This year’s Golden Angel of Tofifest for Artistic Insolence shall be awarded to Krystyna Janda, an outstanding European actress and director. This special award is awarded to the most important figures of the Polish and European cinema, at the International Film Festival Tofifest in Torun. The Golden Angel has already been awarded to Janusz Gajos, Bogusław Linda and Jerzy Stuhr.
Krystyna Janda shall receive the Golden Angel during the 10th edition of the IFF Tofifest, which will take place on 25thOctober. Then, she will present her excellent monodrama “Shirley Valentine”, especially for the festival audience. The Golden Angel for Artistic Insolence was an award created four years ago and – according to the vision of Kafka Jaworska, director of the IFF Tofifest – it presented to those filmmakers, who have spent their entire lives going against the flow and surprised everybody with their courageous decisions. The same is the nature of Krystyna Janda, an outstanding figure of international cinematography, who won the Palme d’Or in Cannes and the Silver Shell at the IFF in San Sebastian. She is a rebellious and brave film and theatre actress, as well as a director, manager and founder of the Polonia and OchTeatr theatres in Warsaw. She has also been actively engaging in charity actions. “Janda is perhaps the only Polish actress that has achieved the status of a star and won a circle of admirers”, as it was aptly pointed out in the culture.pl portal.
Her great contribution to culture has also been recognised by the authorities of the EU and in 2006 she was awarded theMedaille Charlemagne for her outstanding artistic work, dedication to the European Bridge between East and West and the struggle for the equality of women. She is the first woman to have ever been awarded this medal. Krystyna Janda has also been awarded the Gold Cross of Merit, the Vittorio de Sica Medal and the French Order of Fine Arts and Humanities Award.
She is a powerful film personality. Her film debut was the legendary Agnieszka in Man of Marble by Andrzej Wajda, made in 1976, for which role she was awarded the Zbyszek Cybulski Award. Her successive roles that have brought her more recognition included Man of Iron and Without Anaesthesia by Andrzej Wajda, My Mother’s Lovers by Radosław Piwowarski,Decalogue II by Krzysztof Kieslowski and Inventory, State of Possession by Krzysztof Zanussi. Krystyna Janda was awarded with the Palme d’Or at the IFF in Cannes for the role of Antonina Dziwisz in Interrogation by Ryszard Bugajski, while theprestigious Silver Shell at the IFF in San Sebastian was awarded for the role in Dismissed from Life by Waldemar Krzystek. She has also been awarded the Golden Lions of the PFF in Gdynia for her performances in Interrogation and A Few People, A Little Time by Andrzej Barański.
Krystyna Janda has created more than 60 theatrical roles, starting from antiquity, through Shakespeare, to the modern theatrical repertoire of Polish and international authors. She has worked and performed on stage with the greatest legends: Andrzej Łapicki, Agnieszka Holland, Andrzej Wajda or Zygmunt Hübner. The audience of the IFF Tofifest will have an opportunity to admire the highest quality of her artistry, as she will perform in the William Russell’s “Shirley Valentine”monodrama, directed by Maciej Wojtyszko. This monodrama has been successfully performed for 12 straight years. She has also founded the first private theatre in Poland, since 1945, i.e. the Polonia Theatre opened in 2005.
Janda wouldn’t be herself, if she did not have any surprises up her sleeve. In 2011 (35 years after her film debut), she made her “debut” in… the Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception computer game, in which she dubbed the voice of Katherine Marlowe, the leader of a secret organisation.
Important! The “Shirley Valentine” monodrama will be performed on 25th October, at 7 p.m., at the Baj Pomorski Theatre in Torun. The online pre-sale of tickets will start on the festival’s website at www.tofifest.pl, on 1st October and will continue until 19th October. From 20th October onwards, tickets will be sold directly in the box office of the Baj Pomorski Theatre. The price of pre-sold tickets – 65 PLN, the price from 20th October onwards – 75 PLN. The performance is a separately ticketed event, which also applies to the owners of passes to Tofifest.