Uncompromising Polish film-maker Andrzej Żuławski dies

The director had returned to the camera for the first time in fifteen years to make 2015 film 'Cosmos', which earnt him the Best Director Award at the Locarno Film Festival.

His early career in communist Poland had been marked by struggles with censorship: after his 1972 film 'The Devil' was banned in his native country, he chiefly worked abroad, settling in France.

The director's 1981 movie 'Possession' made waves at the Cannes Film Festival, with lead actress Isabelle Adjani winning the Best Actress Award.

The film, an unconventional experiment with the horror genre, displayed the director's characteristic desire to challenge his audience.

“To please the majority is the requirement of the Planet Cinema,” he once reflected.

“As far as I’m concerned, I don’t make a concession to viewers, these victims of life, who think that a film is made only for their enjoyment, and who know nothing about their own existence.”

Born in 1940 in Lviv (which now lies in Ukraine), Żuławski hailed from a noble family that had contributed several noteworthy figures to Polish culture. His incomplete film 'On the Silver Globe' was an adaptation of relative Jerzy Żuławski's science fiction work 'The Lunar Trilogy'. The project ran into problems with Polish communist censors.

The film-maker's son, Xawery Żuławski, has also carved out a career in film, winning acclaim for his 2009 production 'The Polish-Russian War'. (nh/pk/rg)