Norman Leto
Norman Leto (Łukasz Banach, born in 1980, Bochnia) An artist, self-educated in the field of video, film and new media. He lives and works in Warsaw, Poland. His works are part of the collections of the Centre for Contemporary Art in Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw, Film collection Filmoteka of Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. Other collections include Museum of the National Museum in Kraków, ING Polish Art Foundation, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Kraków (MOCAK). Norman Leto’s debut solo exhibition took place in the Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw in 2007. At the same time he was invited to collaborate with the director Krystian Lupa on the play Factory Two, where Norman Leto’s job was to prepare video sequences shown during the performance.
During 2009 – 2010, Norman Leto devoted himself to residency in New York in order to complete his autobiographical novel Sailor. Simultaneously, he completed a full-length film of the same title. The film is a loose adaptation of the book and the two are complementary to each other. Fully financed by the author, the film was well received at the 10th Era Nowe Horyzonty International Festival. The British Tribune described it as "the best and most surprising independent debut of the festival. Godard would have been delighted.” In 2011 the Sailor was presented, out of competition, during the FID Marseille International Festival in France and Palic European Film Festival, in the section: young European directors.
In 2011, Norman Leto began to direct his second full feature film Photon. Release date is planned for Q4 2013.
Norman is not related to Jared Leto despite the resemblance.