Zbigniew Rybczynski, also known as "Zbig", was born on January 27, 1949, in Lodz, Poland, but grew up in Warsaw, where he attended an arts high school and was trained as a painter.
He went on to study cinematography at the world-renowned Lodz Film School, where he began experimenting with the film medium.
His first projects were Kwadrat (1972) and "Take Five" (1972),which broke new ground in the use of pixelation, optical printing, animation, and other compositional film devices.
Zbig was active in the avant-garde group Warsztat Formy Filmowej and cooperated with Se-Ma-For Studios in Lodz, where his art movies were shot, including Plamuz (1973),Zupa (1975),Nowa ksiazka (1976),and Tango (1981).
At the same time, he worked as a cinematographer on several feature films, including shorts by Andrzej Baranski, Piotr Andrejew, and the acclaimed The Dancing Hawk (1977) by Grzegorz Krolikiewicz.
Between 1977 and 1983, Rybczynski worked in Austria, where Weg Zum Nachbarn (1977) and Mein Fenster (1979) were made.
He also set up a visual effects studio in Vienna for Austrian TV and contributed to the cult horror feature Angst (1983) as director of photography, co-writer, and editor.
Zbig was involved in the Solidarity movement in Poland and received political asylum in Austria after martial law was declared.
After winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for "Tango" in 1983, Zbig and his family emigrated to the US and settled in New York City.
He conceived and produced pioneer video films using HD technology at his Manhattan and Hoboken studios, equipped with state-of-the-art high definition video.
Rybczynski produced his most important and acclaimed works, including Steps (1987),The Fourth Dimension (1988),The Orchestra (1990),and Kafka (1992),at his Zbigq Vision Studios.
He created over 30 outstanding music videos, including John Lennon's "Imagine" and videos for artists such as The Art of Noise, Mick Jagger, Pet Shop Boys, Chuck Mangione, and Lou Reed.
Zbig was honored with three MTV Music Video Awards and the MTV Video Vanguard Award for his role as a visionary in the field of music video.
His work in film and video has earned him numerous other awards, including three American Video Awards, three Monitor Awards for Best Director, the 1986 Billboard Music Video Award for Most Innovative Video, and the 1986 BPI Video of the Year Award.
In 1990, Zbig won the Emmy Award for special effects in his film "The Orchestra", a one-hour classical music HDTV program for PBS.
He was honored by the Japanese Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications for his outstanding work in advancing the uses of HD technology and received the Premio Internazionale Leonardo for his overall contribution to video.
In 1992, Zbig completed work on the HD piece "Kafka", which won the 1992 Special Festival Prize at the International Electronic Cinema Festival Tokyo/Montreux and the Special Jury Award at the San Francisco International Festival in 1993.
From 1994-2001, Rybczynski worked in Germany, developing new production techniques in the areas of image compositing and motion control photography, and holding several innovative patents in that area and in computer programs.
Later, in Cologne, he continued his research and was a Professor of Experimental Film at the Academy of Media Arts.
After several years of being involved in movie technology, Zbig made the decision to return to his passion: making movies.
That is what brought him back to Los Angeles, where he now resides.
Thanks to many rewarding years of gaining knowledge and experience in the various artistic and technological aspects of filmmaking, Zbig firmly believes that the best is yet ahead of him.
