Adrien Brody

Adrien Brody was born in New York in 1973. He started his career in American cinema. The US lifestyle magazine, Vanity Fair, voted him one of five most sought-after actors. Nominated in 1998 for the "Independent Spirit Award" for his lead part in Restaurant, he has become known in Europe through his performances in Bread and Roses (2000) and The Thin Red Line (1998). Other movies he has done include Dummy (2001), Love the Hard Way (2001), The Affair of the Necklace (2001) and Harrison's Flowers (2000).

Thomas Kretschann

Born in East Germany, Thomas Kretschann trained as a teen to be an Olympic swimmer but decided to pursue an acting career instead. At twenty years old, he was able to escape to West Berlin to begin a new life without the regimentation of communism. After three years of odd jobs and acting classes, he was invited to be a member of the Schillertheater (Germany's equivalent of England's Royal Shakespeare Company).

In 1991, he made his film debut in "Der Mitwisser" which earned him Germany's prestigious Max-Ophuls Prize as Best Up & Coming Actor for his performance. When he appeared in the World War II epic, Stalingrad, a movie made by the same producers as Das Boot, his performance launched him into the international limelight. He went on to star in La Reine Margot, Marching In The Dark, Dario Argento's The Stendahl Syndrome and Prince Valiant, to name a few of his more internationally known credits. Furthermore, he was very convincing in his role as Captain Vesna in U - 571 as well as in his leading part in Carl Schenkel's thriller Feindliche Übernahme - althan.com. His next release will be Pupi Avatis medieval epic The Knights of the Quest.

Thomas Kretschmann plays a German officer in The Pianist (director: Roman Polanski), who saves Wladyslaw Szpilman's life. Kretschmann makes his home in Los Angeles.

Frank Finlay

In an impressive acting career, the British actor Frank Finlay received an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe nomination (for his role in Othello, 1965), two BAFTA Film Award nominations (The Return of the Soldier, 1982 and Othello) and won the Prize of San Sebastian Film Festival (also for Othello). He has since appeared in over 80 productions, including, most recently Goodnight Vienna (2000) and Ghosthunter (2000).

Maureen Lipman

Born in England, Maureen Lipman is known in Europe through her role as Trish in the blockbuster Educating Rita (1983) for which she received a BAFTA Film Award nomination. Recent credits include Solomon and Gaener (1999) and Captain Jack (1998).

Roman Polanski

Born in Paris from Polish parents, Roman Polanski was raised and educated in Poland where he attended Art School in Krakow and the National Film School in Lodz. He made his stage acting debut at the age of fourteen and continued to perform on the popular radio show The Merry Gang. In his teens, he appeared in the film Three Stories and subsequently played small parts in several Polish films including Andrzej Wajda's Generation. While still at the Film School, Polanski directed several short films including Two Men and a Wardrobe (1957), When Angels Fall (1958), The Fat and the Lean (1958) and Mammals (1961), all awarded at various film festivals. His feature film debut was Knife in the Water (1962), which won the Critics' Prize at the Venice Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Foreign Language Film.

Polanski's English-language debut were made in England with Repulsion (1964), starring Catherine Deneuve, which won a "Silver Bear" at the Berlin Film Festival. Than he directed Cul-de Sac (1965) for which he won a "Golden Bear", at the same festival. He played the starring role in his next film, The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967). His first American picture was Rosemary's Baby (1968), for which he received the Best Screenplay Academy Nomination. In 1972, Polanski returned to Europe to direct his adaptation of Macbeth (co-written with Kenneth Tynan), and in 1973, he directed Marcello Mastroianni in What?

Polanski returned to Hollywood in 1974 with Chinatown, winner of the Golden Globe and nominated for eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, but winning only Best Original Screenplay. In 1976, Polanski returned to Europe for the film The Tenant with Isabelle Adjani and Shelly Winters.

Once again, this film featured him in the starring role. His next film Tess (1979) was nominated in six categories, including Best Director, and won three Oscars for Cinematography, Art Direction and Costume Design.

In 1984 Polanski wrote his autobiography, Roman, which was a best-seller in several languages. In 1986, he filmed the adventure spoof Pirates, with Walther Matthau. Polanski's next film, the 1988 thriller Frantic, with Harrison Ford, marked the first starring role of Emmanuelle Seigner, who is also starring in Bitter Moon (1992), with Hugh Grant and Peter Coyote and The Ninth Gate (1998), also starring Johnny Depp and Lena Olin.

On stage Polanski directed the opera of Alban Berg's LULU at Spoleto Festival, Verdi's Rigoleto at the Munich Opera and Tales of Hoffman at the Paris Opera Bastille. In 1981, he directed and starred in the production of Peter Shaffer's Amadeus, first in Warsaw, then in Paris. In 1988, he played the lead role in Stephan Berkoff`s stage adaptation of Kafka's Metamorphosis. He directed the musical comedy of Tanz Der Vampire in 1996 in Vienna. In 1993 he co-starred with Gerard Depardieu in Giuseppe Tornatore's film A Pure Formality.

