Happy Man

Małgorzata Szumowska (born 26 February 1973 in Cracow, Poland) – is a Polish director, screenwriter and producer. Szumowska is the daughter of journalists Maciej Szumowski and Dorota Terakowska and the sister of Wojciech Szumowski, a documentary film director.

Career

Szumowska spent two years studying History of Art at Jagiellonian University before she started film studies. Szumowska graduated from the celebrated film college in Łódź, which boasts such alumni as Andrzej Wajda, Roman Polański or Krzysztof Kieślowski. As a student, Szumowska made a short which was ranked 14th in the history of Łódź Film School Cisza (Silence) is a short documentary film in which Szumowska tried to capture a simple life of a Polish rural family.

Szczęśliwy człowiek (Happy man)

Szumowska graduated from the film college in 1998 and made her debut feature film Szczęśliwy człowiek (Happy Man) in 2001. The film was nominated to The European Film Award and Szumowska became a member of the European Film Academy in the same year.The plot explores complicated relationships among three persons facing enormous difficulties who nonetheless strive to achieve happiness, or, at least, steer clear of tragedy.

Ono (Stranger)

Her next film, Ono (Stranger), focused on the relationship between a pregnant woman and the baby she is expecting. Having decided not to have an abortion, the mother tries to prepare her child for the experience of the outside world. Things get complicated when the woman faces health problems.

Ojciec (Father)

In 2005 Szumowska made a short film Ojciec (Father), one of thirteen contemporary stories written by Polish film directors to celebrate Solidarity which made up the film Solidarność, Solidarność (Solidarity, Solidarity). Based on her father’s experiences, Szumowska’s film uses archival footage from his documentaries.

33 sceny z życia (33 Scenes from Life)

A significant breakthrough in Szumowska’s career came in 2008, with 33 sceny z życia (33 Scenes from Life), starring Julia Jentsch, which won a special prize at the Locarno International Film Festival. Inspired by her own life, but, as she is careful to emphasize, “not autobiographical”, the film tells the story of Julia. A talented photographer married to Piotr, a successful composer, Julia has a perfect and financially comfortable life until one day the idyll is interrupted.

Elles

Szumowska worked also as a co-producer of Antichrist, Lars von Trier’s horror film released in 2009. In 2011, she completed her international project, Elles, starring Juliette Binoche. The worldwide première of Elles took place at Toronto International Film Festival.It tells the story of Anne, a Parisian journalist investigating prostitution among the students. Her research takes her to two girls, Charlotte and Alice, whose lives differ greatly from her own. They let her discover a world which she finds both repulsive and seductive.

Nowhere

Szumowska’s latest project has been in production since 2011. Szumowska has refused to reveal any plot details but she hopes that it will be her best film to date. Entitled Nowhere, the film is set in Mazury, a rural lake region in northeastern Poland.