The team selecting the Artictic Director of the Festival

We know who will choose the Artistic Director of the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia. The Contest Committee included the winners of Golden and Silver Lions, nominated by the Festival Program Council. Paweł Pawlikowski is the new Chairman of the Council.

The composition of the Contest Committee, which will select the Artistic Director of the Polish Film Festival, includes seven directors and film producers:

Renata Czarnkowska-Listoś
Joanna Kos-Krauze
Jan P. Matuszyński
Ewa Puszczyńska
Małgorzata Szumowska
Janusz Zaorski
Xawery Żuławski

The members of the Contest Committee were selected from among fourteen candidates recommended by the Polish Filmmakers Association, as well as the Directors’ Guild of Poland and industry organizations representing Operators, Editors, Makeup Artists, Screenwriters, Producers and Film Women.

The composition of the Contest Committee was decided by the Festival Program Council, which has been the advisory body of the Organising Committee since 2013, representing Polish filmmakers.

Two-stage voting

The composition of the Contest Committee was selected as a result of two-stage voting: the first one – conducted during a meeting held on March 10 in Warsaw, and the second – in the form of a correspondence voting, which ended on March 13. This solution, provided for in the Rules and Regulations of the Polish Film Festival, enabled members of the Council who were not present at the meeting to participate in the election.

Altogether, 77 people from over a hundred members of the Festival Program Council cast valid votes, as confirmed by the Ballot Counting Committee composed of: Irena Strzałkowska, Agnieszka Glińska and Paweł Maślona.

New Chairman of the Program Council

In parallel with the vote on the Contest Committee, it was also decided to elect a new Chairman of the Program Council. Paweł Pawlikowski became the successor of Wojciech Marczewski, who ended his three-year term. He was the only candidate for this function. Council members elected him unanimously.

Contest for the Artistic Director

– Due to the circumstances related to the pandemic, the first meeting of the Contest Committee will take place in an online conference mode this week. Then the Contest for the Artistic Director will be officially announced, and the Competition Regulations will be published on the Festival website – says Leszek Kopeć, Director of the Polish Film Festival. We will know the name of the Artistic Director by mid-May 2020.

Let us remind you that, according to the new rules and Regulations of the Polish Film Festival, one of the most important tasks of the Artistic Director is the selection of films for the Main Competition and the Short Film Competition. The person performing this function will be able to use the support and recommendations of the selection teams appointed by him or her.

A maximum of sixteen films may be qualified for the Main Competition. The Artistic Director will indicate twelve of them and his decision will be final. The Organizing Committee may add up to four films to the competition pool. As in the previous years, the selection of films for both competitions will take place in May, and the selection results will be announced in July.

The 45th Polish Film Festival will be held on September 14-19, 2020 in Gdynia.