Director Agnieszka Holland wins US Kościuszko Foundation award
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
16.11.2015 12:29
Prominent Polish film director Agnieszka Holland has received the ‘Pioneer Award’ from the Kościuszko Foundation in the United States for her services to promote Polish culture worldwide.
Agnieszka Holland. Photo: Polish Radio/Marlena Borawska
Speaking at a gala ceremony at Washington’s Mayflower Hotel, Holland explained why the accolade was of particular importance for her.
“I know what it is to be an émigré Pole and how difficult it is to find the proper balance of things, preserving the Polish identity while being at the same time a citizen of a country of residence.
“The distinction from the Kościuszko Foundation is proof that we can be on the same wavelength,” she said.
Founded in 1925, the Kościuszko Foundation is among the leading organizations promoting Polish culture, the arts and science in the United States.
Sixty-seven-year-old Agnieszka Holland is a graduate of the Film Academy in Prague. She started her career in Poland in 1972 as an assistant to Krzysztof Zanussi, and then settled in the West in 1981.
Three of her films have won Oscar nominations: 'Angry Harvest' (1985), 'Europa, Europa' (1991), and 'In Darkness' (2011).
Her credits also include 'To Kill a Priest' (about the murder of the Solidarity priest Father Jerzy Popiełuszko in 1984), 'The Secret Garden', 'Washington Square', 'The Third Miracle', 'Total Eclipse', and 'Copying Beethoven' as well as episodes of 'The Wire', 'House of Cards' and 'Treme'. (mk/nh/rk)