“Man of Principle”: Agnieszka Holland remembers Andrzej Wajda

I started watching Wajda’s films from an early age, when I saw Kanał (1957) and Ashes and Diamonds (1958), the masterpieces of the Polish Film School. Later, when I was a student in Prague (1966 to 1971), I saw Everything for Sale (1969) and also The Birch Wood (1970) – that was one of my favourites.

By the time I came back to Poland from Prague, Wajda was the head of the ‘X’ film unit. This was part of the communist organisation of Polish cinema. Each unit was a kind of self-organisation of filmmakers, led mostly by a prominent director along with a writer and production manager. It had several members making up the creative team, who discussed and developed projects.

Older filmmakers were reluctant to join ‘X’. They felt that Wajda, as the leading figure in Polish cinema, would focus only on his own work. That wasn’t the case at all, but it meant that he ended up mainly with a bunch of recent graduates. I was very young but contacted Wajda and went to visit him at the Warsaw film studio where he was making The Wedding (1973).

I’ll never forget my first vision of him. The set was a peasant hut, full of actors and extras in period and folk costumes. And there was Wajda, sitting on a chair in the centre, smoking a cigar. For me, coming from Prague, which was a very low-key city where you couldn’t tell a worker from a university professor, to find a director sitting like a lord was surprising! Later, he watched my graduation film, which he liked, and he invited me to join the ‘X’ group.

For about two years that led to nothing, as the communist censors were blocking all of my projects. Wajda invited me to be his assistant on Man of Marble (1977), but this was also stopped by the Party committee; the film was already being closely watched, and I was a kind of black sheep, due to having been arrested in Prague, and my father’s history.

Wajda and the entire team stood by me. Wajda even offered to adopt me, to give me his name, which touched me a lot. Finally, the Party proposed a compromise: they wouldn’t let me work on the film, but they’d greenlight two of my projects.

Actually, I still contributed to Man of Marble ‘unofficially’, writing several scenes and doing the casting for the main role. I suggested Jerzy Radziwiłowicz and made the screen tests with him, an improvised interview that Wajda liked so much it became part of the film.

Was Agnieszka, the filmmaker protagonist played by Krystyna Janda, based on me? Well, the character already had that name in the original script, written much earlier, inspired by the poet and songwriter Agnieszka Osiecka. But it’s true that Wajda did send Krystyna to observe me on set. I don’t think I behave like the character, though. I’m quieter and my energy is different.

Next, Wajda invited me to write the screenplay for Rough Treatment (1978). This turned out to be a personal film for us both, reflecting his painful recent divorce and my memories of my parents’ separation. But I also wanted to go beyond the intimate aspect and explore the social and political context, presenting the characters’ divorce as a kind of Stalinist trial.

When I became a political emigrant after martial law started in Poland, the support of Wajda and his wife Krystyna [Zachwatowicz] was crucial for me. I worked on Danton (1983) with him, rewriting some scenes, and on A Love in Germany (1983).

Korczak was an important subject for us. As a Jewish boy in Warsaw before the war, my father had been close to Dr Janusz Korczak and his circle. Korczak was an extraordinary man, for his pedagogical philosophy and his heroic actions during the Holocaust. Several international actors, including Richard Dreyfuss, were interested in playing the role, but Wajda decided that the film should be a Polish production with a Polish cast.

Wajda disliked conflict, especially with creative collaborators. But in crucial moments he would never back down. He was a courageous man, and a man of principle, as was demonstrated multiple times under the communist regime and then also, later, under Kaczyński’s right-wing government.

Wajda was open-minded and incredibly hard-working. He gave me a lot, from observing him on the set to our many conversations. Over the years our relation moved from ‘master-pupil’ to something much more equal in collaboration and friendship.

We were close until the end of his life. His death was sudden – yes, he was 90 but no-one expected it; he’d just finished his last film and seemed in good shape. I visited him shortly before and he was planning a new project. We discussed what was most relevant to our times, which were already becoming problematic.

Wajda’s engagement with cinema, theatre, painting and literature was deep. His artistic mind was very original, and he saw things in unconventional ways. One vital thing I learned from him early on is the importance of the audience. Communication is key. Cinema is an interactive art, and the viewer always completes the picture.

• As told to Alex Ramon

A season of Wajda’s films screens at BFI Southbank in February and March as part of this year’s Kinoteka Polish Film Festival.

Agnieszka Holland’s new film Franz screens as a Kinoteka gala at BFI IMAX on 3 March, with a Q&A with Holland and actor Josef Trojan.