Jury of 2023 On Air Competion
Matylda Damięcka
An actress, singer, graphic artist, and theatre director. She works with the Comedy Club, Och-Teatr, Polonia Theatre in Warsaw, and InVitro Theatre in Lublin. She won the first prize at the Festiwal Piosenki i Ballady Filmowej (Festival of Film Songs and Ballads) in Toruń. She has also been nominated for the Polish Film Awards (Eagles) in 2023, in the Best Supporting Female Character, for her appearance in the film ‘Apokawixa / It Came from the Water’ directed by Xawery Żuławski. Tofifest audience will have a chance to see the film on 2nd July (Sunday).
Agnieszka Kruk
A screenwriter, an expert in script development, and an educator. She is a graduate of the English studies and Dutch studies at the University of Warsaw, as well as the Academy of Photography in Warsaw and a screenwriting course at the Warsaw Film School, and the Leon Schiller Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School in Łódź. She is an author of training programmes for screenwriters, script consultants and head writers. She is also the author and organiser of the Script Fiesta festival (2012-2017).
Kuba Czekaj
A film director and screenwriter. His full length début ‘Baby Bump’ won the Special Queer Lion prize at the 72nd International Film Festival in Venice (2015), which is awarded to the best film related to the LGBT theme. Kuba Czekaj also won the Baumi Script Development Award, which commemorates producer Karl ‘Baumi’ Baumgartner, for the script to the film ‘Sorry, Poland’, during Berlinale 2017. The film also received an honorary mention at the Krzysztof Kieslowski ScripTeast programme, for the Best Script from Central and Eastern Europe, which took place during the Cannes Film Festival in 2017.
Tomasz Schuchardt
One of the most versatile contemporary Polish actor. He is a two-time winner of the Acting Award for the Best Actor at the Gdynia Polish Film Festival for the main role in the film ‘Chrzest / The Christening’ directed by Marcin Wrona and for the supporting role in the film ‘Jesteś Bogiem / You Are God’ directed by Leszek Dawid. In 2019, the actor received the Grand Prix Award at the Festiwal Teatru Polskiego Radia i Telewizji (Polish Radio and Television Theatre Festival) in Sopot for his role in the stage drama ‘Wesele / The Wedding’ based on the novel by Stanisław Wyspiański. He has worked with such prominent film directors as Małgorzata Szumowska (in the film ‘W imię / In the Name of’) and Jan Komasa (in ‘Miasto 44 / Warsaw 44’), among others. He is also a recognisable figure among international audiences, thanks to his role in the widely applauded TV series ‘Wielka Woda / High Water’ made for Netflix.
Janusz Zaorski
A screenwriter, film director and producer. He is an academic teacher and has a PhD degree in film directing. He is a graduate of the Directing Department at the Leon Schiller National Film School in Łódź. He has made between ten and twenty full length films, including ‘Matkę Królów / The Mother of Kings’ (in 1982, the Silver Bear Award at Berlinale, and the Golden Lions Award in Gdynia) and ‘Jezioro Bodeńskie / Sons and Comrades’ (in 1985, the Golden Leopard Prize in Locarno). In 2011, he received the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis. He has also received the Jan Machulski Award in recognition for his achievements in supporting Polish independent cinema. He is a member of the European Film Academy and of the Directors’ Guild of Poland.
