Biography
Marta Pajek is an award-winning Polish animation director. A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, she studied at the Animation Film Studio run by legendary animator Jerzy Kucia. Pajek then trained under Estonian animator Priit Pärn at the Turku Academy of Arts in Finland. Pajek's cinematic style is shaped by an interest in the arts, graphics but also dance, psychology, spirituality and human experiences. She has directed several animated shorts, including After Apples (2004), Nextdoor (2005) and the award-winning film Sleepincord (2011). In 2016, she released the first film (and second part) of the trilogy. Impossible Figures and other stories II (2016) was an instant critical success, winning over 20 awards, including the Grand Prix at the Stuttgart Animation Festival and the GLAS Animation Festival. Impossible Figures and other stories III debuted at Cannes in 2018 and won several international awards. Pajek's most recent film, Impossible Figures and other stories I (2021), the first and final part of the trilogy, is a co-production between Animoon and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). This is Pajek's first collaboration with the NFB.