---
name: "Paweł Pawlikowski"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/pawe-pawlikowski"
fi1m_id: "pawe-pawlikowski"
imdb_id: "nm0667734"
tmdb_id: 64194
wikidata_id: "Q1377022"
roles: ["Writer","Director"]
born: "15 September 1957"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-10-05T16:46:47.183592+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Paweł Pawlikowski

## Identity

Paweł Pawlikowski

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/pawe-pawlikowski
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** pawe-pawlikowski
- **IMDb ID:** nm0667734
- **TMDB ID:** 64194
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1377022
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawe%C5%82_Pawlikowski, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1377022, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0667734/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/64194

Writer and director. Born 15 September 1957 in Warsaw, Poland.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer, Director
- **Born:** 15 September 1957, Warsaw, Poland
- **Active:** 2013–present
- **Also known as:** 파벨 포리코브스키, 파베우 파블리코프스키, 파벨 파블리코프스키, Paul Pawlikowski, პაველ პავლიკოვსი, Paweł Aleksander Pawlikowski
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 4: 3 directing, 1 writing
- **Frequently works with:** [Agata Kulesza](https://film.one/person/agata-kulesza.md), [Ewa Puszczyńska](https://film.one/person/ewa-puszczynska.md), [Mario Gianani](https://film.one/person/mario-gianani.md)
- **Cannes Film Festival:** 2 Cannes prizes (2 won)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 85 (2), 2020s 69 (2)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawe%C5%82_Pawlikowski, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1377022, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0667734/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/64194

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Cold War*](https://film.one/film/cold-war.md) (85), [*Limonov: The Ballad*](https://film.one/film/limonov-the-ballad.md) (58)
- **Apple TV:** [*Ida*](https://film.one/film/ida.md) (85)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Paweł Pawlikowski

> Paweł Pawlikowski gives actors and music much of the work in his spare love stories. We admire his restraint, though he sometimes leaves out the scenes that would make his lovers’ feelings clearer.

In *Cold War* (2018), Paweł Pawlikowski leaves little space for explanations or reconciliations. He gives the lovers 88 minutes and expects us to recognise their attraction before deciding whether they ought to be together. Joanna Kulig and Tomasz Kot make that a reasonable request, giving us enough to care about while leaving plenty to question. We were moved by their performances because they make the attraction convincing without making either person blameless. Pawlikowski’s willingness to let his lovers cause their own difficulties gives the actors something worth playing.

He came to features through British television documentaries, making the socially observant *Last Resort* (2000) and the youthful romance *My Summer of Love* (2004). *The Woman in the Fifth* (2011) came before the turn to Polish productions with *Ida* (2013) and *Cold War*. *Ida* was his first Polish-language film, bringing Polish subjects and black-and-white photography to the centre of his work. Love, exile and identity recur through this career. We are interested in how much he can leave out before the people become hard to understand.

His collaborators include cinematographer Łukasz Żal, and his restrained camera gives us time to watch people rather than simply following their movements. The precise black-and-white compositions suggest a remembered past. In *Cold War*, music earns its place alongside the two leads as a reason the romance works. Folk and jazz help express feelings that the gaps between scenes leave unstated, though music cannot account for every change of heart.

The screenplay for *Cold War*, credited to Janusz Głowacki and Pawlikowski, gives the lovers difficulties that cannot all be blamed on their circumstances in postwar Europe. That keeps them interesting, but the cutting sometimes leaves us less certain about what they feel than we should be. We occasionally need another scene with them before he moves on. Start with *Cold War* for Kulig, Kot and the music; allow for a few conversations Pawlikowski has decided we can do without.

## Biography

Paweł Pawlikowski is a Polish filmmaker. Born in Warsaw in 1957, he left Poland at the age of 14 and later studied literature and philosophy at the University of Oxford. He began his career making documentaries for British television in the 1980s and 1990s.

His feature films include *Last Resort* (2000), *My Summer of Love* (2005), *Ida* (2013), which won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, and *Cold War* (2018), for which he received the Best Director prize at Cannes and an Academy Award nomination for Best Director. He directed, co-wrote and co-edited *Fatherland* (2026), which also premiered at Cannes.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, britannica.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

### Directed (3)

- *Fatherland* (2026), Fi1m 80, Director, Screenplay, Music Supervisor, Editor — [page](https://film.one/film/fatherland.md)
- *Cold War* (2018), Fi1m 85, Director, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/cold-war.md)
- *Ida* (2013), Fi1m 85, Screenplay, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/ida.md)

### Wrote (1) — the average rests on these

- *Limonov: The Ballad* (2024), Fi1m 58, Screenplay, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/limonov-the-ballad.md)

## Complete filmography (30)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Fatherland* (2026), Director, Screenplay, Editor, Music Supervisor — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/fatherland.md)
- *Silver* (2025), Executive Producer
- *Muse* (2025), Director
- *Limonov: The Ballad* (2024), Executive Producer, Screenplay — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/film/limonov-the-ballad.md)
- *The Silent Twins* (2022), Thanks
- *Cold War* (2018), Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/cold-war.md)
- *Amerika Square* (2016), Thanks
- *Lost in Karastan* (2014), Writer
- *Ida* (2013), Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/ida.md)
- *Gare du Nord* (2013), as Joan's boss
- *The Woman in the Fifth* (2011), Director, Screenplay
- *My Summer of Love* (2005), Director, Screenplay
- *Last Resort* (2000), Writer, Director
- *Twockers* (1998), Director
- *The Stringer* (1998), Director, Writer
- *Tripping with Zhirinovsky* (1995), Producer, Director
- *The Grave Case of Charlie Chaplin* (1994), Director
- *Serbian Epics* (1992), Director, Producer
- *Dostoevsky's Travels* (1991), Producer, Director
- *From Moscow to Pietushki* (1990), Director, Writer
- *Vladimir Voinovich* (1989), Director
- *Vaclav Havel: A Czech Drama* (1989), Director
- *Palace Life* (1988), Director
- *Copyrights and Copycats* (1987), Director
- *Lucifer Over Lancashire* (1987), Director
- *Closing Doors* (1986), Director
- *Open Space* (1983), series, Director
- *Arena* (1975), series, Director
- *The Revolution According to Kamo*, Producer, Writer
- *The Island*, Director, Screenplay

