Lech Kowalski

Director Lech Kowalski is a cult figure in underground cinema. Renowned for his controversial award-winning documentaries a journalist once called him “A warrior battling with a camera to redefine the art of documentary.” Born in London to Polish immigrants who fled Russian concentration camps, Kowalski grew up in nomadic displacement in the United States. He began his career in the 70’s in New York. His impressive array of documentaries has garnered critical praise around the world – best film for East of Paradise at Venice film festival in 2005, the Special Jury Award for On Hitler’s Highway at the 2002 Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival, the Golden Gate Award for Rock Soup at the 1992 San Francisco International Film Festival. His seminal 1981 film DOA (first prize in Paris Music Film Festival) is a punk escapade that follows the Sex Pistols tour of the USA.

He created innovative film projects on the Internet – in 2008 Kowalski posted new “film-chapters” every week for one year on CameraWar.tv. Film historian Nicole Brenez awarded CameraWar.tv a top ten film of the 21^st century. In 2012, Cuts was made for the Palais de Tokyo, the largest contemporary museum in Europe. 

East of Paradise is on the list of 15 best documentaries made since the year 2,000 by Italian film critics.  His two most recent films dealt with environmental issues – Holy Field Holy War was awarded three prizes in FID Marseille and release theatrically in many countries and the popular Drill Baby Drill about Chevron fracking operations in Poland was made for Arte and RTS television and continues to play all over the world.

last update 27th March, 2017