Polish President Bronisław Komorowski bestows Poland's highest distinctions onto Agnieszka Holland and Andrzej Wajda. Photo: Andrzej Iwańczuk/Reporter/East News
Warsaw's Presidential Palace hosts a ceremony honouring directors Andrzej Wajda and Agnieszka Holland with Poland's highest civilian distinction
The appointment came from the initiative of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage Bogdan Zdrojewski.
Andrzej Wajda, one of Poland's most brilliant and prolific directors, renowned all over the world for his groundbreaking films. He received the Oscar for Lifetime in 2000 for his vast repertoire of classic films:
Kanał" / "Canal,
Ashes and Diamonds,
The Promised Land,
Man of Marble and Man of Iron, as well as more recent works
Katyń and
Tatarak. The director turned 85 years old on March 6, 2011. He spent his birthday with close friends and fans in Warsaw.
For more information on events tied with birthday festivities, see:
Poland Celebrates Wajda's 85th Birthday.
Recent recipients of the awards include: poet
Wisława Szymborska actors
Janusz Gajos and
Krystyna Janda, directors
Jerzy Skolimowski,
Jan Jakub Kolski and
Krzysztof Krauze, musicians
Włodzimierz Nahorny and
Tomasz Stańko, along with art historian Anda Rottenberg.
Andrzej Wajda is currently working on a film about the life and legacy of Lech Wałęsa.
At the ceremony, several other filmmakers were honoured, including
Agnieszka Holland, who received the Commander's Cross - Order of Polonia Restituta. Agnieszka Holland's most internationally acclaimed pictures include both Polish and foreign productions, including Angry Harvest(1985), Europa Europa (1990) - which both received Award nominations for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Screenplay, respectively - Olivier Olivier (1992), The Secret Garden (1993), Washington Square(1997).
Cinematographer
Witold Sobociński also received the Order, along with directors Jacek Bromski,
Feliks Falk, Krystyna Krupska-Wysocka,
Wojciech Marczewski and director of the Warsaw Documentary and Feature Film Studio, Włodzimierz Niderhaus, director of the Polish Film Institute, Agnieszka Odorowicz and producer Barbara Pec-Ślesicka.