Zbigniew Bzymek

Zbigniew Wojciech Bzymek (born January 21, 1976) is a Polish-American filmmaker, video artist, and theatre director. His feature film Utopians premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, and his short Nagle na zawsze (2008) won the Grand Prix at the Rencontres Internationales Henri Langlois. He has collaborated extensively with Krystian Lupa and Elizabeth LeCompte of The Wooster Group, where he served as resident filmmaker and contributed to projects including the Dailies video series. In addition to film and theatre, he has directed music videos for leading artists such as Brodka and Mary Komasa, and published writing in BOMB Magazine and other outlets.

Background Bzymek was born in Warsaw to Danuta Jaworska-Bzymek, a plastic surgeon trained in Warsaw and at Yale who practiced in Poland and the United States, and Zbigniew Marian Bzymek (1935-2023), a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Connecticut known for his early work in computer graphics, CAD/CAM systems, and artificial intelligence applications. Bzymek grew up in Sweden and Connecticut. and later received an MFA in Film and Television Directing from the Polish National Film School in Łódź.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 2002 Bierność Director Short film 2002 In Hotel Syren Director Short film 2003 Taki Jak Ja Director Short film 2008 Nagle na zawsze Director Short film; Grand Prix, Henri Langlois Festival 2011 Utopians Director Feature; premiered at Berlinale FORUM 2013 Here Come the Girls Cinematographer/Editor premiered at Sundance; Directed by Young Jean Lee 2015 A Meaning Full Life Cinematographer/Editor premiered at BAM; Directed by Young Jean Lee 2015 Xenophilia Director premiere at Performing Garage2021 The Story of Brut Director documentary about Brodka's album

VR and performance media works Year Title / Project Medium / Platform Venue / Presentation Role 2018 The Artist is (all but) Present AR (Microsoft Hololens) Makro Teatr Festival, PL Writer / VR Dramaturg, directed by :pl:Krzysztof Garbaczewski 2018 Dream Adoption Society Retro AR/VR The Performing Garage, New York, NY Writer / VR Dramaturg directed by :pl:Krzysztof Garbaczewski 2018 Ginsberg/Białoszewski Multi-participant VR (Samsung Gear) performance Dream Adoption Society at The Performing Garage, NY Performer / Writer / VR Dramaturg directed by :pl:Krzysztof Garbaczewski 2017 Courageous Hearts VR (HTC Vive) Genius Loci Fest, Kraków, PL; Wiesbaden Go East Festival, DE (2018) Writer / VR Dramaturg directed by :pl:Krzysztof Garbaczewski 2018 Pragmatists (or Use Me) Live performance with VR, noise & vibration experiments Hopkins Center for the Arts, Dartmouth College, NH; The Performing Garage, NY; Teatr Powszechny, Warsaw, PL (2019) Director 2020 Ameryka(nie) visual audio play Teatrgaleria Studio Warsaw, Poland Director 2023 Inter-Human / Inter-Form Live performance (no VR) Baryshnikov Arts Center, New York, NY Director 2023 Deep Moon Pluto Live performance by Küba Falk Grace Exhibition Space, New York, NY Video Designer

Music videos Year Title Artist Role 2014 City of My Dreams Mary Komasa Director 2016 Horses Brodka Director 2019 Inni Ludzie Ras, Sokół, DJ B Editor 2022 Game Change Brodka Art Director VFX

Concert tours Year Title Artist Role 2020 Romantic Psycho Live Tour Quebonafide Video Designer

Video design in theatre and opera Production Director / Company Role Premiere / Years Venue / Festival References Zaratustra Krystian Lupa Video design 2004 Athens Festival, Odeon of Herodes Atticus Solaris Krystian Lupa Video design 11 Feb 2005 Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus Die Zauberflöte Krystian Lupa Video design 13 May 2006 Theater an der Wien Over All The Mountain Tops (Na szczytach panuje cisza) Krystian Lupa Video design 22 Sep 2006 Teatr Dramatyczny, Warsaw Abandon Matthew Maguire Video design 2006 La MaMa E.T.C. The Seagull Krystian Lupa Video design 2007 Alexandrinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg Hamlet The Wooster Group / Elizabeth LeCompte Originated video elements 2006 Festival Grec Vieux Carré The Wooster Group / Elizabeth LeCompte Originated video design elements c. 2010–2012 The Wooster Group productions La Didone The Wooster Group / Elizabeth LeCompte Video (with Joby Emmons, Andrew Schneider) 2008–2009 Kaaitheater; St. Ann’s Warehouse The Town Hall Affair The Wooster Group / Elizabeth LeCompte Video (Additional Video; Video DAILIES) 2012 The Wooster Group The B-Side: “Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons” The Wooster Group / Elizabeth LeCompte Video / videography 2017 Touring / institutional venues A Pink Chair (In Place of a Fake Antique) The Wooster Group / Elizabeth LeCompte Additional video 2017–2018 Touring / Off-Broadway The Manuscript Found at Saragossa Grzegorz Jarzyna Video design 2025 Teatr Polski, Warsaw

Selected publications “Katarzyna Kozyra” — interview by Zbigniew Bzymek, *BOMB Magazine* (2021). “The Cancellation of ‘The Trial’” — commentary on Krystian Lupa, *BOMB Magazine* (2020). “The Factory and Its Double: Polish Iconoclast Krystian Lupa Does Andy Warhol On Stage” — essay in *Modern Painters* (2007). Anon and I* — photo book by Zbigniew Bzymek, self-published in New York, distributed by Printed Matter (2010). Foreword to *Brulion: The Wooster Group Workbook* (Polish edition, 2012).

