Film Fund: „Skrzyżowanie” (Crossroads) starring Jan Englert to Screen at Lisbon Festival

Dominika Montean-Pańków’s film Crossroads has won the Best Polish Film Award at the Cinalfama Festival in Lisbon. The film was produced in cooperation with the Kujawy Pomorze Film Fund.

The Cinalfama Lisbon International Film Festival is an open-air festival and showcase of independent cinema from around the world, held in the historic Alfama district of Portugal’s capital. “For one week, from the Fado Museum to the steps of São Miguel Church, more than 50 films selected by our discerning and globally minded jury are screened. Different categories, stories from every corner of the world, and a wide range of cinematic perspectives all come together in the streets of Alfama,” reads the festival’s website.

Each year, the festival invites one selected country to present its unique cinematic perspective. This year, the spotlight is on Poland, and among the submitted entries the jury selected Crossroads, directed by Dominika Montean-Pańków, as the Best Polish Film. The Lisbon audience will have the opportunity to watch it on 30 July, the penultimate day of the festival. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers. “We’re thrilled because we’ve never been there before,” Montean-Pańków commented on Facebook.

„Skrzyżowanie” (Crossroads) is the director’s feature film debut. It tells the story of Tadeusz, an 80-year-old retired hospital chief physician whose quiet retirement is shattered by a tragic car accident. Forced to confront the consequences of the incident, he embarks on what may be his final struggle – for himself, his dignity, and the “peaceful death” he had once imagined very differently.

Tadeusz is portrayed – brilliantly – by Jan Englert, who made a remarkable return to the big screen after several years away. For this performance, he received the Best Actor award at the 2025 Off Camera International Festival of Independent Cinema in Kraków. The same year, during the Tofifest International Film Festival in Toruń, he was presented with the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region’s Pola Negri Film Award. “„Skrzyżowanie” (Crossroads) is a film for people who enjoy listening and exploring another person’s inner world,” Englert says.

Other recipients of the Marshal’s Film Award

The cast also includes Anna Romantowska, Michał Czernecki, Aleksandra Popławska, Martyna Byczkowska, and Daniel Namiotko, among others. The film was produced in cooperation with the Kujawy Pomorze Film Fund. It premiered in October 2024. In June 2026, Montean-Pańków received the Best Director award for „Skrzyżowanie” (Crossroads) at the Tirana European Youth Film Festival, which focuses on emerging European cinema.

Dominika Montean-Pańków graduated in English Philology from the Jagiellonian University and in Film Directing from the Faculty of Radio and Television at the University of Silesia in Katowice. In 2025, she earned a doctoral degree in the arts (film and theatre) from the Łódź Film School. She currently lectures at the Warsaw Film School. Her screenplay for Crossroads received the ZAiKS Authors’ Association Award in the Script Pro competition for its “modern take on the tradition of the Cinema of Moral Anxiety.”

Dariusz Czołgowski
Department of Promotion

27 July 2026