Director of photography

Łukasz Żal is a two-time Academy Award-nominated cinematographer based in Poland.

Most recently, Łukasz was responsible for the cinematography in THE ZONE OF INTEREST (dir. Jonathan Glazer), which premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on 19 May 2023 to critical acclaim, winning both the Grand Prix and FIPRESCI Prize, and chosen as the British entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.

For the first time, Łukasz was nominated for the Academy Award in 2016 for Pawlikowski’s IDA and was one of two cinematographers of an Oscar- nominated animation LOVING VINCENT (dir. Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman) in 2017.

COLD WAR, directed by Paweł Pawlikowski, landed Łukasz Żal not only the Oscar nomination but also ASC Award, the Silver Frog Award for cinematography at the 2018 Camerimage Festival in Poland, as well as a nomination for BAFTA Award.

Łukasz was also the cinematographer on Charlie Kaufman’s film I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS, available on Netflix, and DOVLATOV (dir. Aleksiej German Jr.), which premiered at the Berlinale 2018 and THE HERE AFTER (dir. Magnus von Horn), which premiered at Quinzaine des Réalisateurs (Directors’ Fortnight) at Cannes Film Festival in 2015.

Łukasz Żal received the TIFF Variety Artisan Award, which recognizes a distinguished creative who has excelled at their craft and made an outstanding contribution to cinema and entertainment.