Marshal’s Film Award laureate to chair jury at the Gdynia Film Festival
Prominent figures of Polish cinema who have recently received awards connected with the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region have been appointed to the juries of the 51st Polish Film Festival in Gdynia. Krzysztof Zanussi will chair the Main Competition Jury, while Ewa Braun will head the Short Film Competition Jury. Zanussi is a laureate of the Pola Negri Film Award of the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region, while Braun will receive the “Politka” statuette in Lipno this year.
The Polish Film Festival in Gdynia will take place on 21–26 September 2026. The organisers have just announced the members of the festival’s four juries. They include representatives of various fields of filmmaking – from directing and screenwriting to acting, editing, music and production design.
The most prestigious role has been entrusted to Krzysztof Zanussi. The distinguished director, screenwriter and producer will chair the Main Competition Jury. Alongside him, Przemysław Chruścielewski, Jagna Dobesz, Małgorzata Hajewska-Krzysztofik, Mikołaj Trzaska, Marcin Wierzchosławski and Ita Zbroniec-Zajt will decide the recipients of the festival’s most important awards.
Zanussi is one of the most important figures in Polish cinema. For decades, his films have explored themes of morality, responsibility, choice and the human condition. His body of work includes such films as “The Structure of Crystal”, “Illumination”, “Camouflage”, “The Constant Factor” and “Life as a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease”.
His presence in Gdynia is particularly significant for the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region. Krzysztof Zanussi is a laureate of the Pola Negri Film Award of the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region. The filmmaker also has direct links with the region – scenes for several of his films were shot in Kujawsko-Pomorskie, including “Hypothesis”, “A Year of the Quiet Sun” and “Całopalenie”.
The Main Competition Jury will also include Mikołaj Trzaska. The saxophonist, clarinettist and composer is primarily associated with jazz, improvised music and the avant-garde, but cinema has also been an important part of his artistic work for many years. He composes film scores in which the distinctive sound of his instruments and improvisation become important elements of the narrative. His collaboration with Wojciech Smarzowski has attracted particular attention in recent years. In 2026, Trzaska received a Polish Film Award – Eagle for his music for “Dom dobry”. The film was made with the support of the Kujawy Pomorze Film Fund and was produced with the participation of the Bydgoszcz-based company Lucky Bob.
The third figure adding to this distinctive Kujawsko-Pomorskie connection is Ewa Braun – one of Poland’s most outstanding production designers and costume designers, and an Academy Award winner for her work on Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List”. In Gdynia, Braun will chair the Short Film Competition Jury. She will be joined in judging the films by director Bartosz M. Kowalski and producer Joanna Szymańska.
Ewa Braun is one of this year’s recipients of the “Politka” statuette – the main award of the “Pola and Others” Film Review in Lipno. The second recipient is director Magnus von Horn. The 19th edition of the Lipno event will take place on 18–20 September, just before the Gdynia festival begins.
The Perspectives Competition Jury will consist of Dorota Kędzierzawska – Jury Chair, Elwira Pluta and Jacek Poniedziałek. Awards for a debut or second film will be decided by Sławomir Fabicki – Jury Chair, Magdalena Piekorz and Wojciech Staroń.
Paweł Jankowski
Promotion Department
10 September 2026