Auteur-director Hanna Polak has an Oscar and Emmy nominations under her belt for “Children of Leningradsky” and the Producer Guild of America nomination for “Something Better To Come”, amongst many other awards and accolades. Her emotional bond with her protagonists allows her to deliver visceral, poetic films that celebrate the power of human spirit and that portray the beauty of humanity in the most adverse circumstances.

As a producer, director, and/or cinematographer, Hanna has worked on various films, including Al – Tribute to Albert Maysles; Battle of Warsaw 1920 in 3D, Stone Silence, shot in Afghanistan; Officer’s Wife; Orange Sun; Faces of Homelessness, and others. Stone Silence won her “Artistic Mastery of Photographing” award at the Kiev Film Festival, for her cinematography.

Hanna’s works have been screened in festivals around the world, including Sundance, IDFA, True/False, FIPA, and they have appeared on major television networks, including HBO America, HBO Europe, Canal+, NHK, SVT, Yle, DR, and many others.

Hanna has lectured on film producing and documentary filmmaking at universities and workshops worldwide. She was an expert for the Mazovia Warsaw Film Commission and the Polish Ministry of Culture, evaluating documentary projects. Hanna is a member of the Producers Guild of America.

Hanna Polak is special guest in the Warm-up event on Romanian Premiere of the Celluloid Podcast, on March 26th, 18:00 CET.

Zuzanna Solakiewicz is an award-winning writer and director, known for her visually striking and thought-provoking films. She studied humanities at the University of Warsaw and filmmaking at the Sam Spiegel Film & TV School in Jerusalem.

Her acclaimed film 15 Corners of the World won the Critics’ Week Award at the Locarno Film Festival and has been screened at major international festivals, as well as released in cinemas, on VOD, and Polish television. She has participated in industry programs such as Berlinale Talent Campus and EAVE.

Her latest film, The Guest, co-directed with Zvika Gregory premiered in the Main Competition at IDFA 2024, earning the award for Best Cinematography.

Filmography

1. “GOŚĆ” [THE GUEST]/ director: Zuzanna Solakiewicz & Zvika Gregory Portnoy, 2024, 78 min./ Documentary
2. „ZIEMIA” [THE SOIL] director: Zuzanna Solakiewicz/ 2021 /71 min. / Documentary
3. “ROMANTYCZNY CHŁÓD” [COLD ROMANTIC. SORROWFUL SONGS], director: Zuzanna Solakiewicz/ 2017/25min./ Documentary
4. “15 STRON ŚWIATA” [15 CORNERS OF THE WORLD], director: Zuzanna Solakiewicz/ 2014/ 79 min/ Documentary
5. “JORCAJT”[YORZEIT] director: Zuzanna Solakiewicz, 2012/ 52 min. / Documentary
6. „TAK, TO JEST” [SO, IT GOES], director: Zuzanna Solakiewicz 2010/ 12min./ Documentary
7. KABARET POLSKA [CABARET POLSKA], director: Zuzanna Solakiewicz & Nir David Zats / 2008 / 49’ min./ Documentary

Zuzanna Solakiewicz is special guest in the Warm-up event on Romanian Premiere of the Celluloid Podcast, on March 26th, 18:00 CET.

Born in Białystok, Eastern Poland. She pursued her MISH studies at the University of Warsaw, focusing on migration within the fields of Mongolism/Tibetology, cultural studies, ethnology, Polish philology, and liberal arts. Since 2009, she has worked as an actress, assistant director, and later as a director and producer of video installations, as well as a costume designer in theater.

She collaborates with all major Polish theater institutions and has worked with Jacek Poniedziałek, Anna Smolar, Michał Marczak, Paweł Łoziński, Krzysztof Skonieczny, Wiktor Rubin, Jola Janiczak, Radosław Rychcik, Maciej Bochniak, and Jill Godmilow.

Nobis is a recipient of the “Young Poland” Scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage. She was also awarded the ZASP Prize in the National Competition for the Staging of Contemporary Plays for her role in Dybuk, a drama by Ignacy Karpowicz, directed by Anna Smolar.

Since 2021 she runs a production company called Offhand Films.

