John Borowski
John Borowski is an American independent filmmaker and author. The focus of his work is late nineteenth and early twentieth century serial killers, initially in a trilogy of documentaries on American criminals. More recently, Borowski has focused on the commerce and culture that has grown around such crimes, and on other niche artists.
John Borowski
John Borowski · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- John Borowski
- Birthplace
- Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
- Occupation
- Director, producer, writer, author
- Born
- 1953 · Chicago.
- Nationality
- United States
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Documentary evidence
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wikidata · Q3181100 · wikipedia · John Borowski
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — John Borowski • Birthplace — Chicago, Illinois, U.S. • Occupation — Director, producer, writer, author • Website — johnborowski.com
Early life
Early life
After receiving his B.A. from Columbia College Chicago's film program, Borowski freelanced as an editor and cinematographer. Director Willy Laszlo chose Borowski to edit every headlining film for the Chicago Short Comedy Film and Video Festival from 1999 to 2003. In 2004, Borowski's independently produced first film, H.H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer, was distributed on DVD in North America by Facets Video. Holmes was covered by television (CBS News, Wild Chicago), print (Variety, LA Weekly, Chicago Sun-Times, Ain't It Cool News, Philadelphia Weekly, Chicago Magazine), and radio (Mancow Show, Deadpit Radio). Borowski delivered lectures related to H.H. Holmes to the Chicago Historical Society, Indiana State University, and St. Xavier University. The Strange Case of Dr. H.H. Holmes is an illustrated book published by Borowski containing three primary source books about the Holmes case and Holmes' complete confession. H.H. Holmes has been distributed to over a dozen countries worldwide.
Author
Music videos
Music videos
• Think I'm in Love, by the Das Bruce. • Mr. Fish, by the Swedish Band, Sparzanza., • The Sea/Cellophane, by Dubwitch
Projects in production
Projects in production
Borowski is currently in post-production on Bloodlines: The Art and Life of Vincent Castiglia, to be released in 2017. Jesse Pomeroy: The Boston Boy Fiend is a feature documentary film in production, which focuses on the infamous 14 year old boy killer.
Guest appearances
Guest appearances
Borowski was a special guest speaker at the 2012 Indie Horror Fest.
Personal life
Personal life
Borowski currently resides in Chicago.
As director
As director
• H. H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer (2004). • Albert Fish (2007). • Carl Panzram: The Spirit of Hatred and Vengeance (2012). • The John Wayne Gacy Murders: Life and Death in Chicago (2020) • Serial Killer Culture TV (2017) • Bloodlines: The Art and Life of Vincent Castiglia (2017)
Other roles
Other roles
• Toro Loco (2010), by Chilean filmmaker Patricio Valladares, as producer.
References in published works
Borowski's work was featured in The Documentary Moviemaking Course: The Starter Guide to Documentary Filmmaking by K.J. Lindenmuth, and in a self-published work, Murderabilia and True Crime Collecting, by S.F. Scouller. The Swedish band Sparzanza used the narration by Tony Jay in the Borowski movie Albert Fish in their song "Mr. Fish".
