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Piotr Uzarowicz
Producer and Director
Piotr is an acclaimed director of theater and film in Chicago and Los Angeles. Currently, he is in post-production on THE VIRGIN FOREST, a fictional short film that was created using discarded footage from a documentary shot in Russia. This short film that started as an experiment became a jarring story in the vein of Herzog, Cox and Corman. He is also completing an as yet untitled documentary about Norwood Young and Youngwood Court (the House of 20 David statues), a famous fixture in Los Angeles. His previous projects include, SAMARITAN, a unique thriller with no dialogue, KILLER YACHT PARTY, A FRIENDLY GAME, SCALPEL, and others that have toured the festival circuit. Piotr is an undergraduate of Loyola University and completed a MBA with post-graduate distinctions in Paris, France at the University of Hartford’s International Business School. He previously worked as a creative director at advertising and public relations agencies in Chicago, Germany and the United Kingdom. Piotr is an active member of FIND (Film Independent) and AFI (American Film Institute). This is his first feature length documentary.
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Jan A.P. Kaczmarek
Producer and Composer
Jan A.P. Kaczmarek is a composer with a tremendous international reputation. As a successful recording artist and touring musician, Jan turned to composing film scores as his primary occupation. J.A.P.K. achieved recognition as a film composer with scores to such films as “The Visitor”, “Unfaithful”, “War & Peace”, "Aimée & Jaguar", "The Third Miracle", "Lost Souls", "Washington Square", "Quo Vadis" and recently “City Island” and “Hachi” In February 2005, Jan won his first Oscar for Best Original Score on Marc Forster's highly acclaimed film, "Finding Neverland." J.A.P.K. also won The National Review Board's award for Best Score of the Year, and was nominated for both a Golden Globe and BAFTA's Anthony Asquith Award for Achievement in Film Music. Jan is also setting up the Rozbitek Institute inspired by the Sundance Institute, in his home country of Poland, as a European center for development of new work in the areas of film, theatre, music and new media.
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Julie Janata
Producer
Julie Janata is directing and producing after years of editing acclaimed feature films. She directed and produced the comedy tribute ALAN ZWEIBEL: THE MAN…THE MYTH…THE LEGEND…starring Billy Crystal, Rob Reiner, Larry David, Buck Henry and Garry Shandling. She executive produced the award-winning FLOCK OF DODOS, and co-produced and edited the award-winning rock documentary MAYOR OF THE SUNSET STRIP. Other credits include acclaimed films such as BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER*; HOUSEQUAKE; GETTING TO KNOW YOU; DREAMLAND; the Emmy-nominated A SOLDIER’S SWEETHEART and BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY. She has worked with some of the world’s premiere filmmakers on Oscar and Emmy winning projects, including the Oscar-winning THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS; HEAT; FRENCH KISS; BAD BOYS; THE JACKAL; DISCLOSURE; the Oscar-winning A LITTLE MERMAID; the Emmy-winning mini-series LONESOME DOVE and multiple Emmy-winning TV series MOONLIGHTING; the Oscar-nominated documentary HIGH SCHOOLS and Oscar-nominated THE SILENCE. Julie is a member of the Board of Directors of the Alliance of Women Directors and is currently developing a feature to direct and produce.
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Joseph Urbanczyk
Cinematographer
Born and raised in New Jersey, Joseph Urbanczyk is a graduate of New York University's Graduate Division of Film (M.F.A. 1981), where he studied with Laszlo Benedek, Nicholas Ray, and Beta Batka. In 1980 he was awarded a Kosciusko Foundation Grant to attend the Wroclaw University Film Program in Poland, and, two years later, he received a second Master of Fine Arts degree from the American Film Institute where he was a Cinematography Fellow and the recipient of the Sherrill C. Corwin Fellowship. At the Denver Film Festival in 1985, he was awarded the Benson Award for Best Cinematography for his work on the A.F.I. adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's THE HORSE DEALER’S DAUGHTER. Earlier, he had begun working as an A.F.I. Cinematography Intern with Vilmos Zsigmond on the THE RIVER which has led to a 25-year professional relationship with the Oscar-winning Cinematographer. Most recently, Urbanczyk worked with Zsigmond as Camera Operator on THE BLACK DAHLIA in Los Angeles which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography in 2007.
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Brian O’Hare
Editor
Brian O'Hare graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, was commissioned a Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps and commanded a platoon during combat in the Persian Gulf War. After leaving the Marines, Brian was cast by director John Waters out of a Baltimore bar for the film CRYBABY, kicking off appearances in numerous films and commercials, including the Sundance Film Festival favorite AFTER. Brian is also an award-winning documentarian, currently in production on the feature documentary DEATH RATTLER(www.deathrattler.com). In addition, Brian is editor-at-large for "MovieMaker" magazine and lives in Los Angeles.
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Dave Spafford
Illustrator & Animator
Dave’s 35 year career in animation spans projects including THE RESCUERS, PETE’S DRAGON, THE FOX AND THE HOUND, THE LITTLE MERMAID, and WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT for Walt Disney to collaborating with Steven Spielberg at both Amblin Entertainment and Dreamworks. Dave also worked on THE GRINCH WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS with Ron Howard for Universal and (500) DAYS OF SUMMER for Marc Webb. He has animated projects for countless video games, music videos, commercials, and TV specials. He is on the faculty at CalArts where he’s teaching animation to the next generation of artists and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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Beata Pozniak
Voice of Cecylia
Born in Gdansk, Poland, Beata attended the prestigious Film School in Lodz where at age 21 she received her MFA with High Honors. Beata went on to become her country's darling in film, theater, radio and television. Though she was known primarily for her work in "artsy" European productions, Pozniak's exceptional screen acumen quickly landed her the role of Marina Oswald in Oliver Stone's "JFK." Beata subsequently took on diverse roles - from dramatic to comedy on popular television shows including “Mad About You,” “JAG,” “Babylon 5,” “Melrose Place,” “Young Indiana Jones” and Oliver Stone’s mini-series “Wild Palms.” Beata was the Recipient of the 2005 Croatian Heart Award (with Michael York and John Savage) from the Libertas Foundation for her heartfelt performance in the film “Freedom From Despair” as well as for her dedication to humanitarian causes. Beata has established her own non-profit Women’s Day USA and has directed two films “Mnemosyne” and “On Profiles in Courage” that explore themes of unique and powerful women. More info: www.beata.com and www.womensday.org
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