Year of Cinema People: Saturday with Leonard Pietraszak in the Spotlight

“Sounds of Cinema. Leonard Pietraszak by the Bydgoszcz Canal” is the title of an all-day event in Bydgoszcz dedicated to the popular actor. The evening will culminate in a film music concert and a screening of the cult classic Vabank.

Leonard Pietraszak, who was born in Bydgoszcz, died in 2023. A year later, he was posthumously awarded the Marshal of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region’s Pola Negri Film Award.

Other recipients of the Marshal’s Film Award

Let us recall that the regional assembly designated 2026 as the Year of Kujawsko-Pomorskie People of Cinema, while Bydgoszcz city councillors proclaimed it the Year of Leonard Pietraszak, commemorating the 90th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding actor, who throughout his life emphasised his strong ties to his home city. A number of events celebrating the artist are taking place in Bydgoszcz. At the District Museum, the exhibition “Leonard Pietraszak. Master of Many Roles” can be visited until the end of February 2027, presenting photographs connected with his most important performances.

Another event will take place this Saturday (29 August) by the Bydgoszcz Canal. “In the outdoor area near Lock No. 5, residents of Bydgoszcz and tourists will be able to take part in a city game, a walk following the actor’s footsteps, meetings with historical reenactors, displays of costumes and objects of material culture, and numerous activities for the whole family. In the evening, the event will culminate in a film music concert and a screening of the cult classic Vabank,” the organisers announce.

The event dedicated to one of Poland’s most recognisable actors will begin at 2 p.m. and continue into the evening. Admission is free.

“Sounds of Cinema. Leonard Pietraszak by the Bydgoszcz Canal” – Saturday, 29 August

2 – 7:30 p.m. – exhibition “Leonard Pietraszak. A Bydgoszcz Native on Screen”

2 – 4 p.m. – city game “In the Footsteps of Leonard Pietraszak”, taking participants through selected locations in Bydgoszcz

2 – 4 p.m. – guided walk following Leonard Pietraszak’s footsteps in Bydgoszcz

3 – 6 p.m. – educational and historical zone

The programme includes presentations of costumes and objects of material culture connected with films and TV series in which Leonard Pietraszak appeared, meetings with historical reenactors, stories about the realities of the periods depicted in Polish cinema, film quizzes and activities for children and seniors. The displays and dioramas will include, among others, a nobleman’s setting inspired by Black Clouds, the interwar period inspired by Vabank, and World War II inspired by How I Unleashed World War II.

5:15 – 6 p.m. – Big Band Dobrcz – “A Musical Journey Through the Decades”

6 – 6:45 p.m. – scenes inspired by films and TV series, along with stories about material culture, including the duel between Dowgird and Zaręba from Black Clouds

6:45 – 7 p.m. – “Leonard Pietraszak – The Phenomenon of an Actor” – a meeting with a film scholar

7 – 7:45 p.m. – film music concert “Leonard Pietraszak in Musical Frames”

7:45 – 9:30 p.m. – open-air cinema – Juliusz Machulski’s Vabank, starring Leonard Pietraszak in his unforgettable role as Kramer

Leonard Pietraszak – Honorary Citizen of Bydgoszcz

Leonard Pietraszak was born on 6 November 1936 in Bydgoszcz. He spent his childhood and youth in his home city, living on Gdańska and Grunwaldzka streets. He also had a brief connection with Toruń – he was admitted to study chemistry at Nicolaus Copernicus University, but soon decided that acting was the path for him. In 1960, he graduated from the acting department of the State Higher School of Film, Television and Theatre in Łódź.

He made his film debut in 1957 in Jerzy Kawalerowicz’s The Real End of the Great War. Initially, he played minor roles, including in the cult TV series More Than Life at Stake. His professional breakthrough came in the 1970s. He gained enormous popularity for his memorable portrayal of Colonel Krzysztof Dowgird, a rebellious dragoon officer who abandons service under Prussian Elector Frederick William, in Andrzej Konic’s TV series Black Clouds (1973). Another success was his role as Dr Karol Stelmach, a friend of engineer Karwowski, in Jerzy Gruza’s Forty-Year-Old (1974). He also played Colonel Wacław Wareda in The Career of Nicodemus Dyzma, directed by Jan Rybkowski and Marek Nowicki (1980). He gave outstanding performances in Juliusz Machulski’s comedies Vabank (1981) and Vabank II, or Riposte (1984).

In 2018, he was made an honorary citizen of Bydgoszcz. He collected paintings by Jan Stanisławski and his pupils, which he and his wife Wanda donated to the District Museum in Bydgoszcz in 2021. He died in 2023 and is buried at the Starofarny Cemetery in Bydgoszcz.

Dariusz Czołgowski
Department of Promotion

28 August 2026