SPECIAL AWARD TO THE POLISH CINEMATOGRAPHER FOR IMMENSE CONTRIBUTION TO THE ART OF FILM

30-10-2009

SPECIAL AWARD TO THE POLISH CINEMATOGRAPHER FOR IMMENSE CONTRIBUTION TO THE ART OF FILM

We have the great pleasure to announce, that in 2009 the Special Award to the Polish Cinematographer for Immense Contribution to the Art of Film goes to Dariusz Wolski.

Dariusz Wolski, ASC, (born 1956 in Warsaw) is a Polish cinematographer who is greatly respected abroad. He undoubtedly rose to fame thanks to the American super-production Pirates of the Caribbean, for which he was the cinematographer and Gore Verbinski the director. It was a great critical success receiving various prizes but also a box-office hit with an army of fans. The unique, gloomy atmosphere of the camerawork, which had first been fully used in the film adaptation of the comic book The Crow (dir. Alez Proyas), became Wolski's hallmark. His talent was recognised by Tim Burton, one of the most original contemporary directors. After their successful collaboration on Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street he hired Wolski for his next film project - Alice in Wonderland (2010).

Wolski left Poland for the United States in 1979 after graduating from the Łódź Film School. For the first seven years he lived in New York working as an assistant cameraman, collaborating with the BBC on documentary films. In 1986 he moved to Los Angeles, where he began working as an independent cinematographer for music videos and commercials. In all he shot over a hundred videos for artists such as David Bowie, Elton John, Neil Young, Aerosmith and Sting. He was nominated twice for the MTV Video Music Award for best cinematographer: for Aerosmith's video for Janie's Got A Gun in 1990 and for Eminem's Stan in 2001. While working on commercials and videos he had the chance to meet many talented directors like Jake Scot, Alex Proyas, Russell Mulcahy, Julien Temple, Jeremiah Chechik and Bob Giraldi. At the beginning of the nineties he began to photograph feature films including Romeo Is Bleeding (dir. Peter Medak), Crimson Tide, The Fan (dir. Tony Scott), A Perfect Murder (dir. Andrew Davis) and Bad Company (dir. Joel Schumacher). His camerawork on Crimson Tide was noticed by the film world and nominated in 1996 for an American Society of Cinematographers award, a society of which he became a member the same year. Since 2004 he has also been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which presents the Oscars.

Selected filmography: