Andrzej Seweryn will receive the Golden Angel of Tofifest for lifetime achievement
In the past few months, the actor has proven his greatness by receving an award for the Best Actor at the 69th Locarno IFF and the Golden Lion Award for the Best Leading Actor at the Gydnia Film Festival. Andrzej Seweryn – Grand Master of Acting, Magician of the Stage and Screen – will receive the Golden Angel of Tofifest 2016 for lifetime achievement.
It is said that his portrayal of Zdzislaw Beksinski could become the artistic creation of the decade. His latest role in The Last Family by Jan P. Matuszynski is yet another proof that Andrzej Seweryn is a great actor, both on the Polish and international scale. “Star Seweryn (...) captures Zdzislaw’s outward geniality while ineffably conveying something darker brewing inside, something Beksinski himself probably strove to cover except in his art,” wrote a critic for “Variety”.
“Andrzej Seweryn did not simply play Zdzislaw. He transformed into the character he played, which Robert de Niro used to do, when giving his best appearances in 1970s. Seweryn has offered the best performance in his entire career. His acting is total,” - wrote Łukasz Adamski (wPolityce, 5th September 2016).
Theatre…
Andrzej Seweryn is a film and theatre actor. In 1968 roku, he graduated from the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw, and then was hired in the Ateneum Theatre in Warsaw. In 1980, he left for Paris. He used to be a member of the most avant-garde stage of the world, i.e. the theatre troupe of Peter Brook. He was the third ever foreigner to have been hired by Comédie Française, which is one of the most prestigious theatres in the world. His début appearance on a theatre stage in France was in Don Juan by Molière.
As for Poland, his début came in w “Niemcy/Germans” by Leon Kruczkowski, directed by Janusz Warminsk. Then, he spent nearly 50 years playing in such acts as Głupi Jakub by Tadeusz Rittner, Maiden Vows by Aleksander Fredro, The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Intrigue and Love by Friedrich Schiller, or The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare.
…and cinema
One of his most memorable creations was the portrayal of Maks Baum in The Promised Land by Andrzej Wajda, based on a novel written by Wladyslaw Reymont. He later returned to work with the Master of Polish Cinema in such films as Without Anesthesia/Rough Treatment, Danton, Pan Tadeusz: The Last Foray in Lithuania, or Zemsta/Revenge. Andrzej Seweryn portrayed Judge Soplicain Pan Tadeusz: The Last Foray in Lithuania”, and his role in the film was summed up in the following words: “he transformed the dull supporting character from the poem by Mickiewicz into a magnificent portrait of a Pole, captivating by its ambiguity”.
He has also appeared in the following films: “Na srebrnym globie/On the Silver Globe” by Andrzej Zulawski, “Noce i dnie/Nights and Days” by Jerzy Antczak, “Schindler's List” by Steven Spielberg, “Prymas - Trzy lata z tysiąca/The Primate” by Teresa Kotlarczyk, or “Różyczka/Little Rose” by Jan Kidawa-Blonski. So far, one of his greatest successes was the Silver Bear Award for the Best Actor which he received in 1980, at Berlinale, for his appearance in Dyrygent/The Conductor by Andrzej Wajda.
As for French cinema, Andrzej Seerwyn has given his most memorable performances in “Amok” byJoel Farges (1992, Grand Prix for Acting at the Cairo IFF), in Academy Award-winning ”Indochine” by Regis Wargnier (1992), and as Robespierre in “The French Revolution” (1989).
Being a film director... and the director of a theatre!
In 2006, he made his début behind the camera. That year, he made “Who Never Lived” – a story about a charismatic Father Jan (played by Michal Zebrowski), who learns he has HIV. A large part of the film was shot in Torun – the home town of Tofifest.
For several years, Andrzej Seweryn has been the director of the Polish Theatre in Warsaw. The actor has also received such awards as the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, the Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis, and the French National Order of the Legion of Honour.
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