Grażyna Szapołowska

An outstanding Polish film, theatre, and television actress, as well as a director and writer, she graduated from the National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw. She began her stage career at the Wrocław Pantomime Theatre, and, for many years, was associated with the National Theatre in Warsaw. Her film roles brought her enormous popularity. She made her debut in the 1970s, but her breakthrough came with her performance in the Hungarian film Another Way. She has worked with some of the greatest directors of Polish and European cinema and appeared in such films as A Short Film About Love, No End, The Magnate, Pan Tadeusz, Medium, Home Chronicles, and Belcanto, among others. She has received numerous awards, including the Eagle and the Golden Hugo, as well as distinctions for lifetime achievement. In addition to acting, she is active as a director, having staged operas such as Halka and La Traviata in Wrocław. She is also the author of several books, including autobiographical works, such as Pocałunki, Poza mną, Ścigając pamięć, and Zapomniałam o tobie. For her contributions to culture, she has been awarded the Golden Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis and the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.