Born in Warsaw, Agnieszka Holland has been a border-crosser” since the beginning of her career: she studied directing in Prague, and, following the success of her first film, Provincial Actors, and the state of emergency, she immigrated to Paris. She received her first Academy Award nomination for Angry Harvest, and the second one for Europe, Europe (1990) – which has won the award for Best Foreign Film at the Golden Globes. She made her first US film, The Secret Garden in 1993, was the first one to trust Leonardo DiCaprio with a serious role, that of the poet Rimbaud, in the movie Total Eclipse. During her career, she filmed Henry James’ novel, Washington Square (starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Albert Finney), and also co-wrote the Three Colors: Blue. She is the president of the European Film Academy.