Joanna Łapińska appointed Artistic Director of the Polish Film Festival
On 19th January 2026, Marta Cienkowska, Minister of Culture and National Heritage, appointed Joanna Łapińska as Artistic Director of the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia for a five-year term.
Joanna Łapińska was selected by a nine-member Competition Committee, consisting of six members chosen by the PFF Programme Council and three chosen by the PFF Organising Committee.
Composition of the Competition Committee:
1. Borys Lankosz – Chairman
2. Olga Bieniek
3. Olga Chajdas
4. Kuba Kosma
5. Robert Piaskowski
6. Allan Starski
7. Maja Wagner
8. Marcin Wierzchosławski
9. Janusz Zaorski
Joanna Łapińska is a Member of the European Film Academy, awarded the Bronze Medal for Merit to Culture ‘Gloria Artis’, the Artistic Director of the PFF in Gdynia in the years 2023–2025. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Warsaw, a cultural manager with many years of experience. From 2002 to 2016, she was associated with the New Horizons International Film Festival, serving as artistic director since 2007. Joanna Łapińska is the originator of the New Horizons Studio and Polish Days. She was programme director of the Transatlantyk Festival from 2016 to 2020. She also created the industry event Icebreaker. Before taking up the position of Artistic Director of the festival in Gdynia, she was the head of Gdynia Industry. She is an expert at the Polish Film Institute, Łódź Film Commission, Mazovia Film Fund and Warsaw Film Fund.
This is Łapińska’s next term as Artistic Director of the Polish Film Festival. The second candidate in the competition for the position of Artistic Director of the PFF was historian and academic lecturer Dr Piotr Kurpiewski.
photo: Mateusz Ochocki/KFP/FPFF