Film work
Borowski's films are distributed internationally on DVD, television, and streaming. His "historical horror" trilogy of documentary films focus on late nineteenth and early twentieth century serial killers. Borowski directed a trilogy, based on America serial killers, H.H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer (2004), Albert Fish: In Sin He Found Salvation (2007), and Carl Panzram: The Spirit of Hatred and Vengeance (2012) and Serial Killer Culture (2014) which examines the reasons why artists and collectors are fascinated by serial killers. Borowski received the 2003 award for Best Director for H.H. Holmes from the Midwest Independent Film Festival, and the film was voted the Best Horror Documentary at the 2004 Screamfest Horror Film Festival. The film has been featured on PBS. Carl Panzram featured John DiMaggio as the voice of title criminal and murderer, Carl Panzram. Locations for the film included the maximum security prisons of Leavenworth Penitentiary and Clinton Correction Facility, and made use of Panzram's handwritten autobiographical papers at San Diego State University; Carl Panzram received the director's choice award at the 2012 Chicago Horror Film Festival. Borowski has produced and directed the short films: Mime Time (2013), Rough Crowd (2014), and The Portrait (2015). In 2014, Borowski released Serial Killer Culture, a film which examines the reasons why artists and collectors are fascinated by serial killers. Through music, painting, filmmaking, writing, and collecting, thirteen individuals are interviewed about creating art and searching for murderous artifacts. As a follow-up to the film, Serial Killer Culture TV was released in 2017. The TV show explores the similar themes including a Jonestown Survivor and how Ripley's Believe It Or Not! acquired the head of German serial killer Peter Kürten. In addition, Borowski served as an associate producer on the feature Toro Loco (2010), by Chilean filmmaker Patricio Valladares. In 2024, Borowski produced and directed the mini-series The John Wayne Gacy Murders: Life and Death in Chicago for Amazon Prime. The eight episode series is the first ever historical and chronological study on the life of John Wayne Gacy, featuring interviews with prosecutors, detectives, law enforcement, and attorneys who were directly involved with Gacy. It was released to critical acclaim and has since been released on DVD and Blu-ray home media.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article John Borowski, revision 1312835686 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Anon., 2004, "John Borowski, winner Best Documentary for 'H.H.Holmes'," at Getty Images (online), see https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/john-borowski-winner-best-documentary-for-h-h-holmes-news-photo/110713742, accessed May 15, 2015.
- 2.Kevin J. Lindenmuth, 2010, The Documentary Moviemaking Course: The Starter Guide to Documentary Filmmaking, York, U.K.:Methuen, , see https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1408128586, accessed May 15, 2015.
- 3.Steven F. Scouller, 2010, Murderabilia and True Crime Collecting, Bloomington, IN:AuthorHouse, , see https://books.google.com/books?isbn=144909421X, accessed May 15, 2015.
- 4.Anon., 2013, "News: John Borowski – Special Guest @ Indie 2012!!!," at The Indie Horror Film Festival (online), March 19, 2012, see http://indiehorrorfest.com/page/10/ , accessed May 15, 2015.
- 5.H.H. Holmes: America's First Serial Killer. IMDB.
- 6.Albert Fish: In Sin He Found Salvation. IMDB.
- 7.Carl Panzram: The Spirit of Hatred and Vengeance. IMDB.
- 8.The John Wayne Gacy Murders: Life and Death in Chicago. IMDB.
- 9.Serial Killer Culture. IMDB.
- 10.Inked Staff, 2015, "John Borowski's Inside Look at the Art of Vincent Castiglia," at InkedMag (online), February 26, 2015, see https://www.inkedmag.com/john-borowskis-inside-look-art-vincent-castiglia/, accessed May 15, 2015.
- 11.Bloodlines: The Art and Life of Vincent Castiglia. IMDB.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 3
- Bears Fonte, 2014, "Murderbelia and the Serial Killer Culture: An Interview With John Borowski," at AMFM Magazine (online), November 20, 2014, see https://web.archive.org/web/20141206191620/http://www.amfm-magazine.com/murderbelia-and-the-serial-killer-culture-an-interview-with-john-borowski/, accessed May 15, 2015.
- Harold Schechter, Lee Mellor, Michael Newton, Kim Cresswell, Aaron Elliott, Robert Hoshowsky (Lee Mellor, Ed., William Cook, Illustr.), 2014, "Unsolved in North America," Serial Killer Quarterly, Vol.1 No.3, pp. 8–10, Grinning Man Press, , see https://books.google.com/books?isbn=099382322X, accessed May 15, 2015.
- Matt Forster, 2014, "Movie Review: John Borowski's "Serial Killer Culture," TuffGnarl (online), August 30, 2014, see , accessed May 15, 2015.
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