I come from a magnetic field of Catholicism. I was baptised by my mother's family, who were all traditional Catholics. But my mother was the black sheep of the family - she ran away to the ballet at 17. Pawel Pawlikowski balletbaptiseblack share on social
It's so difficult to actually come up with ideas that you really fall in love with, you know? That's the most difficult thing about filmmaking - and that's my main challenge in life. Pawel Pawlikowski challengedifficultfall Change image and share on social
A good script is like a work of art in itself. I've read hundreds of scripts, and good ones are very rare. If the writer has something to say, and a voice, and a plot that matches character, and an emotional trajectory that works, then I'd be an idiot to fool around with it. It's just that few scripts ever are like that. Pawel Pawlikowski artcharacteremotional share on social
In 2006, I started making a film called 'Restraint of Beasts.' While I was making it, I had a personal disaster. My wife fell ill, so we stopped shooting halfway through. And then sadly, my wife died. Pawel Pawlikowski beastcalldie Change image and share on social
'Ida' is about humanity, about guilt and forgiveness. It's not a film that deals with an issue as such. It's more universal. Pawel Pawlikowski dealfilmforgiveness Change image and share on social
Life is complicated, and art has the right to be complicated, too. I don't like films that simplify. Pawel Pawlikowski artcomplicatefilm Change image and share on social
I lived a pretty chaotic life. I went to England, and I moved around, and there were a lot of things that I was interested in. I wrote poetry. I took photographs. I was a musician and all sorts of things. Nothing brilliant, but I did all these different things. Pawel Pawlikowski brilliantchaoticengland share on social
The luxury that I have is I'm not career-minded, I just live from one film to the next. For a time, I was making documentaries, and all my documentaries were winning awards and stuff, and then I lost interest in documentaries. Pawel Pawlikowski awardcareerdocumentary share on social
It's much better to write a book and stick to the research - that's history. In cinema, emotional truth and psychological truth is much more important. Pawel Pawlikowski bookcinemaemotional Change image and share on social
I grew up cinematically in the '70s. I was watching a lot of Godard, Bresson, Dreyer, and all sorts of old films and the Czech New Wave. Pawel Pawlikowski 70sbressoncinematically Change image and share on social