Włocławek’s Ósemka Film Club Receives Polish Film Institute Award
The winners of the 18th edition of the Polish Film Institute Awards were announced on 23 September during the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia. In the Film Club category, the award went to DKF “Ósemka” from Włocławek.
The Anna Sienkiewicz-Rogowska Polish Film Institute Awards have been presented since 2008. They are among the film industry’s special distinctions, recognising the work of individuals and institutions whose activities are not directly related to film production. “The aim is to recognise outstanding achievements that support the development of Polish cinematography, promote its heritage and make Polish film more accessible to audiences,” the Polish Film Institute explains.
The nominees in 10 categories for their activities in 2025 were selected in advance by a jury comprising PFI Director Kamila Dorbach, last year’s winners and representatives of the initiatives recognised with the awards.
In the Film Club category, DKF “Ósemka” from Włocławek emerged victorious from a shortlist of three nominees. Like the other winners, the Włocławek-based club received a statuette designed by Kraków sculptor Xawery Deskur, along with a cash prize of PLN 15,000.
Ósemka Film Discussion Club was established for audiences who appreciate ambitious cinema and features niche productions that rarely make it into the mainstream distribution of commercial cinemas. The club was founded in 2008 at the Włocławski Towarzystwo Wioślarskie rowing association on the initiative of its president, Robert Kowalski. Its name refers both to a rowing eight and to a roll of film. Among the guests at its first screening were Kazimiera Szczuka and Roman Gutek, while the film shown was Control, about the life of Ian Curtis, lead singer of the legendary band Joy Division.
The club’s latest initiative is Filmowe podróże z Orlenem (Film Journeys with Orlen), an eight-month series of free documentary film screenings running until March 2027. Screenings followed by discussions are held at the Chamber Hall of the Impresary Theatre in Włocławek.
Another representative of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region also had a chance to win a PFI Award. Maks Bereski was nominated in the Film Poster category for his poster for Zaprawdę Hitler umarł (Indeed, Hitler Is Dead), the feature-film directorial debut of Monika Strzępka. A graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Bereski ultimately lost out to Jakub Mazurkiewicz, who created the poster for There Are No Ghosts in the Apartment on Dobra Street.
Winners of the 18th Polish Film Institute Awards for activities in 2025
- Cinema – Kino Światowid, Katowice
- Film Event – 8th edition of the Octopus Film Festival
- Promotion of Polish Cinema Abroad – Wojciech Jerzy Has Retrospective in Spain
- Film Criticism – Klara Cykorz
- Film-Related Book – Elektroniczny bandyta. Rynek wideo w Polsce okresu transformacji by Grzegorz Fortuna Jr.
- Film Education – Activities of the Film Educators’ Team
- Distribution of a Polish Film – The Girl with the Needle – Gutek Film
- Film Club – Ósemka Film Discussion Club
- Film Poster – Poster for There Are No Ghosts in the Apartment on Dobra Street by Jakub Maria Mazurkiewicz
- Film Culture Accessibility (joint award) – 2nd edition of the Korelacje Festival and the activities of the Kino Dostępne Foundation
Film Discussion Clubs in our region
There are currently seven Film Discussion Clubs (DKFs) operating in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region, both in large cities and smaller towns. In the latter, they often serve as local centres of film culture. Their screenings and meetings bring communities together while helping audiences develop their cultural literacy. DKFs operate at libraries, cultural centres and arthouse cinemas, providing space for thoughtful engagement with the art of film.
- DKF Brodnica at Brodnicki Cultural Centre
- DKF “Mozaika” at the Jerzy Orlicz Film Lovers’ Club in Bydgoszcz
- DKF “Niespodzianka” at the Youth Palace in Bydgoszcz
- DKF ZEZEM at TEATR Cultural Centre in Grudziądz
- DKF SE(A)NS at the Municipal Cultural Centre in Lipno
- DKF Niebieski Kocyk at the Od Nowa Academic Centre for Culture and the Arts in Toruń
- DKF Ósemka in Włocławek
Dariusz Czołgowski
Promotion Department
24 September 2026