Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo
Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo | |
|---|---|
 Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo | |
| Born | 1975 (age 48–49) Warsaw, Poland |
| Alma mater | Tisch School of the Arts |
Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo (born 1975) is a Polish-American filmmaker and writer.
Biography
[edit]She studied film at Tisch School of the Arts where she graduated summa cum laude in 2003. Her debut short film Pâté premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to win several prestigious awards including NYU's Wasserman Award, the Fielle d'Or at the Beverly Hills Film Festival, the Grand Jury Prize at the WorldFest Houston International Film Festival, New York Magazine's Award of Excellence and the Special Jury Prize at the Atlanta Film Festival.
Filmmaker Magazine named Wojtowicz-Vosloo as one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film.[1]
In 2004 she collaborated with Laurie Anderson on the acclaimed O Zlozony/O Composite, a multi-media project for the Paris Opera Ballet with choreography by Trisha Brown, based on Czeslaw Milosz's poem "O Zlozony". The piece premiered at the Opera Garnier in Paris in December 2004.[2]
Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo's first feature film After.Life,[3] a psychological horror thriller starring Liam Neeson, Christina Ricci and Justin Long, premiered at the AFI Film Festival in Los Angeles on 7 November 2009.[4] Anchor Bay Entertainment, a division of Overture Films, acquired theatrical rights for the U.S. and the U.K., and released the film in theaters on 9 April 2010.[5] The DVD and Blu-ray were released in the US on 3 August 2010.[6]
Wojtowicz-Vosloo garnered extensive media attention after the release of After.Life. Ronnie Scheib from Variety called the film "an elegant exercise in horror", while the National Board of Review commented "Wojtowitcz-Vosloo masterfully manipulates the conventions of horror and thriller genres with an exceptionally assured sense of style and storytelling".[7] Noted film reviewer James Berardinelli added "I admire filmmakers who take chances and defy expectations. The echoes of 'After.Life' linger in the memory long after the impressions of countless safe cookie cutter productions have faded".[8] Manohla Dargis' review in The New York Times however was mixed, "Ms. Wojtowicz-Vosloo seems to have spent too much time trying to make an art-house chiller instead of an effective film." Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 29% of 49 critics have given the film a positive review, holding an average score of 4.6/10.[9] According to the website, the film's critical consensus is, "It has an interesting premise and admirable ambitions, but After.Life fails to deliver enough twists or thrills to sustain its creepy atmosphere." Review aggregate Metacritic has given the film a weighted score of 36/100, based on 21 reviews, indicating "Generally unfavorable reviews".[10]
In a Wall Street Journal profile "Death Becomes Her" by Matthew Kaminski, Liam Neeson said Wojtowicz-Vosloo "reminds me a little of Kathryn Bigelow," the Oscar-winning director of The Hurt Locker.[11] In July 2010 the filmmaker was featured in Elle magazine and on the cover of Gazeta Wyborcza, Polish newspaper.[12]
References
[edit]- ^ Gurion, David; Handelman, Michael (2001). "25 New Faces of Independent Film". Filmmaker. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved March 3, 2008.
- ^ "Laurie Anderson w Polsce i po polsku". onet.pl. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved August 12, 2008.
- ^ "Exclusive: Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo Talks After.Life". Dread Central. April 7, 2010. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
- ^ McNary, Dave (16 October 2008). "Ricci, Neeson believe in After.Life". Variety.
- ^ "Anchor Bay sees Life After.Life". Ion Cinema. Retrieved February 27, 2010.
- ^ "After.Life DVD". Dread Central. 14 December 2010.
- ^ "After.Life". National Board of Review.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Berardinelli, James (April 8, 2010). "After.Life". Reel Views.
- ^ "After.Life Movie reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
- ^ "After.Life". Metacritic. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
- ^ Kaminski, Matthew (April 8, 2010). "Death Becomes Her". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on April 8, 2010. Retrieved September 1, 2010.
- ^ "The Girl in the Morgue". Gazeta Wyborcza. Retrieved September 1, 2010.
