Ford, Aleksander
(1908 - 1980)
film director(also known as Mosze Lifszyc) born November 24, 1908 in Lodz; died April 4, 1980 in Los Angeles; film director, teacher. He made his first short films in Lodz (Nad ranem [At morning] 1929 and Tetno polskiego Manchesteru [Pulse of Polish Manchester]). He finished studies in Art History at the University of Warsaw. In 1930 he was a co-founder of "Start" the Society of Art Film Lovers which in 1937 became SAF, the Cooperative for Film Authors. In 1935 he joined the Communist Party. After the outbreak of World War II he was in the USSR where he worked for Soviet film institutions. In 1943 he became the head of a forward film unit attached to the Polish First Division which in 1944 became the Polish Army Film Production Unit. In Lodz (1945-47) he headed the Film Institute and Production [Bureau]. He filmed Ulica graniczna [Border Street] (1948) for which he was awarded the Golden Lions [prize] in Venice. He headed the film production units "Blok" (1948) and "Studio" (1955-68). He lectured (1948 68) at the government operated Higher Film School. In 1954 he filmed Piatka z ulicy Barskiej [Five from Barska Street] that received a prize for directing at Cannes [film festival]. In 1957 he made Osmy dzien tygodnia [Eighth day of the week] utilizing the writings of Marek Hlasko (broadcast in 1981). In 1960 he made the highest grossing Polish film Krzyzacy [The Teutonic Knights].
In 1968, after a series of [unfavorable] newspaper articles, he was removed from the school and from the [Communist] party. He emigrated to Denmark, then to Germany and the United States. After leaving Poland he made three films: Good Morning Poland (1970), Der Martyrer (1973), and The First Circle (1975) based on a novel by Alexander Solzeniecyn. In addition he made the following films: Mascotte (1930), Narodziny i zycie gazety [The birth and life of a newspaper] (1931), Legion ulicy [Legion of the street] (1932), Przebudzenie [Awakening] (1934), Nie miala baba klopotu [The woman had no problems] (1935), Droga mlodych [Way of youth] (1936), Ludzie Wisly [People of the Vistula] (1937), Milosc Chopina [Chopin's Love] (1952), Pierwszy dzien wolnosci [The first day of freedom] (1964).
He committed suicide.
Sources: Encyclopedia Britanica, Polish Edition, Vol. 12, Poznan 1999; Wielka Encyclopedia PWN [The Great PWN Encyclopedia vol. 9, Warsaw 2002; Leksycon kultury polskiej poza krajem od roku 1939 [A lexicon of Polish culture abroad from the year 1939] edited by K. Dybciak and Z. Kudelski, vol 1, Lublin, 2000; S. Janiecki, Aleksander Ford, Warsaw 1967; L'iitineraire d'Aleksander Ford "Cinema", 4 (1974); N. Gosss, Film zydowski w Polsce, [Jewish film in Poland] Krakow 2002.
Author: Rafal Moczkodan
Translated from: "Encyklopedia Polskiej Emigracji i Polonii," Edited by: Kazimierz Dopierala, Vol. II, Oficyna Wydawnicza Kucharski, Torun, Poland, 2003.