He was born on 21st September 1936, in Toruń. He was a cinematographer, film director, and screenwriter, as well as a long-time academic teacher.
In 1959, he graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. Five years later, he also graduated from the Direction of Photography and TV Production Department at the Lodz Film School.
As a cinematographer, he worked on several dozen films, including such film productions as ‘Monidło’ (1969) directed by Antoni Krauze, ‘Seksolatki / Sexteens’ directed by Zygmunt Hubner (based on a script written by Aleksander Ścibor-Rylski), ‘Poza układem’ (1977) directed by Jan Rutkiewicz (starring Józef Konieczny), or in another film directed by Jan Rutkiewicz – ‘Tate/ Dad’ (1985), which starred Janusz Sadowski, and many others.Mieczysław Lewandowski was also a director of and screenwriter for documentary films, for example ‘Dziecko Dżelady’ (1979), which won the Brown Hobby-Horse Award at the Kraków Film Festival 2000, but also full-length films, for example ‘Sztucer’ (1977), which received an honorary mention at the International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg.
In 1964, Mieczysław Lewandowski started a career as an academic teacher at the Lodz Film School. Then, in the years 1982-1984, he assumed the position of a Vice-President for International Affairs. Later on, in the years 1993-1999, he was promoted to the position of a dean Direction of Photography and TV Production Department, and finally, in the years 1999-2012, he assumed the position of a head of Film Editing at the Film and TV Direction Department. In the years 2002-2008, he was a Vice-President for Students and Educational Affairs. He was also an author of textbooks on cinematography entitled ‘Światło i cień w filmie’ (1995) and ‘Leksykon oświetlenia’ (1997).
Professor Mieczysław Lewandowski died on 31st March 2021, in Łódź. He was interred at the local St. Adalbert’s Cemetery .
Selected Filmography
Film director
- 1974 – ‘Stąd pociągi do Paryża nie odjeżdżają’
- 1974 – ‘Konstantego Mackiewicza życie, sny, marzenia…’
- 1976 – ‘Ziemia od innej droższa’
- 1977 – ‘Sztucer’
- 1979 – ‘Sztucer’
- 1979 – ‘Dziecko Dżelady’
Screenwriter
- 1974 – ‘Stąd pociągi do Paryża nie odjeżdżają’
- 1974 – ‘Konstantego Mackiewicza życie, sny, marzenia…’
- 1976 – ‘Ziemia od innej droższa’
- 1979 – ‘Sztucer’
Cinematographer
- 1965 – ‘Pustynia’, dir. by Janusz Kubik
- 1966 – ‘Chciałbym się ogolić / I Would Like to Shave’, dir. by Andrzej Kondratiuk
- 1967 – ‘Czas może powrócić’, dir. by Anatol Radzinowicz
- 1969 – ‘Monidło’, dir. by Antoni Krauze
- 1969 – ‘Dzieci z naszej szkoły’ (TV series)
- 1970 – ‘Drewniane tabliczki’, dir. by Janusz Kubik
- 1971 – ‘Seksolatki / Sexteens’, dir. by Zygmunt Hubner
- 1971 – ‘Niedziela Barabasza’, dir. by Janusz Kondratiuk
- 1971 – ‘Lew uciekł’, dir. by Piotr Wojciechowski
- 1971 – ‘Gonitwa’, dir. by Zygmunt Hubner
- 1972 – ‘Skarb trzech łotrów’, dir. by Jan Rutkiewicz
- 1975 – ‘Egzekucja w zoo‘, dir. by Jan Rutkiewicz
- 1977 – ‘Poza układem’, dir. by Jan Rutkiewicz
- 1979 – ‘Wygodne łóżko’, dir. by Janusz Połom
- 1985 – ‘Tate/ Dad’, dir. by Jan Rutkiewicz
Selected Awards
The Silver Cross of Merit (1977); the Order of Polonia Restituta Fifth Class (1984); the Order of Polonia Restituta Fourth Class (the Officer’s Cross) (2005); the Silver Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis (2011)
