FREEDOM Film Festival: We present the Jury of the Polish Competition

This year, the films taking part in the National Short Film Competition will be judged by Michał Oleszczyk, Małgorzata Zajączkowska, Anna Mucha and Marek Świszcz.

The National Short Films Competition is a tradition of the KAMERALNE LATO, which since last year’s edition has been held under the banner of FREEDOM Film Festival. It is also a tradition that the festival’s ambassador, Anna Mucha, and Marek Świszcz, a specialist in social prevention, sit on the jury every year. This year, they were joined by: actress Małgorzata Zajączkowska and – as chairman of the jury – film critic, script consultant, lecturer and podcaster Michał Oleszczyk.

Below we present profiles of this year’s jurors of the Polish Competition.

THE JURY OF THE NATIONAL SHORT FILMS COMPETITION:

Michał Oleszczyk (chairman)

Script consultant, lecturer at the Faculty of “Artes Liberales” at the University of Warsaw. In 2014-16, he was the artistic director of the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia. Author of the “SpoilerMaster” podcast.

As a literary director, he collaborated, among others, with CANAL+ (including „Pisarze. Serial na krótko”, “The Office PL”, “Planeta singli. Osiem historii”, „Minuta ciszy”). Co-writer of the film „Wszystkie nasze strachy” directed by Łukasz Ronduda and Łukasz Gutt. Consultant of such projects as “Hiacynt” or „Za duży na bajki”. Permanent collaborator of RogerEbert.com.

Laureate of the Krzysztof Mętrak (2005) and Polish Film Institute Awards (2012), nominated for the Polish Film Award in the Best Screenplay category (for “Wszystkie nasze strachy”).

Małgorzata Zajączkowska

Film and theater actress. Graduate of PWST (Theatre Academy) in Warsaw. She has collaborated with with Agnieszka Holland, Andrzej Wajda, Ryszard Bugajski, Krzysztof Zanussi, Barbara Sass, Kasia Adamik and Łukasz Grzegorzek. For the role of Nora in the film “Noc Walpugi” (2015) directed by Marcin Bortkiewicz, she received the award for the best actress at the Młodzi i Film Festival.

She lived and worked in New York for 16 years. Using the name Margaret Sophie Stein, she performed, among others, in Woody Allen, Paul Mazursky and Glenn Jordan. Last year, she starred in the film Late Bloomers, directed by Liza Steen. The film premiered at the South By South West Festival in Austin and awaits its European release.

At the Polonia Theater she accompanies Jan Peszek in the play “Minetti” directed by Andrzej Domalik. She likes teaching work with young people.

Anna Mucha

Actress, ambassador of the KAMERALNE LATO festival. She starred in several Polish films and series, worked with such directors as Andrzej Wajda (“Korczak”, „Panna Nikt”), Steven Spielberg (“Schindler’s List”), Olaf Lubaszenko („Chłopaki nie płaczą”, „Single i Remiksy”, „Single po japońsku), Piotr Wereśniak (“Och Karol 2”, “Wkręceni”), Patryk Vega (“Pittbull”, „Niewidzialna wojna”) or Juliusz Machulski, Jacek Bromski, Wojciech Pszoniak and Olga Chajdas.

For many years she was a reviewer of cultural events on TVP and Radiostacja, and the author of columns and a popular blog. In 2010, she produced and directed the documentary „Wędrowcy – Wigilia 2010”, which was watched by over 3 million TV viewers.

On the stage of the theater she appeared in such productions as “Pikantni” or “Przygoda z ogrodnikiem”. Currently, you can admire the actress in the play “O mało co…” produced by her, where she plays the main role.

Marek Świszcz

Specialist in the field of social prevention. A graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration at the Maria Curie Skłodowska University in Lublin.

In 1991 he started his service in the Police. He was immediately fascinated by the work of an investigator. He served at the District Police Headquarters in Puławy, then, after being transferred to Garwolin, he worked in the investigation department. He was also the deputy commander for criminal matters, and from 2006 the poviat commander. In 2012, he was appointed the Deputy Provincial Police Commander based in Radom, responsible for the prevention division.

Working at the Mazovian Provincial Police Headquarters in 2012-2018, he supervised, among others, program and organizational activities related to the implementation of the KAMERALNE LATO project, co-creating innovative programs in the field of social prevention implemented through film education. He retired from the police force in early 2019.

The National Film Meetings KAMERALNE LATO and the accompanying FREEDOM Film Festival will be held on July 2-8, 2023. The verdict of the Jury of the National Short Film Competition will be announced on the last day of the festival during the final gala.

The main organiser of the Polish National Filmmeetings KAMERALNE LATO is the FILMFORUM Association.

The project was co-financed with funds from the budget of the Mazovian Voivodeship as part of the Mazovian Voivodeship Programme of Prevention and Solving of Alcohol Problems and Counteracting Drug Addiction.

The project was co-financed by the City of Radom.

The project is co-financed by: Polish Film Institute, the Embassy of the United States of America in Warsaw and the Filmoteka Narodowa – Instytut Audiowizualny.

The international educational project TOGETHER is co-financed by the European Union.

The co-organisers of the event are: the Mazovia Centre for Social Policy and Radom Creative Environments Club and Gallery “ŁAŹNIA”.

Main partners of the event are: American Corner Radom, Jan Kochanowski Powszechny Theatre in Radom and Municipal Cultural Center Amphitheater.

Industry partners of the festival are: Polish Filmmakers Association, Mazovia Institute of Culture and Mazovia Warsaw Film Commission.

Educational partners are: Offener Kanal Magdeburg (Germany), Kinographe (France), Associazione Cinematografica e Culturale LABORATORIO DEI SOGNI (Italy), CinemaHall (Ukraine), Polish-American Fulbright Commission and Education USA.

The partner of the Mazovian Social Prevention Programme is Regional Police Headquarters based in Radom.

The festival’s technology partners are: CANON and Canon Professional Services (CPS).

The logistical partner of the event is KIA Plejada.

Organising partners of the event are: Pracownia Nowych Mediów, Hufiec ZHP Radom-Miasto and Mazovian Centre of Contemporary Art Elektrownia in Radom.

The official Festival Club of the 16th Polish National Film Meetings KAMERALNE LATO is PaTaThai Radom.