World Cinema Icon to Meet Audiences at BellaTOFIFEST

Nastassja Kinski will receive the Golden Angel Award for Artistic Rebellion and meet audiences at the BellaTOFIFEST International Film Festival in Toruń.

The acclaimed German actress will attend the 24th BellaTOFIFEST International Film Festival in Toruń. On Friday, 3 July, the star of films by Roman Polański, Francis Ford Coppola and Wim Wenders will receive the Golden Angel Award for Artistic Rebellion. Later that day, at 6:10 p.m., she will take part in an open meeting with audiences at the Jordanki Cultural and Congress Centre (CKK Jordanki). Festival organizers have announced that admission to the event is free.

Before the meeting, audiences will have the opportunity to watch Roman Polański’s 1979 film Tess, in which Kinski plays the title role. Her performance in the screen adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s novel is widely regarded as the defining role of her career. At just 18 years old, Kinski achieved international stardom thanks to the film and received the prestigious Golden Globe Award.

Kinski quickly became not only the face of auteur cinema but also an international screen icon.

“Tess by Polański, One from the Heart by Francis Ford Coppola, and Wim Wenders’ debut feature The Wrong Move are films that have become part of cinema history. Kinski herself has become the symbol of an actress who never allowed herself to be typecast,” says Kafka Jaworska, Director of BellaTOFIFEST. “Her career is a story of bold, uncompromising choices, often going against the grain.”

During the 1980s, the peak of her acting career, Kinski created an impressive range of memorable performances while working with some of the world’s greatest filmmakers. Her notable credits include Cat People directed by Paul Schrader, Paris, Texas by Wim Wenders, Maria’s Lovers by Andrei Konchalovsky, The Hotel New Hampshire by Tony Richardson, Unfaithfully Yours by Howard Zieff, and, at the end of the decade, Spring Waters directed by Jerzy Skolimowski.

Now 65, Kinski has appeared in more than 60 European and American film productions. Although she worked less frequently during the early 2000s, she has recently returned to the screen. In 2022, she played one of the leading roles in Thomas Stuber’s German drama The Silent Traces (Die stillen Trabanten), followed a year later by Las Vegas, directed by Kolja Malik.

The actress also has Polish roots. She was born in Berlin as Nastassja Aglaia Nakszynski. She is the daughter of the renowned and controversial actor Klaus Kinski, who came from Sopot, while his father was Polish.

In Toruń, Nastassja Kinski will receive the Golden Angel Award for Artistic Rebellion. The festival presents the distinction to artists recognised for their “courage, uncompromising spirit and unwavering commitment to following their own artistic path.” Previous recipients include Agnieszka Holland, Maja Ostaszewska, Jerzy Stuhr, Mirosław Baka and Paweł Pawlikowski. This year’s award winners also include Agata Kulesza and Tomasz Schuchardt.

The 24th edition of BellaTOFIFEST runs until 3 July. The Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region Self-Government is the festival’s main partner. Screenings take place at CKK Jordanki, Cinema City, the Artus Court Cultural Centre, and the festival’s open-air cinema. This year’s visual theme is inspired by Terry Gilliam’s cult classic 12 Monkeys.

Dariusz Czołgowski
Promotion Department

30 June 2026