[1] Kawalerowicz was born in Gwoździec, Poland, as one of the few Poles living in an ethnically-mixed Ukrainian and Jewish town.

Other noted works by Kawalerowicz include Mother Joan of the Angels (Matka Joanna od Aniołów, 1961) for which he was awarded the Jury Prize at the 1961 Cannes Film Festival, and a 1966 adaptation of Bolesław Prus' historical novel, Pharaoh (Faraon), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

His studio produced some of the best Polish films by Andrzej Wajda, Tadeusz Konwicki and Juliusz Machulski.

[7] Two years later, his film Death of a President won the Silver Bear for an outstanding artistic contribution at the 1978 festival.

[8] At the 11th Moscow International Film Festival he was a member of the jury and was awarded with the Honourable Prize for the contribution to cinema.