The 51st Gdynia Polish Film Festival concluded on Saturday, 26 September 2026. The Closing Ceremony was broadcast on TVP Kultura and TVP1.
Thanks to the alumni and faculty of the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School, the University of Silesia in Katowice can take pride in the significant presence and successes of its academic community at the event.
This year, Prof. Krzysztof Zanussi chaired the Main Competition Jury, which—in addition to many other awards, including the Golden Lions for Maciej Sobieszczański for his film Przez ścianę (Through the Wall)—also awarded honours that gave us particular cause for celebration.
The Andrzej Żuławski Golden Claw Award went to director Agnieszka Smoczyńska for the film Hot Spot. Agnieszka Smoczyńska’s film was also recognised in the categories of Costume Design (Katarzyna Lewińska), Sound (Marcin Lenarczyk), and Music (Marcin Macuk and Zuzanna Wrońska).
Another highlight of the Closing Ceremony of the Festival was the presentation of an award to Jacek Komar for his supporting male role in the film Nasza rewolucja (Our Revolution), directed by Piotr Domalewski, winner of the Golden Lions at last year’s Festival for the film Ministranci (The Altar Boys).
The day before, the Young Gala of the Festival took place, during which awards were presented to films selected for the Short Film Competition. This year, our Film School had as many as three of its own short films in the competition: Długa przerwa (The Long Break), directed by Jan Saczek; Serca z plastiku (Plastic Hearts), directed by Michał Łukowicz; and Źle się patrzy na smutnych ludzi (It’s Hard to Look at Sad People), directed by Paulina Michta.
Jan Saczek also presented his second film—Taty nie ma (Dad’s Not Here)—in the ‘Gdynia for Children’ section; the film had received a distinction at the Festival the previous year.
The award for Best Cinematographer went to Patryk Roman for the film The Long Break, directed by Jan Saczek. It is worth noting that Patryk Roman, a graduate of the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School, had as many as three films at this year’s Festival for which he served as director of photography. Apart from the award-winning The Long Break, these were the aforementioned Dad’s Not Here and It’s Hard to Look at Sad People.
The Short Film Competition also featured short films created by graduates of the Film School: Koty na szkle (Cats on Glass), directed by Katarzyna Sikorska (production managers: Oskar Sapeta, Dawid Małek, Iwo Marciniak; executive producer: Marcin Costilla-Kamiński); Styl dowolny (Freestyle), directed by Kacper Nowak-Gocławski (cinematography: Aleksandra Kamińska); Waga idealna (Ideal Weight), directed by Katarzyna Warzecha; and Kontrewers, directed by Zuza Banasińska (producer: Aleksandra Aleksander).
The Faculty’s patron—Krzysztof Kieślowski—also played an important role at this year’s Festival, symbolically returning to us with his films in the PORTRAITS portion of the event. As part of this section, we were able to watch some of the great master’s films once again, inluding: No End, Talking Heads, A Short Film About Love, Refrain, Seven Women of Different Ages, From the City of Łódź and From a Night Porter’s Point of View.
Furthermore, in the KFF on the Tear section, we were able to see the internationally acclaimed short documentary film The Tuners, directed by Paweł Chorzępa, PhD, DSc, Assoc. Prof.
The ‘Perspectives’ Competition also featured the feature-length debut of our graduate Anna Urbańczyk—Kalafior przeznaczenia (Cauliflower of Destiny). Grzegorz Hartfiel was the director of photography, whilst Michał Krzywda and Kacper Anaczkowski—both making their feature-length debuts—served as production managers.
The Festival also saw the attendance of many other figures associated with the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School, including Prof. Filip Bajon, Paweł Maślona, Kordian Kądziela (Gdynia Story workshops) and Jan Matuszyński, PhD, DSc, Assoc. Prof.
Moreover, Paweł Maślona, winner of the 2023 Golden Lions for the film Kos (Scarborn), took part in a discussion organised by the Polish Filmmakers’ Association on the subject of Polish cinema.
In recent years, the Golden Lions at the Gdynia Polish Film Festival have been awarded three times to graduates of the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School: in 2022 to Agnieszka Smoczyńska for The Silent Twins, in 2023 to Paweł Maślona for Scarborn, and in 2025 to Piotr Domalewski for The Altar Boys.
Winners of the Golden Lions | Photo by Nikola Kopiec