Awards and nominations 2008 – Grand Prix (Jury Prize), 31 Rencontres Internationales Henri Langlois (Poitiers) — Nagle na zawsze 2008 – First Prize, Young Art Cinema Festival (Wrocław) — Nagle na zawsze 2008 – Second Prize, “Łodzią po Wiśle” Festival (Warsaw) — Nagle na zawsze 2011 – Teddy Award nomination, Berlin International Film Festival — Utopians 2011 – Official competition selection, Entrevues Belfort International Film Festival — Utopians 2011 – Official selection, CPH:PIX (Copenhagen) — Utopians 2011 – Official competition selection, New Horizons International Film Festival (Wrocław) — Utopians 2017 – Fryderyk Award, Best Alternative Album — Clashes (Brodka; lyrics co-writer) 2017 – Fryderyk Award nomination, Best Alternative Single — “Horses” (Brodka; lyrics co-writer) 2021 – Berlin Music Video Award, Best Art Direction — “Game Change” (Brodka; Art Director/VFX) 2022 – Fryderyk Award, Best Music Video — “Game Change” (Brodka; Art Director/VFX)

Background Bzymek was born in Warsaw, Poland and spent his early childhood with his family in Poland and later in Lund, Sweden. When he was eight years old, his family moved to Connecticut, after a two-year separation caused by Martial law in Poland. He lived with his family in Storrs, Connecticut, until he attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, from which he graduated cum laude, with a major in English and a minor in Russian. He received a Master's Degree from the Polish National Film School in Łódź, Poland in 2008.

Works In 2001, he moved back to Poland to attend The National Film School in Łódź. While in Poland, he collaborated with Krystian Lupa creating original video projections and designs for seven major theatrical productions directed by Lupa. His dream sequence projections for Lupa's Zaratustra were shot on 35mm film and first projected on the stone back wall of the outdoor amphitheater Theatre of Herodes Atticus. Since 2006, Bzymek has been a member of The Wooster Group, a company of artists who make work for theater, dance, and media based in New York City. In 2008, Bzymek's diploma film Suddenly Forever (2008) received the grand prix du jury at Rencontres Internationales Henri Langlois (The Poitiers Film Festival) as well as two other Polish film prizes. Since 2010, Bzymek has been the main videographer and contributor to The Wooster Group's video journal The Dailies. In 2011, Bzymek finished his debut feature film Utopians, which premiered at The 61st Berlin International Film Festival. The Dailies led him to collaborate on two experimental documentary short films with playwright Young Jean Lee, the first of which, entitled Here Come The Girls, screened at Locarno International Film Festival and The Sundance Film Festival. In 2014, Bzymek directed the music video for debuting artist Mary Komasa's single City of My Dreams (Warner Music Poland) in New York City, bringing together the Berlin-based Polish expatriate artist with members of the NYC downtown dance community. In 2015, he collaborated with the Polish pop singer Brodka, on her album Clashes and directed the video for her single Horses (2016). In 2017, he received a Fryderyk nomination for best alternative single for his work as a lyricist with Brodka on Horses. The same year, Brodka's album "Clashes" won the Fryderyk for Best Alternative Album of the Year 2017, on which Bzymek co-wrote five songs. He has taught a course in previsualization at CUNY New York City College of Technology.

Filmography Bierność (2002) In Hotel Syren (2002) Taki Jak Ja (Just Like Me) (2003) Nagle na zawsze (Suddenly Forever) (2008) Utopians (2011) Here Come The Girls (cinematography and editing) dir. Young Jean Lee (2013) A Meaning Full Life (cinematography) dir. Young Jean Lee (2015) Xenophilia (2015)

Music videos Mary Komasa, City of My Dreams (2014 Warner Music Poland)

Video design in theatre and opera Zaratustra, dir. Krystian Lupa. Premiere 2004, Athens Festival, Odeon of Herodes Atticus. Solaris, dir. Krystian Lupa. Premiere 2005, Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus. Die Zauberflöte, dir. Krystian Lupa. Premiere 2005, Theater an der Wien. Over All The Mountain Tops, dir. Krystian Lupa. Premiere 2006, Teatr Dramatyczny, Warsaw. The Seagull, dir. Krystian Lupa. Premiere 2007, Alexandrinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia. Oh What War, dir. Mallory Catlett. Premiere 2007, Here Art Center. Hamlet, The Wooster Group, dir. Elizabeth LeCompte - original video elements. Premiere 2006 at Festival Grec, Barcelona. La Didone, The Wooster Group, dir. Elizabeth LeCompte. Premiere 2008, Kaaitheater, Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Brussels.

Awards and nominations Fryderyk Award Nomination, for best single Brodka's Horses 2017; Polish Association of Music Producers. Teddy Award Nomination, 61st Berlin International Film Festival. Gregory Millard Fellowship in Film, New York Foundation for the Arts, 2009. Grand Prix du jury for the film Nagle na zawsze (Suddenly Forever) (Soudain pour toujours); 31 Rencontres Henri Langlois, Poitiers, December 2008. 1st Place for the film Nagle na zawsze (Suddenly Forever); Young Cinema Art Festival Warsaw – 2008. 2nd Place for the film Nagle na zawsze (Suddenly Forever); 6th Annual „Łodzią po Wiśle” Warsaw, 2008.