The Polish Film Festival (Polish: Festiwal Polskich Filmów Fabularnych, FPFF), formerly Gdynia Film Festival (2012), Gdynia – Festiwal Filmowy (2013) and Film Festival w Gdynia (2014–2016), is an annual film festival first held in Gdańsk (1974–1986), now held in Gdynia, Poland. It has taken place every year since 1974, except in 1982 and 1983 when Poland was under martial law.
The organizers of the festival are the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of Poland, Polish Film Institute (PISF), Polish Filmmakers Association, the Pomeranian Voivodeship Local Government as well as the port city of Gdynia.
The jury for the 2008 competition was headed by Robert Gliński, a director who had previously won at the festival."33rd Polish Film Festival opens in Gdynia " September 15, 2008
Awards The Polish Film Festival main award is the Grand Prix Golden Lions (Polish: Złote Lwy), which is different from the Eagle (Polish: Orzeł), awarded at the Polish Film Awards and the Seattle Polish Film Festival (Seattle is the sister city of Gdynia).The Seattle Times John Hartl, "Polish film festival finds a new home in its 15th year April 25, 2007 Special awards include the Platinum Lions (Platynowe Lwy) conferred for lifetime achievements in cinema as well as the Audience Award.
Golden Lions: The award's name comes from the coat of arms of Gdańsk, where the festival was held until 1986. It is the main film award in the Main Competition, which goes to the director and producer of the best film, along with a financial prize of zł300,000 (zł200,000 for the director, zł100,000 for the producer). Silver Lions: It is also presented to the director and producer along with a financial prize of zł150,000 (zł100,000 for the director, zł50,000 for the producer). Platinum Lions: This award honors a filmmaker for their entire body of work. The winner is nominated by the Program Council in consultation with the Polish Filmmakers Association, and the award is presented by the Organizing Committee. The winner receives a statuette and a cash prize of zł30,000. Sapphire Lions: This award was instituted from 49th edition in 2024. It is awarded to the director and producer of the best film in the Perspectives Competition, along with a financial prize of zł50,000 (zł30,000 for the director, zł20,000 for the producer). Audience Award: This award is given to the director of the film that receives the highest number of audience votes at the festival. The prize is zł25,000, funded by the Kino Polska Group.
Agnieszka Holland holds the record number of wins at the festival having been awarded the Grand Prix four times. In 2020, Mariusz Wilczyński's Kill It and Leave This Town became the first ever animated film in the festival's history to be awarded the Golden Lions for Best Film.
List of winners Golden Lions The Golden Lions Award was not awarded on six occasions: in 1976, four films were instead awarded Main Prizes (Polish: Nagroda Główna), the films which received this distinction were Jerzy Łomnicki's Ocalić miasto, Marek Piwowski's Przepraszam, czy tu biją?, Andrzej Wajda's Smuga cienia and Mieczysław Waśkowski's Hazardziści; in 1982 and 1983, the festival was not held due to the imposition of the martial law in Poland; in 1989, 1991 and 1996.
YearDirector(s)Original titleEnglish titleSource(s)1974Jerzy HoffmanPotop The Deluge1975Andrzej WajdaZiemia obiecana The Promised Land Jerzy AntczakDnie i noce Nights and Days 1976No award–––1977Krzysztof ZanussiBarwy ochronneCamouflage1978Stanisław RóżewiczPasjaPassionAndrzej WajdaBez znieczuleniaWithout Anesthesia1979Krzysztof KieślowskiAmatorCamera Buff1980Kazimierz KutzPaciorki jednego różańcaThe Beads of One Rosary1981Agnieszka HollandGorączkaFever1982Cancelled–––1983Cancelled–––1984Jerzy KawalerowiczAusteriaAusteria1985Stanisław RóżewiczKobieta w kapeluszuWoman in a Hat1986Witold LeszczyńskiSiekierezadaAxiliad1987Janusz ZaorskiMatka KrólówThe Mother of Kings1988Krzysztof KieślowskiKrótki film o miłościA Short Film About LoveKrzysztof KieślowskiKrótki film o zabijaniuA Short Film About Killing1989No award–––1990Wojciech MarczewskiUcieczka z kina "Wolność"Escape from the 'Liberty' Cinema1991No award–––1992Robert GlińskiWszystko co najważniejszeAll That Really Matters1993Radosław PiwowarskiKolejność uczućThe Order of FeelingsGrzegorz KrólikiewiczPrzypadek PekosińskiegoThe Pekosiński's Case1994Kazimierz KutzZawróconyReverted1995Juliusz MachulskiGirl GuideGirl Guide1996No award–––1997Jerzy StuhrHistorie miłosneLove Stories1998Jan Jakub KolskiHistoria kina w PopielawachThe History of the Cinema in Popielawy1999Krzysztof KrauzeDługThe Debt2000Krzysztof ZanussiŻycie jako śmiertelna choroba przenoszona droga płciowąLife as a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease2001Robert GlińskiCześć, TereskaHi, Tereska2002Marek KoterskiDzień świraDay of the Wacko2003Dariusz GajewskiWarszawaWarsaw2004Magdalena PiekorzPręgiThe Welts2005Feliks FalkKomornikThe Collector2006Joanna Kos-Krauze and Krzysztof KrauzePlac ZbawicielaSaviour Square2007Andrzej JakimowskiSztuczkiTricks2008Waldemar KrzystekMała MoskwaLittle Moscow2009Borys LankoszRewersReverse2010Jan Kidawa-BłońskiRóżyczkaLittle Rose2011Jerzy SkolimowskiEssential KillingEssential Killing2012Agnieszka HollandW ciemności In Darkness 2013Paweł PawlikowskiIda Ida 2014Łukasz PalkowskiBogowieGods2015Małgorzata SzumowskaBody/CiałoBody2016Jan P. MatuszyńskiOstatnia rodzinaThe Last Family2017Piotr DomalewskiCicha nocThe Silent Night2018Paweł PawlikowskiZimna wojna Cold War 2019Agnieszka HollandObywatel JonesMr. Jones2020Mariusz Wilczyński Zabij to i wyjedź z tego miastaKill It and Leave This Town2021Łukasz Ronduda and Łukasz GuttWszystkie nasze strachyAll Our Fears2022Agnieszka SmoczyńskaThe Silent TwinsThe Silent Twins2023Paweł MaślonaKosScarborn2024Agnieszka HollandZielona granicaGreen Border2025Piotr DomalewskiMinistranciThe Altar Boys2026Maciej SobieszczańskiPrzez ścianęThrough the Wall
Platinum Lions
2007 – Jerzy Kawalerowicz 2008 – Stanisław Różewicz 2009 – Kazimierz Kutz, Jerzy Hoffman 2010 – Janusz Morgenstern 2011 – Tadeusz Konwicki, Roman Polanski 2012 – Jerzy Wójcik, Witold Sobociński 2013 – Jerzy Antczak 2014 – Sylwester Chęciński 2015 – Tadeusz Chmielewski 2016 – Janusz Majewski 2017 – Jerzy Gruza 2018 – Jerzy Skolimowski 2019 – Krzysztof Zanussi 2020 – Andrzej Barański, Feliks Falk 2021 – Agnieszka Holland 2022 – Filip Bajon 2023 – Allan Starski 2024 – Wojciech Marczewski 2025 – Ewa Braun 2026 – Halina Prugar-Ketling
Gallery
See also Polish cinema List of film festivals
References
External links Polish Film Festival – Official website Polish Film Festival at the IMDb