Zbigniew Rybczynski

Zbigniew Rybczynski (Rib-chin-ski) was born on January 27, 1949, in Lodz, Poland, but was raised in Warsaw, where he attended an arts high school and was trained as a painter. He went on to study cinematography at the world-renowned Lodz Film School, where he began experimenting with the film medium. His first projects were Kwadrat (1972) and "Take Five" (1972). Along with his other works, they broke new ground in the use of pixelation, optical printing, animation and other compositional film devices. "Zbig", as he's known, was active in the avant-garde group Warsztat Formy Filmowej and he cooperated with Se-Ma-For Studios in Lodz, where his art movies were shot, including Plamuz (1973), Zupa (1975), Nowa ksiazka (1976) and Tango (1981). At the same time he worked as a cinematographer on several feature films, including shorts by 'Andrzej Baranski', Piotr Andrejew and the acclaimed Tanczacy jastrzab (1977) by 'Grzegorz Krolikiewicz'. Between 1977 and 1983 Rybczynski worked in Austria, where Weg Zum Nachbarn (1977) and Mein Fenster (1979) were made. He also set up a visual effects studio in Vienna for Austrian TV. As the director of photography, co-writer and editor, he contributed to the cult horror feature Angst (1983) (also known as "Fear"), directed by Gerald Kargl. In the meantime, Zbig was involved in the Solidarity (Solidarnosc) movement in Poland. When martial law was declared, he received political asylum in Austria and it was there that he learned of his Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film nomination for "Tango". After winning the Oscar for that film in 1983, Zbig and his family emigrated to the US and settled in New York City. At his Manhattan and Hoboken (NJ) studios, equipped with state-of-the-art high definition video, Rybczynski conceived and produced - as the first filmmaker ever