Paul Kowalski is an award-winning writer-director whose films center around identity, exile and obsession, often featuring dark psychologies or the supernatural. His debut feature, PAPER TIGER, premiered at Austin Film Festival in 2020, winning the Audience Award and a Jury mention, and was subsequently sold by Gersh and distributed onto Amazon. Born to nomadic Poles, Paul grew up in the Middle East, UK, Poland, Africa, SE Asia and across America – sparking a natural impulse to reconcile contrasting views of the world. Studying literature at Brown University, he published a collection of short stories and made his earliest films — then later received his Directing MFA from the AFI Conservatory. His films have won recognition from the ASC, Beijing Film Academy, CINE, as well as playing at the Canadian Cinematheque, Austin, Aesthetica, Raindance and Beverly Hills film festivals. Paul is a BAFTA Newcomer, frequent lecturer at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts – and was recently named by Austin Film Festival as one of “25 Screenwriters To Watch”.