[3] Żal has said that he "fell in love" with cinema at the age of 16, when he attended a course on filmmaking held at a local gymnasium in his home town of Koszalin, Poland.

He went on to study photography at the Leon Schiller National Film, Television and Theatre School in Łódź, from which he graduated in 2007.

Whilst there, he watched many films and decided to pursue a career as a cinematographer because of the "stronger emotional content" he observed in movies.

[3] When preparing to work on a film, Żal has stated that he reads though the script and tries "to find part of [him]self in the movie".

[3] In 2019 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the British Royal Photographic Society, from which he also received the annual Lumière Award.