Paul Kowalski

Paul Kowalski is an award-winning writer-director whose films center around identity, exile and obsession, often featuring dark psychologies and the supernatural.

His film "Sardinia" won Best Director at the Oscar- and BAFTA-qualifying 2024 Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival. His 2021 debut feature "Paper Tiger" won the Audience Award and a Jury Prize at the Austin Film Festival, and was subsequently sold by Gersh.

Born in the UK to Polish immigrants, Paul grew up in England, the Middle East, Poland, Africa, Southeast Asia and across America - sparking a natural impulse to reconcile contrasting views of the world. Studying literature and writing at Brown University, he published a collection of short stories and made his earliest films, then later received his MFA from the AFI Conservatory.

Kowalski's films have won international recognition from the ASC, Beijing Film Academy and CINE, as well as the Canadian Cinematheque, Aesthetica, Indy Shorts, Flickers Rhode Island, Raindance, Austin and Beverly Hills film festivals, among others.

Paul is also a two-time BAFTA Newcomer, frequent lecturer at USC's School of Cinematic Arts - and in 2021 was named by Austin Film Festival and Writer's Conference to their "25 Screenwriters To Watch".