Tributes are being paid around the world to the great Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda, who died on Sunday, the 9th of October. He was 90, and had only recently premiered his final feature film, Afterimage, at the Toronto International Film Festival. Since making his first films in the 1950s, Wajda was responsible for more than 40 features in total, which brought him acclaim throughout his career from all across the globe. His war film trilogy of the 1950s, consisting of A Generation, Kanal and Ashes and Diamonds, and his 'Man of...' films, including Man of Marble and Man of Iron, were among his most celebrated, alongside titles such as Danton and Katyn. Four Foreign Language Film Oscar nominations came Wajda's way over the years, as well as other prestigious awards such as two BAFTAs including an Academy Fellowship, two European Film Awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award, a special award from the NYFCC, four FIPRESCI prizes, three awards from the Berlin International Film Festival with a lifetime contribution award and an Honorary Golden Bear among them, a Career Golden Lion from the Venice Film Festival, and five awards from the Cannes Film Festival, with a Palme d'Or for Man of Iron. Quite the list of accolades for quite the accomplished artist, and he will be missed very greatly indeed. He is survived by his daughter Karolina and his widow and fourth wife, the costume designer Krystyna Zachwatowicz.
