I Have Lived Seventeen Times

I Have Lived Seventeen Times is a perceptive portrait of the colourful life and remarkable body of work of Jerzy Kawalerowicz, an artist utterly devoted to cinema. The documentary features reflections from, among others, the renowned composer Ennio Morricone, Professor Jean-Louis Leutrat of the Sorbonne, Samuel Blumenfeld of „Le Monde”, as well as Andrzej Wajda, Kazimierz Kutz, Tadeusz Konwicki, Janusz Majewski, Juliusz Machulski, Jerzy Zelnik, Franciszek Pieczka, and Małgorzata and Magdalena Dipont. Their memories are set against archival statements by Kawalerowicz himself and interwoven with excerpts from his most celebrated films, together forming a vivid, multi-layered portrait of an outstanding director and the times in which he lived and worked.

Tadeusz Bystram (b. 1946) – Polish documentary filmmaker whose work focuses primarily on culture and the arts. He has directed films devoted to literature, including portraits of Henryk Sienkiewicz and Adam Mickiewicz, as well as to the history of Polish cinema, notably Jerzy Kawalerowicz and the Polish Film School. His interests also extend to the meeting point of literature and film, explored in documentaries about the screen adaptations of The Deluge and Quo Vadis. He has also addressed cultural relations between Poland and Lithuania.

Stanisław Zawiśliński (b. 1953) – Polish journalist, writer, film director, and screenwriter focusing on the history of Polish cinema. An author of books and biographical exhibitions devoted to major filmmakers, including Krzysztof Kieślowski and Jerzy Hoffman. He has also explored the work of Polish filmmakers in documentary films such as Rysopis znaleziony po latach. Wojciech Jerzy Has and Zanussi – rozmowy istotne.

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