She directed and together with First Hand Films co-produced her debut feature film called Polish Prayers (2022), premiered in the LUMINOUS section at IDFA and has since been screened at over twenty festivals worldwide, including Locarno (Panorama), CPH:DOX, DOC NYC, Docs Barcelona were it received Reteena Award of a Young Jury. The Polish premiere of the film took place at the Millennium Docs Against Gravity festival under Polish tittle: “Prawy Chłopak”, where it received a special mention in the Polish competition. In 2023, Hanka Nobis was awarded the Zurich Film Prize for Best Director for Polish Prayers. The film was supported during its development and production phases by the Federal Office of Culture and the Zurich Film Fund. Co-producers include SRF, RTS, HBO Europe, and MDR/ARTE.

Currently, her second film, Songs of Sisterhood, also co-produced by First Hand Films, with the commitment of Arte is nearing post-production. At the moment, she is deeply engaged in the development of her third film under working tittle Pearls. his story begins in a rural women’s association, whose charismatic and ambitious leader tries herself at politics.

Hanka Nobis is special guest in the Warm-up event on Romanian Premiere of the Celluloid Podcast, on March 26th, 18:00 CET.

Rafael Kapelinski is an acclaimed director and storyteller whose career spans decades and continents. Born in Poland, he has lived and worked in the United States, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, cultivating a diverse and international perspective. His passion for cinema was sparked at a young age, watching Charlie Chaplin films in a local cinema, which instilled in him a deep appreciation for the medium’s storytelling power.

Kapelinski’s academic journey reflects his dedication to mastering the art of filmmaking. He attended prestigious institutions such as the Andrzej Wajda Post-Graduate Master School of Film Directing, the London Film School, and the National Film and Television School (NFTS) in the UK. He also participated in renowned screenplay development workshops, including Les Premiers Plans, Ekran, and Scripteast.

Since 2006, he has written and directed numerous short films, earning multiple international awards at festivals like Austin, New Horizons, and Oberhausen. His notable works include Emily Cries, which won Best European Mid-Length Film at the Brest International Short Film Festival, and To Bury the Horse, a finalist in the European Bosch Short Film Competition.

In 2009, Kapelinski was honored with the Cannes Film Festival’s Cinefondation Residency Award, and Variety recognized him as one of the “10 Young European Directors to Watch.” His debut feature film, Butterfly Kisses (2017), premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Crystal Bear in the Generation section. This poignant exploration of adolescent lives garnered critical acclaim and numerous accolades, cementing his reputation as a filmmaker of note.

Kapelinski’s subsequent projects, including A Woman At Night (2021), which won Best Feature at the Diorama Film Festival, and his latest feature, Budapest Diaries (2025), demonstrate his continued commitment to telling compelling human stories set against rich historical and political backdrops.

In addition to filmmaking, he has contributed to the industry as a story consultant, including on the BAFTA-winning short animation Edmond by Nina Gantz. His storytelling expertise extends to radio, having written plays such as A Lucky Guy and Three Chances for Polish National Radio.

Kapelinski is also an esteemed educator, lecturing in fiction development and audio-visual storytelling at institutions such as the London Film School, The American Film Institute (AFI) in Los Angeles, and the Krzysztof Kieslowski Film School in Poland. He is the author of The Story Spectrum, a practical manual for filmmakers, and continues to inspire through both his creative work and academic contributions.  – ‘The Story Spectrum’ Storytelling Tool.

His filmography showcases a remarkable range of shorts and features, unified by his fascination with complex characters and narratives that are at once chilling and uplifting, simple and profound. With each project, Rafael Kapelinski reaffirms his place as a distinctive voice in contemporary cinema.

Rafael Kapelinski is special guest in the Educational Online Talk Poets or Engineers on Filmmaking, on April 3rd, 11:00 CET.

Kuba Mikurda is a Polish filmmaker and film scholar, known for his critically acclaimed documentaries, including Love Express: The Disappearance of Walerian Borowczyk (2018), Escape to the Silver Globe (2021), and Solaris Mon Amour (2023). Mikurda has no formal film education, his background lies in contemporary psychoanalysis. A former student of Slavoj Žižek, he authored a book exploring Jacques Lacan’s concept of not-all. Mikurda brings a psychoanalytic perspective to his filmmaking practice, creatively engaging with archival materials and innovative editing techniques. He teaches at Film School in Łódź.

Kuba Mikurda is keynote speaker at the Academic Conference Archives, Cinema and Collective Healing: Preserving Memory Through Film, on April 4th.