He received a Golden Frog at the Camerimage Festival for Best Cinematography for his work on Paweł Pawlikowski's Ida, as well as the American Society of Cinematographers Award, nominations for the BAFTAs and… an Academy Award for Best Cinematography. He was also involved in the creation of another Oscar-nominated film, the documentary Joanna. Łukasz Żal talked to Culture.pl about being on the set of Ida, how it was to work with Paweł Pawlikowski and why a filmmaker has to be able to admit to making a mistake.