Andrzej Bart (born 1951 in
Wrocław, Poland) is a
Polish novelist, screenwriter and film director.
He is called the Polish
Thomas Pynchon[1] because he prefers "people talk about his books and films but leave him alone".
Novels
Rien ne va plus
Andrzej Bart devoted his young years to writing a novel Rien ne va plus[2] This epic story of Poland and Poles, seen through a foreigner's eyes, couldn't be published for a long time because of political reasons.[3] Published in 1991, it was immediately awarded the
Kościelski Award. Subsequently, three editions of the book were published in Poland.
The Travel Bug
In Pociąg do podróży, (1999, The Travel Bug), the writer follows two underdogs, a Jew and a German, who are sent back in time to the year 1900 to kill the young
Adolf Hitler. Their eccentric travel serves as a pretext to examine the innocence of Europe before it experienced two world-wide wars.
The Fifth Rider of Apocalypse
Under the pseudonym Paul Scarron Jr., he published the metaphysical mystery novel Piąty jeździec Apokalipsy (1999, The Fifth Rider of Apocalypse).
Don Juan Revisited
In the novel Don Juan raz jeszcze (2006, Don Juan Revisited[4][5]) the old
Don Juan atones in a monastery for the sins of his youth. Forced, he sets off for his last adventure. He is to seduce
Queen of Castile, Juana, who is traversing Spain with the corpse of her husband.
The Flytrap Factory
Bart's most translated book is Fabryka Muchołapek (2008, The Flytrap Factory[6]), short listed for the
Nike Literary Award. It is a novel about the most controversial figure of modern history,
Chaim Rumkowski, the leader of the
Łódź Ghetto.
Reverse
In Rewers (2009,
Reverse) Bart brings back to life one of his characters who in Rien ne va plus committed suicide. A young girl who in
Stalinism Poland found herself in a no-choice situation, this time is able to confront evil and win.
Breathless
A famous Polish director, who has been working for the last twenty years in the United States, is in a car accident. Suspended between life and death, he returns, delirious, to his country to do what we all hope we will have time to do. He wants to apologize and to express thanks but he also wants to take revenge.[7]).
The Dybbuk Presumed
An unexpected guest visits Andrzej Bart, and he announces that he chose him as the confidant of his life story. The author's private notes intertwine with a fascinating story about pre-war Warsaw, the German occupation, and life in the ghetto. [8]
The loud death, the silent death
In a few months, Adolf Hitler will parade along Piotrkowska Street. Meanwhile, another would-be artist murders young women, and for a better effect, he tosses elegantly wrapped body parts in carefully selected places. The German V column is also already operating in the city.
These are the last moments of Łódź, which, as Israel Joshua Singer said, reflected the whole world.[9]
Bart made several documentaries[10] including Eva R.,[10] about daughter of pianist
Arthur Rubinstein, Hiob,[10] about Marek Rudnicki, graphic artist and painter, Marian Brandys[10] about
Marian Brandys, a Polish writer. He is also a screenwriter and producer of Radegast.[11] In 2010 he wrote and directed a TV movie, Boulevard Voltaire,[12] awarded at the 2011 Sopot Festival[13] the Best Director and the Best Script. In 2011 he wrote and directed a radio play Pan i sługa / Master and Servant,[14] broadcast 20 November 2011 on
Polskie Radio Program I. In 2012 he wrote and directed a radio play Bezdech / Breathless,[15] broadcast 6 May 2012 on
Polskie Radio Program I. In 2013 he wrote and directed Bezdech as a TV theater play; for this play he was awarded at the 2013 Sopot Festival Dwa Teatry[16] the Best Original or Adapted Script.[17]Bezdech received four awards, including the Best Actor, the Best Film Editing, and two honorable mentions.[18] It also received "Bronze Knight" at XXIV International Film Forum "Golden Knight", Sevastopol, 2015 Diploma for the Best Director and Diploma for the Best Screenplay[19]
In 2015 he wrote and directed a radio play Owacja na stojąco (Standing Ovation) which was broadcast at the Theater Scene of Radio Station 3,[20] and Miejsce Obok (Beside) aired on 28 February 2016 on
Polskie Radio Program I[21] A collection of Andrzej Bart's plays Sztuki i sztuczki (Plays and playings) was published by Narodowe Centrum Kultury, 2015.[22]
In 2016 Andrzej Bart directed a performance reading of his The Flytrap Factory at the Jewish Community Center in Warsaw.[23]
Bibliography
Fiction in Polish
Człowiek, na którego nie szczekały psy, Wydawnictwo Łódzkie, 1983.
Rien ne va plus, Poprzeczna Oficyna, 1991.
Rien ne va plus, Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2005.
Rien ne va plus, W.A.B. 2010.
Pociąg do podróży, Les Editions Noir Sur Blanc, 1999.
Piąty jeździec Apokalipsy, Les Editions Noir Sur Blanc, 1999.
Don Juan raz jeszcze, Wydawnictwo Literackie, 2006.
Rewers, W.A.B., 2009.
Fabryka muchołapek, W.A.B., 2008.
Bezdech, W.A.B., 2013.
Translations
Rien ne va plus, Les Editions Noir Sur Blanc, 1993, France. Transl. Élisabeth Destrée-Van Wilder.
Rien ne va plus, Europa, 2005, Hungary. Transl. Lajos Palfalfi.
Le goût du voyage, Les Editions Noir Sur Blanc, 1999, France. Transl. Éric Morin-Aguilar.
Le cinquième cavalier de l'Apocalypse, Les Editions Noir Sur Blanc, 1999, France. Transl. Grażyna Erhard.
Don Juan, une fois encore, Les Editions Noir Sur Blanc, 2009, France. Transl. Robert Bourgeois.
Die Fliegenfängerfabrik, Schöffling & Co. 2011 Germany. Transl. Albrecht Lempp.
Фабрика мухобоек, Gesharim, 2010, Russia. Transl. Ksenia Starosielska.
Tovarna Muholovk, Babilon Maribor 2010, Slovenian. Transl. Jasmina Šuler Galos.
Továrna na mucholapky, Fra, Praha 2011, Czech. Transl. Jiri Cervenka.
The Flytrap Factory, Kinneret Zmora-Bitan, Israel 2011. Transl. Anat Zajdman.
Knochenpalast, Schöffling & Co. 2014 Germany. Transl. Albrecht Lempp.
Published plays
Sztuki i sztuczki, Narodowe Centrum Kultury, 2015.
2013 Sopot Festival Dwa Teatry the Best Original and Adopted Script for Bezdech/Breathless[17]
II Festival Brasil de Cinema Internacional, Actor in a Leading Role in Breathless:
Bogusław Linda.[30]
XXIV International Film Forum "Golden Knight", Sevastopol, 2015. "Bronze Knight" for Breathless, Diploma for the Best Director and for the Best Screenplay[19]