Filmography

In London, a great many films about Lutosławski have been produced. During the second half of the seventies, there was the 55-minute film Keeping the Spirit Alive. Excerpts from that film were used in another project, when in 1989, in collaboration with several television stations, including from France, the Netherlands, Germany and Norway, the BBC began producing a film about Lutosławski directed by Krzysztof Zanussi. Telewizja Polska did not wish to take part, in ‘retaliation’ for the political boycott that Lutosławski took part in following the period under martial law, refusing to participate in television programmes during that time. In Poland, although the regime had already changed, not everywhere had a new atmosphere taken sway. Consequently, both the Poles, the composer and the director, were forced to talk to each other in English; despite their good command of that language, they felt rather odd.