WAJDA SCHOOL NEW TALENTS | BERLIN - PARIS
Friday, 11 September, 2026
POLNISCHES INSTITUT BERLIN, Burgstraße 27, 10178 Berlin
21st filmPOLSKA - Polish Film Festival in Berlin and PotsdamThursday, 3 December, 2026
INSTITUT POLONAISE DE PARIS, 86 Rue de la Faisanderie, 75116 Paris
IN THE YEAR OF ANDRZEJ WAJDA, we commemorate one of Poland’s most outstanding directors, the creator of unforgettable masterpieces of cinema and theatre, the founder of countless cultural initiatives and institutions, and, in his legacy as an educator, a mentor who guided successive generations of young filmmakers.
The WAJDA SCHOOL NEW TALENTS project is being implemented as part of the Wajda School International Programme in the Year of Andrzej Wajda.The programme is sponsored by the Polish National Foundation.The project has received funding from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, drawn from the Culture Promotion Fund.
Project partner: Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
Project co-organisers: Polish Institute in Berlin and Polish Institute in Paris.
The project is being implemented in collaboration with the following festivals: filmPOLSKA, Kinopolska, Cottbus Film Festival and Arras Film Festival.
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WAJDA SCHOOL & STUDIO
In 2002, on the initiative of two masters of Polish cinema, Andrzej Wajda and Wojciech Marczewski, the Andrzej Wajda's Master School of Film Directing and Film Education Foundation were established in Warsaw. In 2011, it was renamed Wajda School & Studio. It offers professional artistic guidance from leading Polish and European filmmakers, acting
as a bridge between film school and the professional film market.
It assists young artists (directors, screenwriters and producers) in the realisation of their own film projects – from the script development stage, through test shots, production and post-production, to the presentation of the film on the market. The honorary patron of the Wajda School is European Film Academy.
The lecturers are well-known filmmakers such as Wojciech Marczewski, Jacek Bławut, Paweł Pawlikowski, Ildiko Enyedi and Volker Schloendorff, Maciej Sobieszczański, Leszek Dawid. Andrzej Wajda lectured at the school for 15 years, until his death. The School's achievements include almost 3,000 graduates who have made their mark on the history of Polish and world cinema, and hundreds of film projects that have made it to the big screen.
Selected artistic successes of projects developed at Wajda School
FIUME O MORTE, reż. Igor Bezinović, 2025
TIGER Award and FIPRESCI Award at the Locarno Film Festival 2025, Best European Documentary 2025. Croatian Oscar nominee.
TOXIC – dir. and screenplay by Saule Bliuvaitė, 2024
Golden Leopard for Best Film and Best Debut, second prize from the youth jury and prize from the ecumenical jury Locarno Film Festival 2024, Nomination for the European Film Award 2024 in the European Discovery category – Prix FIPRESCI
SONNE, directed by Kurdwin Ayub, 2022
Special Award for Best Debut Film at the 2022 Berlinale, nomination for the 2022 European Film Awards in the European Discovery - Prix Fipresci category
SUMMER 1993 – directed by Carla Simón, 2017
Generation Kplus International Jury Award for Best Feature Film, Special Award for Best Debut Film, and nomination for the Crystal Bear Award at the 2017 Berlinale, nomination for the European Discovery Award at the European Film Awards
FUGA, directed by Agnieszka Smoczyńska, 2018
Award for Best Directorial Debut – Gdynia Polish Film Festival (2018), Polish Film Award Eagle 2019 in the category: Discovery of the Year for the screenplay for the film (Gabriela Muskała), 4 nominations for the Eagle award– for cinematography, music, editing and leading female role
IN LIMBO, directed and written by Alina Maksimenko, 2024
Nomination for the European Film Award - Best Film and Best Documentary Film (2024)
COMMUNION, directed by Anna Zamecka, 2016
European Film Award – Best European Documentary Film – Arte Grand Prix (2017), Oscar Shortlist (2018)
JOANNA, directed by Aneta Kopacz, 2013
Oscar nomination in the Best Short Film category (2015)