Zbigniew Rybczynski (Rib-chin-ski) was born on January 27, 1949 in Lodz, Poland, but was raised in Warsaw, where he attended an art high school and was trained as a painter. Then he was studying cinematography in then world-famous Film Academy of Lodz, and he had began his experiments with film medium. His first realizations were: “Kwadrat” and “Take Five”, both in 1972, which, along with his other realizations, broke new ground in the use of pixilation, optical printing, animation and other compositional film devices. Zbig was active in an avant garde group “Warsztat Formy Filmowej”, and had cooperated with “Se-Ma-For” Studios in Lodz, where his author movies were set, including: ”Plamuz” 1973, ”Zupa” 1974, “Nowa ksiazka” 1975 and “Tango” 1980. Still, he was also working as a cinematographer at several features, including Andrzej Baranski's and Grzegorz Krolikiewicz's projects. Between 1977-82 Rybczynski worked in Austria, where “Weg Zum Nachbarn” and ”Mein Fenster” were made. In Vienna he also had set a trick studio for an Austrian TV.In between, Zbig was involved in “Solidarity” movement in Poland. When martial law was declared, he received political asylum in Austria and it was there, where he had learn of his Academy Award nomination for a “Tango”. After receiving an Oscar for that film as Best Animated Short in 1982, he and his family emigrated to USA, NYC. At his Manhattan, and later on - Hoboken studios, equipped with the hi-tech High Definition Video, Rybczynski had conceived and realised as a first filmmaker ever, a pioneer video films using that technique.He had created many outstanding music videos, for artists such as Art of Noise, Mick Jagger, Pet Shop Boys, Chuck Mangione, Lou Reed and also for John Lennon's “Imagine”. In Zbig Vision Studios created were also Zbig's most important and acclaimed works: “Steps” 1987; “The Fourth Dimention” 1988; “Orchestra” 1990; and his favorite film “Kafka” in 1992. Zbig's work in film and video has earned him numerous awards including three MTV Music Video Awards, three American Video Awards, three Monitor Awards for Best Director, the 1986 Billboard Music Video Award for Most Innovative Video, the 1986 BPI Video of the Year Award, as well as grand prizes at the Festivals at Annecy, France 1981, the Oberhausen Film Festival in both 1979 and 1981 and the Rio International Film Festival in 1987. For more than 30 music videos produced by Zbig, MTV awarded him the MTV Video Vanguard Award for his role as a "visionary in the field of music video." In 1990, Zbig won his first Emmy award for special effects produced in his film, The Orchestra, a one-hour classical music HDTV program for PBS. It was the first Emmy ever awarded to a High Definition production. Later that year, he was honored for all of his work in HD by the Japanese Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications for his outstanding work advancing the uses of HD technology. In Italy, he was awarded the Premio Internazionale Leonardo for his overall contribution to video, and in France, the Paris Cite for "outstanding achievement" in HD.In 1992, Zbig completed work on the HD piece Kafka (1992). Produced by Telemax of Paris as part of their Audio/Visual Encyclopedia series, Kafka 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 1993.In period of 1994-97 Rybczynski worked in Germany, Berlin (CBF Studios) developing new production techniques in the areas of image compositing and motion control photography. He's an author of a few totally innovative patents in that matter, as well as computer programs. Later on, he lived and worked in Cologne, continuing his research and being a Professor of Experimental Film in Cologne's Academy of Media Arts. Since September 2001 Zbig is back in USA, Los Angeles, where he works as a Research Engineer in Ultimatte Company, world's recognized leader in blue/green screen compositing technology for film and TV. He's preparing himself to start a new film production soon.
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