Mariusz Wilczyński

As a creator of animated films as well as a painter, cartoonist, set designer and performer, Wilczyński's work presents a range of styles and features films at once bittersweet and sardonic.

He is best known for the Chaplinesque Times Have Passed (1998), and Unfortunately (2004), a twilight journey set to a haunting score by Polish jazz trumpeter - a film that won the Golden Hugo award for Best Animation at the 2005 Chicago International Film Festival. Other major awards include the 3rd European Independent Film Festival in Paris (Best Animation) and the 11th International Graphics Competition in Yokohama, Japan.

Born in 1960 Wilczyński graduated from the Painting and Graphics Department of the Strezeminski Academy of Art in Łódź in the mid-1980’s, and received a PhD degree in Animation from Leon Schiller State University of Film, Television and Theatre in Łódź in 2010. His films have been shown at top festivals in Poland, Melbourne, Montecatini Terme and Bologna in Italy, Chicago and Midem, Cannes.

Prolific and multi-talented, Wilczyński started in 1985 with paintings and graphics, and by 2000 his work was being exhibited (including 16 solo shows) throughout Poland, and in Yokohama, Wakayama, London, Sophia, Bruges, Amsterdam, Budapest, Madrid, Oslo and Chicago.