Slawomir Idziak, the Polish cinematographer behind Gattaca and Black Hawk Down, is to receive a lifetime achievement award at the 21st Plus Camerimage festival.

Idziak boasts a career spanning more than 45 years that also includes directing and screenwriting.

At the international cinematography festival in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz, which runs from Nov 16-23, Idziak will speak with audiences during Q&A’s after selected screenings from a retrospective of his work.

The festival will also publish a book dedicated to his life and work.

Educated at the Leon Schiller National Higher School of Film, Television and Theatre in Lodz, Idziak began as an assistant camera and camera operator in films by Wojciech Marczewski (Travellers Like Others, 1969), Krzysztof Zanussi (Mountains at Dusk, 1970) and Andrzej Wajda’s The Wedding (1972).

He then turned to directing with Paper Bird (1972), Flying Lessons (1978), and A Performance (1978).

But he decided to focus on cinematography, working further with Zanussi and Wajda, and made six films with Krzysztof Kieślowski including A Short Film About Killing, The Double Life of Veronique and Three Colours: Blue.

After being approached by Hollywood, Idziak worked on Andrew Niccol’s sci fi feature Gattaca, Taylor Hackford’s Proof of Life, Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down and Antoine Fuqua’s King Arthur.

In 2007, he was cinematographer on blockbuster Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

The last chapter of his career as a cinematographer was marked by his co-operation with director Jerzy Hoffman in the making of the first Polish 3D feature film – Battle of Warsaw 1920.

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