Pawel Pawlikowski s-a născut în Polonia, dar locuiește în Marea Britanie din anii '70. Premiul său pentru documentarul Tripping With Zhirinovsky (1995) was the inspiration for his first feature film, The Stringer (1998), which screened at the Cannes Film Festival. His second feature film, Last Resort (EIFF 2000) won The Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature and was named the European Film of The Year by the Ministry of Culture in Germany.