Jerzy Toeplitz

Jerzy Bonawentura Toeplitz (24 November 190924 July 1995) was a Polish film educator and theorist. He was a co-founder of the national film school in Łódź, Poland, now known as now known as Łódź Film School, which had a significant impact on Polish cinema, as well as foundation director of the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) in Sydney in 1973, which has been the training ground for many of Australia's most well-known filmmakers.

Early life and education Jerzy Bonawentura Toeplitz was born on 24 November 1909 in Kharkov (Kharkiv), then in the Russian Empire, now in Ukraine. He was one of four children of social activist and town planner Teodor Toeplitz and his wife Halina (née Odrzywolska), who were Jewish. In 1910 the family moved to Warsaw in 1910, where Teodor became a member of the Warsaw city council in 1919.

Toeplitz studied law at the University of Warsaw, graduation with a Master of Laws in 1933, but never practised in the legal profession. In 1930 he co-founded the Society for the Promotion of Film Art, an experimental group that used film to express political views. Other founding professors were Jerzy Bossak, Wanda Jakubowska, Stanisław Wohl, and Antoni Bohdziewicz. Topelitz was a professor from 1948 until 1968, and director from 1949 to 1952 (when he was temporarily removed for expressing unpopular political views after supporting protesting students. The British head of UCLA's department of theatre arts, Colin Young, had recommended Toeplitz to Adams and Jones, and he visited Australia as a consultant at the end of 1970 for three weeks. He was appointed founding director of the new national Film and Television School in Sydney (later the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, or AFTRS), In December 1972, he was visiting professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne.

In December 1972 he served on the jury for the Australian Film Institute Awards (AFI Awards), and in 1978 he was a member of the jury of Warringah Shire Council's Second National Youth Film Festival, along with Chris Noonan and Michael Pate.

In 1986, he was a member of the jury at the 36th Berlin International Film Festival.

Toeplitz also wrote and published a number of books, which have been translated into many languages.

Recognition and honours In 1974, Jacquelene Rees, writing in The Canberra Times, wrote that Toeplitz is "generally accredited with having laid the basis of the 1950s renascence of Polish cinema through his brave and innovatory administration" as well as being "an eminent teacher, historian, and international film juror".

On 3 March 1993 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Lodz Film School. ), who was very critical of the regime in Poland.

Death and legacy Toeplitz died on 24 July 1995.

Lodz Film School had a decisive impact on the modern cinema of Poland. Toeplitz played a key role in developing the curriculum, with the school later producing filmmakers like Roman Polanski and Jerzy Skolimowski.

His impact on the new generation of filmmakers who were trained at AFTRS was also immense, starting with Gillian Armstrong, Philip Noyce, Chris Noonan, and Jane Campion, to name a few.

Selected publications History of Cinematographic Art (1955-89), in six volumes Hollywood and After: The Changing Face of American Cinema (1973)