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
Just by my home is an entrance to the sewers they used in the Warsaw uprising. I grew up knowing people died down there. Warsaw was once a battleground; then it became a morgue. It's a city littered with ghosts. And that never left me. Pawel Pawlikowski battlegroundcitydie share on social
I think - you know, the big trauma in my life, personally, was the fact that at 14, I was taken out of Poland unwittingly because my parents were divorced. Left the country - my mother left for England with her new husband. I wasn't even aware that she'd married him. Pawel Pawlikowski awarebigcountry 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
I actually studied literature and philosophy. So, when I started making films, I didn't really know what I was doing, and I was too proud and arrogant to learn. Pawel Pawlikowski arrogantfilmlearn Change image and share on social
I could never work in that kind of commercial environment where the stars have a lot to say, where the producers kind of push you around and tell you who to cast and who not to cast. I'm just not interested in that at all. Pawel Pawlikowski castcommercialenvironment 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
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
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