## Gallery

- ![Cast and crew of the film Cold War at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival](https://film.one/media/person/96170/gallery-522b30844a70.jpg) Cast and crew of the film Cold War at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival — Joan Hernandez Mir, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/2018-05-10-Cannes-L%27%C3%A9quipe_du_film_Cold_War_de_Pawel_Pawlikowski_-2279.jpg/1280px-2018-05-10-Cannes-L%27%C3%A9quipe_du_film_Cold_War_de_Pawel_Pawlikowski_-2279.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Javier Calvó, Paweł Pawlikowski and Javier Ambrossi pose with the ex-aequo Best Director award for "The Black Ball" and "Fatherland" during the Palme d'Or winne (2026)](https://film.one/media/person/96170/gallery-9f90ef4fe48d.jpg) Javier Calvó, Paweł Pawlikowski and Javier Ambrossi pose with the ex-aequo Best Director award for "The Black Ball" and "Fatherland" during the Palme d'Or winne (2026) — Gabriel Hutchinson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Javier_CALVO%2C_Pawel_Pawlikowski_Javier_AMBROSSI_at_the_2026_Cannes_Film_Festival.jpg/1280px-Javier_CALVO%2C_Pawel_Pawlikowski_Javier_AMBROSSI_at_the_2026_Cannes_Film_Festival.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Javier Calvó, Paweł Pawlikowski and Javier Ambrossi pose with the ex-aequo Best Director award for "The Black Ball" and "Fatherland" during the Palme d'Or winne (2026)](https://film.one/media/person/96170/gallery-6573cdd228e9.jpg) Javier Calvó, Paweł Pawlikowski and Javier Ambrossi pose with the ex-aequo Best Director award for "The Black Ball" and "Fatherland" during the Palme d'Or winne (2026) — Gabriel Hutchinson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Javier_CALVO%2C_Pawel_Pawlikowski_Javier_AMBROSSI_at_the_2026_Cannes_Film_Festival_02.jpg/1280px-Javier_CALVO%2C_Pawel_Pawlikowski_Javier_AMBROSSI_at_the_2026_Cannes_Film_Festival_02.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Pawel Pawlikowski, a Polish-British filmmaker. (2015)](https://film.one/media/person/96170/gallery-3d336d225ae7.jpg) Pawel Pawlikowski, a Polish-British filmmaker. (2015) — Red Carpet Report on Mingle Media TV, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Pawel_Pawlikowski.jpg/1280px-Pawel_Pawlikowski.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Paweł Pawlikowski](https://film.one/media/person/96170/gallery-f56591bbfbbe.jpg) Paweł Pawlikowski — Image via TMDB
- ![Paweł Pawlikowski](https://film.one/media/person/96170/gallery-f181ab29a064.jpg) Paweł Pawlikowski — Image via TMDB
- ![Paweł Pawlikowski](https://film.one/media/person/96170/gallery-284cc7d7e024.jpg) Paweł Pawlikowski — Image via TMDB
- ![Paweł Pawlikowski](https://film.one/media/person/96170/gallery-e5343723bea2.jpg) Paweł Pawlikowski — Red Carpet Report on Mingle Media TV, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Pawel_Pawlikowski_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Pawel_Pawlikowski_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 2019: Best Director (nominated), for *Cold War*

### Cannes Film Festival — 2 won

- 2026: Cannes Best Director Award (won), for *Fatherland*
- 2018: Cannes Best Director Award (won)

### Other awards — 9 won, 3 nominated

- European Film Award – People's Choice Award for Best European Film 2019: European Film Award – People's Choice Award for Best European Film (won), for *Cold War*
- European Film Award for Best Director 2018: European Film Award for Best Director (won), for *Cold War*
- European Film Award for Best Film 2018: European Film Award for Best Film (won), for *Cold War*
- European Film Award for Best Screenwriter 2018: European Film Award for Best Screenwriter (won), for *Cold War*
- European Film Award for Best Director 2014: European Film Award for Best Director (won), for *Ida*
- European Film Award for Best Film 2014: European Film Award for Best Film (won), for *Ida*
- European Film Award for Best Screenwriter 2014: European Film Award for Best Screenwriter (won), for *Ida*
- European Film Award – People's Choice Award for Best European Film 2014: European Film Award – People's Choice Award for Best European Film (won), for *Ida*
- European Film Award for Best Director 2005: European Film Award for Best Director (nominated), for *My Summer of Love*
- European Film Award for Best Film 2005: European Film Award for Best Film (nominated), for *My Summer of Love*
- European Film Award for European Discovery of the Year 2001: European Film Award for European Discovery of the Year (nominated), for *Last Resort*
- European Film Award Special Mention 1992: European Film Award Special Mention (won), for *Dostoevsky's Travels*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/pawe-pawlikowski