THE PLAYERS

Music and hope

"I never looked for physical similarity," says Polanski concerning his search for an actor to play Wladyslaw Szpilman. In fact, he wasn't looking for an actor at all. "Prominent film director seeks 'ordinary bloke' to play the lead in his next film. No experience necessary," ran the small ad in The Guardian newspaper announcing auditions for the part.

Polanski's reasons for wanting to cast a non-professional were simple: "I want everything in this film to look as authentic and realistic as possible. It was very important that he wasn't a celebrity. I gave it a try but, in the end, decided to use ayoung actor. I'd seen a few films with Adrien. It was an easy decision."

"Adrien" is rising star Adrien Brody, whose credits include The Thin Red Line, Restaurant, for which he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, and Bread and Roses. Vanity Fair recently voted Adrien Brody one of its five most sought-after actors.

Playing opposite him, as the German officer, is Thomas Kretschmann, Harvey Keitel's co-star in U-571. The German officer shelters Szpilman in his field HQ afterhearing him perform Chopin's ballad no. 1 on a dusty piano in one of the film's mostmoving scenes.

Kretschmann hesitated before accepting the role. "I was scared of stereotyping but this German officer is different. He helps the Pianist. He is a symbol of hope for us Germans. Despite the seriousness of the events portrayed, the film is deeply rooted in a sense of optimism and hope."

Alain Sarde

Alain Sarde began his cinematic career in 1977 as coproducer of André Téchiné's Barocco. Since then, he has established himself as one of France's leading producers, alternating between commercial films and more specialised "films d'auteurs". Through close collaboration with directors such as Pierre Granier-Deferre, Jean-Luc Godard, Bertrand Blier, Bertrand Tavernier, Alain Corneau, Coline Serreau, Claude Sautet and Jacques Doillon, Alain Sarde has already produced over 140 films.

Gene Gutowski

Director Roman Polanski asked Gene Gutowski, who himself was in Warsaw during the war years, to help him on this important production. Both men are bound by an old friendship. Gutowski had been the one who brought the young director Polanski to England and produced multi-award-winning films such as Repulsion (1965), Culde- sac (1966) and The Fearless Vampires Killers (1967).

Eric Fellner

Lew Rywin's credits include such international successes as "Jakob the Liar" (1999), "Aimée & Jaguar" (1999), "The Ogre" (1996) and "Schindler's List" (1993).

Rainer Schaper

Rainer Schaper has worked as a production designer and art director on a total of 42 feature films, including Jean-Jacques Annaud's The Name of the Rose (1985) for which he received the "German Film Award" in 1986. He has been a managing director of Studio Babelsberg GmbH since 1997 and has been responsible for all areas of film production since March 2000.

Timothy Burril

Timothy Burril has been responsible for Vatel (2000), The Escort (1999), The Pirates of Penzance (1983) as well as Tess (1979).

Ronald Harwood

The Pianist was co-written with British writer and dramatist Ronald Harwood, whose screenplay for his international success Taking Sides has recently been filmed by Oscar-winner Istvan Szabo. In 1985, Ronald Harwood was a visiting professor at Balliol College, Oxford and served from 1990-1993 as the president of the English PEN and from 1993-1997 as the president of the international PEN. In 1996, he became a Chevalier of the National Order for Art and Literature and received the Stefan Mitrov Ljubisa Prize this year for his services to European literature. In 1999, he received the distinction of "Commander of the British Empire". His oeuvre covers novels as well as plays and works for cinema and television.

Polanski says, "I greatly admire him as a writer and dramatist of plays such as The Dresser (adapted for the screen with Tom Courtenay and Albert Finney). He has written extensively about the period. Taking Sides is about Furtwängler, the conductor accused of collaboration with the Nazis." For his part, Harwood acknowledges the contribution of Polanski. "His experiences drove the screenplay. They are what ensures that the film is rooted in realism and authenticity."

Allan Starski

Allan Starski numbers among the international stars of "Production Design". Apart from his Oscar-winning work on Schindler's List (1993), he was responsible, among others, for Pan Tadeusz (1999), Korczak (1990), Europa Europa (1990) and Danton (1982).

Anna Sheppard

Anna Sheppard takes charge of the costumes in The Pianist. Among her many prize-winning achievements are Circus (2000), The Insider (1999), The Ogre (1996), Schindler's List (1993, Oscar nomination, BAFTA Film Award nomination) and To Kill a Priest (1988).

Pawel Edelman

Pawel Edelman made a name for himself in the international scene as a director of photography through Pan Tadeusz (1999). He recently completed work on the international production Big Animal (2000).