Born in 1955 in Poznań, he studied at the Department of English Philology of Warsaw University (1973-75), worked as a secretary and assistant at the Jerzy Grotowski 'Laboratorium' Theatre in Wrocław (1975-78). His translations of American poetry (Ginsberg, Ferlingetti) were published in the underground periodical Puls (1975-77). He studied film directing at the Łódź Film School (1978-82); cooperated with Puls (1977-80), the Łódź-based organization 'Solidarity with Gdańsk' (1981) and the underground weekly Tygodnik Mazowsze (1983-89).
A member of the Founding Committee of the nzs Independent Student Association (1980-81), he was interned during martial law (1982). He was president of the Youth Circle of the Polish Filmmakers Association (1983-84) and deputy president of the Artistic Board of the Karol Irzykowski Film Studio (1984-85). He has contributed to the daily Gazeta Wyborcza (since 1989) and the weekly Wprost. He was deputy editor of the weekly Przekrój (2000-01).
He has to his credit the book Małe Vademecum Peerelu ('A Small Vademecum of People's Poland'), written jointly with Anna Bikont and Wojciech Cesarski (1990).
His output as a filmmaker includes numerous documentary and experimental films, including Feeling (1979), A Ballad about the Strike (with Leszek Dziumowicz, 1988), Exemplary Fictions (1987), The Tales of the Round Table (with Leszek Dziumowicz, 1989), In Solidarity (with Bolesław Sulik, bbc, 1991), A Double Lapse (1991), Żnin-Paris-Venice, or The Scenes from Provincial Life (with Grażyna Gradoń and Stanisław Manturzewski, Polish Television 2, 1993).
He also directs for the theatre. He has participated in many exhibitions and performances in Warsaw ('rr' Gallery and 'Galeria Działań'), Łódź ('Wschodnia', 'stk', Galeria Książki and Muzeum Artystów), Elbląg ('el') and Zielona Góra (bwa). In addition to 'Freight Train', he has performed and made recordings with the ensembles 'Muzyka Nie-Medytacyjna', 'Sesja 80', 'Free Cooperation', and 'Go-Go Boys'.