Marcin Sauter is a screenwriter, and a Director of documentary and feature films, cinematographer, as well as a brilliant photographer and author of videoclips. Together with Maciej Cuske they have created an informal film school for young documentary filmmakers, i.e. Bydgoska Kronika Filmowa (Bydgoszcz Newsreel), part of the Municipal Culture Centre in Bydgoszcz. He is also a co-originator of Zespół Filmowy ,,Paladino” (The Paladino Film Team), which he founded with two of his friends from Wajda School.
He made his short film début in 2005. It was ,,Za płotem”/”Behind the Fence”, for which Marcin Sauter won numerous awards at film festivals, inter alia, in London, New York, Paris, Vilnius, Poznań, and Kraków. In general, 2005 turned out to be very fruitful for Marcin Sauter – he made the documentary film ,,Kino objazdowe”/”The Travelling Cinema” – and won five awards at film festivals, including the Silver Hobby Horse at the Kraków Film Festival.
In 2007, as part of the ,,Rosja-Polska. Nowe spojrzenie”/”Russia-Poland. New Gaze” project, he made the film ,,Pierwszy dzień/”The First Day,” which brought him numerous awards, for example in Chicago, Lisbon, Kiev, Prague, and Kraków.
For his full-length début ,,Na północ od Kalabrii”/”North from Calabria” Marcin Sauter received, inter alia, the FIPRESCI Award at the film festival in Perm, Russia, and two awards at the film festival in Leipzig.
Sauter is also a cinematographer. He is responsible for the cinematography on ,,Elektryczka”/”Suburban Train” (2005) and “Kruzenshtern” (2009), and also worked as a cinematographer on ,,Kredens”/”A Cupboard” (2007), “PRL de luxe” (2008) by Edyta Wróblewska, “Viva Maria!” (2010) by Agnieszka Smoczyńska, and “La machina” (2010) by Thierry Paladin.
Being a co-founder of Bydgoska Kronika Filmowa (Bydgoszcz Newsreel), he can boast about educating several-dozen graduates, and over 60 awards which their films have already won. Students of BKF participated, inter alia, in the international film project ,,Bydgoszcz od świtu do zmierzchu”/”Bydgoszcz from Dawn till Dusk” (2013), which resulted in creating the first film portrait of the city in the 21st Century.
His latest film project is the short film ,,Tak jest dobrze,” which had its première on 20th April 2018. It featured performances by Adam Woronowicz and Karolina Gruszka. He is also planning to make a film under the working title ,,Miasto.”
Selected filmography
- 2005 – „Kino objazdowe”/”The Travelling Cinema”
- 2007 – „Rosja–Polska. Nowe Spojrzenie”/”Russia-Poland. A New Gaze”
- 2008 – „Andrzej Wajda: róbmy zdjęcie!”
- 2009 – „Na północ od Kalabrii”/”North from Calabria”
- 2011 – „Hakawati”
- 2014 – „Rodnik”/”The Source”
- 2017 – „Żalansz”/”Zhalanash ― Empty Shore”
- 2018 – „Urosłam kiedy spałaś”/”I Grew up as You Slept”
Selected awards
The KRAKFFA Festival of Independent Films in Kraków – 1st Prize for the best student’s film Behind the Fence; the International Festival of Film Schools in London – 1st Prize for the film “Behind the Fence”; the “Vilnius Film Shorts” European Festival of Film Schools – an award for the best documentary film “Behind the Fence”; the Kraków Film Festival – The Polish Film competition – The Silver Hobby Horse Main Prize for “The Travelling Cinema”; Lubusz Film Summer Łagów – The Golden Grape Award for “The Travelling Cinema”; Polish Film Festival in America – Chicago – the Golden Teeth Award for “The First Day” (“Russia-Poland. New Gaze”); DOCLISBOA IFF in Lisbon – The Johnnie Walker Prize for the Best Short Documentary – “The First Day” (“Russia-Poland. New Gaze”); Nowe Spojrzenie”), the DOK Leipzig International Festival For Documentary and Animated Films – The Trade Union Verdi Award for North from Calabria; the “Flahertiana” International Documentary Film Festival in Perm – The FIPRESCI Award for North from Calabria; the “Camera Obscura” International Festival of TV Reportage in Bydgoszcz – Special Mention in the International Film competition for Hakawati; the Tofifest IFF – Special Mention in the Lokalizacje competition for The Source; Tofifest IFF – Special Mention in the Lokalizacje competition for Milky Brother; the IDFA International Festival of Documentary Films in Amsterdam – an award for the Best Short Film “Zhalanash ― Empty Shore”; the Camerimage International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography: The Golden Frog in the Short Documentary Films section for “Zhalanash ― Empty Shore”; The Docudays UA International Festival of Documentary Films about Human Rights in Kiev – Special Mention in the Docu/Short competition for “Zhalanash ― Empty Shore” and others.
