Quotes

In today's world there is a need for versatile artists and I aspire to be one of them. Being a 21st century Renaissance man is my motto.

You can be the most talented actor or filmmaker on the planet but if nobody knows about you, you don't exist.

As a young man I found Polish cinema too deep and intellectual for my liking, this is why as a child I was inspired by the movies from Steven Spielberg ('Raiders of the lost arc'), James Cameron ('Terminator'), George Lucas ('Star Wars') and Ridley Scott ('Alien'), all with more commercial appeal. They offered me a form of escapism that I needed to survive the communistic depression. However the older and intellectually developed I became I started to appreciate the films of the Polish masters. I started to understand their symbology and depth. Also having lived in the Netherlands I got inspiration from painters like Van Gogh, Rembrandt and their use of colors and composition.

Coming from Poland, known for a great filmmaking industry I've always been inspired by filmmakers like Roman Polanski, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Andrzej Wajda, Krzysztof Zanussi and Steven Spielberg's favorite Director of Photography, Janusz Kaminski.

Before I became an actor and filmmaker I was a professional ballet dancer. As a child I had an abnormal flexibility in my joints. After consultation from the doctor, my mother decided to utilize this talent and put me in Ballet School. It was either this or the circus, but my mother thought that I would get killed on a trapeze so the ballet would have been a much safer profession in the long run.

About a month before the shoot of my thesis project 'Stigma', my mother's illness took a turn for the worse. I knew that she was sick before I left to Hollywood, however I was always hoping that she will be able to conquer the illness and will be able to see her son graduating from film school. I took a sabbatical from my study and went back to Warsaw, Poland, where I spent the last month of her life with her. My mother was always my biggest supporter, she had me when she was 44 years old, which back then was not a very typical age to have a child. My biggest regret is that she wasn't able to see the film that she inspired me to make, 'Stigma', and in some way I feel by showcasing this film I am celebrating her life.