Difference between revisions of "Aleksander Ford"
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| − | Filmmaker, screenwriter, organizer. Born Moyshe Lipshutz in 1908 in Kiev. Studied art history. 1929-1935 founding member of [[Start]]. 1930 ''Lodz, the Polish Manchester'' is a classic among Polish documentaries, capturing as it does the life of the working-class districts in his birthplace. 1930 first feature film ''Mascot''. Escapes to the Soviet Union and works closely with [[Jerzy Bossak|Bossak]] to establish a film unit for the Soviet-sponsored People's Army of Poland in the USSR, entitled Czołówka Filmowa Ludowego Wojska Polskiego (or simply Czołówka; spearhead), which he then heads. | + | Filmmaker, screenwriter, organizer. Born Moyshe Lipshutz in 1908 in Kiev. Studied art history. 1929-1935 founding member of [[Start]]. 1930 ''Lodz, the Polish Manchester'' is a classic among Polish documentaries, capturing as it does the life of the working-class districts in his birthplace. 1930 first feature film ''Mascot''. 1932 ''Legion ulicy'' [The Street Legion] documentary. 1936 ''Children Must Laugh'' documentary. Escapes to the Soviet Union and works closely with [[Jerzy Bossak|Bossak]] to establish a film unit for the Soviet-sponsored People's Army of Poland in the USSR, entitled Czołówka Filmowa Ludowego Wojska Polskiego (or simply Czołówka; spearhead), which he then heads. 1940-43 training films for the Red Army. 1945 director of the nationalized [[Film Polski]] company, holding enormous sway over the country's entire film industry, rebuilds most of the film production infrastructure; Polanski in his biography: "They included some extremely competent people, notably Aleksander Ford, a veteran party member, who was then an orthodox Stalinist. [..] The real power broker during the immediate postwar period was Ford himself, who established a small film empire of his own"; resigned in 1947. 1948–68 professor of the National Film School in Łódź, where [[Roman Polanski|Polanski]] is among his students. [[Andrzej Wajda|Wajda]] is one of his protégés. 1968 accused of antisocialist activity and expelled from the Communist Party; denied to perform any function in film. 1969 emigrates to Israel for two years, later moves to Germany and Denmark, and eventually settles in the United States. Makes two more films, both commercial and critical failures. Blacklisted by the Polish communist government, he is excluded from discussions and analysis of Polish filmmaking. Isolated, 1980 commits suicide in Naples, Florida. |
Revision as of 10:39, 28 October 2011
Filmmaker, screenwriter, organizer. Born Moyshe Lipshutz in 1908 in Kiev. Studied art history. 1929-1935 founding member of Start. 1930 Lodz, the Polish Manchester is a classic among Polish documentaries, capturing as it does the life of the working-class districts in his birthplace. 1930 first feature film Mascot. 1932 Legion ulicy [The Street Legion] documentary. 1936 Children Must Laugh documentary. Escapes to the Soviet Union and works closely with Bossak to establish a film unit for the Soviet-sponsored People's Army of Poland in the USSR, entitled Czołówka Filmowa Ludowego Wojska Polskiego (or simply Czołówka; spearhead), which he then heads. 1940-43 training films for the Red Army. 1945 director of the nationalized Film Polski company, holding enormous sway over the country's entire film industry, rebuilds most of the film production infrastructure; Polanski in his biography: "They included some extremely competent people, notably Aleksander Ford, a veteran party member, who was then an orthodox Stalinist. [..] The real power broker during the immediate postwar period was Ford himself, who established a small film empire of his own"; resigned in 1947. 1948–68 professor of the National Film School in Łódź, where Polanski is among his students. Wajda is one of his protégés. 1968 accused of antisocialist activity and expelled from the Communist Party; denied to perform any function in film. 1969 emigrates to Israel for two years, later moves to Germany and Denmark, and eventually settles in the United States. Makes two more films, both commercial and critical failures. Blacklisted by the Polish communist government, he is excluded from discussions and analysis of Polish filmmaking. Isolated, 1980 commits suicide in Naples, Florida.
