, studying TV Production.
Słota has directed two films in the Guide to the Poles series - "Beats of Freedom" (2010) and "Art of Freedom" (2011). He has also directed "1000 Years Counter the Millenium" (2006), "Miners from Piast" (2006) and the documentary series "The History of Polish Rock" (2008).
He regularly works as a feature film, documentary and reportage editor. He has authored films such as:
Feature Films:
- "Jak żyć" / "How to Live" (2008, dir. Szymon Jakubowski)
- "Pod powierzchnią" / "Under the Surface" (dir. Marek Gajczak)
- "Diabeł" / "Devil" (2005, dir. Tomasz Szafrański; the film gained a special mention at the Slamdance Film Festiwal in the category of Best Feature Film Short and as the Best Feature Film at the Aarhus Festival of Independent Arts)
Documentary Films:
- "Oskarżony" / "The Accused" (2002, dir. Artur Kowalewski)
- "Zastraszyć księdza" / "To Scare a Priest" (2006, dir. Maciej Gawlikowski, Ewa Nowicka)
- "Kapelan" / "Chaplain" (2007, dir. Tomasz Klimczak)
- "Gra o Nobla" / "Quest for the Nobel Prize" (2008, dir. Jakub Karyś, Monika Góralewska, Krzysztof Brożek)
Reportage:
- "Ekolodzy" / "Ecologists" (2002, prod. Jacek Bazan; Grand Press Award 2002),
- "Mafia paliwowa" / "Rash Mafia" (2004, prod. Przemysław Wojciechowski, Witold Gadowski, Grand Press Award 2004),
- "Kardiolog bez serca" / "The Cardiologist Without a Heart" (2007, prod. Daniel Zieliński, Grand Press Award 2006)
Documentary Series:
- "Wolna miłość w PRL" / "Free Love during PRL" (2007, dir. Anna Szumilas)
Etiudes:
- "Koniec wojny" / "The End of the War" (2004, dir. Tomasz Szafrański)
- "Telewizyjna miłość" / "TV Love" (2004, dir. Jarosław Banaszek)
- "A ty?" / "And you?" (2004, dir. Szymon Jakubowski, awarded at the following festivals: GOFFR, Opolskie Lamy, Iluzje).
Wojtek Słota: in his own words...
I get up in the morning, I turn on the radio. In the car I pick out a CD. Then in shops- customers apparently buy more when they’re exposed to positive sounds. In the meantime I surf the internet. Websites tempt you with adverts and sounds, which are suppose to catch your attention. I go through the town. Someone is playing music in the square. If I had a smartphone, I could install a few of my favourite tunes and change my ringtone to include a fragment of a new composition. I was ten years old when martial law was announced in Poland. Not long after there appeared a list of hits and I started to get more acquainted with Polish rock music. I followed my older sisters in recording my favourite parts with a radiomicrophone.
Was this freedom music? I could call it that today. That past reality endowed music with unbelievable power. I was a bit too young to understand all the lyrics, but all my musical fascinations from the 1980s have had a deep influence on the work I do today. And it's worth telling the history of things that are important for us.
See more on "Beats of Freedom" and "Art of Freedom"