Agnieszka Holland

Holland's last Polish feature, "A Woman Alone" (1981), chronicles the grim plight of an unmarried mother employed as a letter-carrier. The 1985 West German film "Bitter Harvest," Holland's real breakthrough on the international film scene, reverted to a wartime theme, detailing the relations between a mildly prosperous farmer and the Jewish refugee woman he discovers and shelters. Although her English-language debut film, "To Kill a Priest" (1988) was considered a career setback, Holland rebounded magnificently with the powerful, acclaimed study of a Jew who masquerades as a Nazi at the height of the Holocaust, "Europa, Europa" (1991). She followed up with another well-received art house item, "Olivier Olivier" (1992), an intriguing story of a child who claims to be a boy who disappeared six years earlier. Holland again explored the world of youth with her first mainstream Hollywood film, an adaptation of the children's classic "The Secret Garden" (1993). Holland followed with another period drama, "Washington Square" (1997) based on the Henry James novel. Formerly married to Czech director Laco Adamik, with whom she has a daughter.