Agata Kulesza, an outstanding Polish actress, will receive a special Golden Angel for an Outstanding European Actress, during the 12th edition of the Tofifest IFF in Torun. She will receive the award on 18th October, at the festival’s Opening Ceremony. It is worth painting out that Agata Kulesza has just been nominated to the wide circle of screen actors fighting for Oscar 2015 nomination. She will compete for Academy Award for her performance in Ida by Pawel Pawlikowski.
Agata Kulesza is undoubtedly one of the best actresses in Poland, today. When in Torun, she will receive an award for an outstanding European actress, which was presented to, among others, Julia Jentsch from Germany (Sophie Scholl – the Final Days), at one of the previous editions of Tofifest. It will not be the first time Agata Kulesza has been involved in the festival in Torun. In 2007, she won an Honourable Mention of the Jury of Tofifest for the best actress in the short film competition, thanks to her performance in A Few Simple Words by Anna Kazejak.
The recent years have been a streak of success for Agata Kulesza. In Ida, she portrayed an ex-prosecutor during the Communist regime in Poland, which won her the Eagle Award of the Polish Film Academy and many awards at film festivals in Gdynia, Zadar (Croatia), and Dijon (France). For the leading role in Rose Agata Kulesza won the Eagle Awards, the Golden Duck Award, and awards at film festivals in Durrës (Albania) and Gdynia. No wonder that she was quoted saying the following words at the press conference following her nomination for this year's Academy Awards: I do not see myself as a person with hang-ups. […] I do not need to play in foreign films to prove anything to anyone. […] My position here is secured and satisfactory. I do not feel any complexes, when thinking of actresses from abroad (source: sfp.org.pl).
Agata Kulesza has been waiting „for her turn”, but the recent years have offered her an opportunity to play roles that showed her immense talent in full blossom. She made her debut in a German TV series titled Liebling Kreuzberg, in 1986. Then, she appeared in a few dozen feature films and TV series, among which her performance in My Roast Chicken by Iwona Siekierzynska was particularly highly regarded. The recent years have been an array of performances in the most prominent Polish films. We had an opportunity to admire her talent in Suicide Room by Jan Komasa, in Rose, Traffic Department, The Strong Angel Inn by Wojtek Smarzowski, Służby specjalne by Patryk Vega, and – naturally – in Ida. In 2015, we will see her performing the leading role in My Daughters, Cows by Kinga Debska.
Agata Kulesza is a versatile actress of numerous talents. For her, theatre has always been just as equally important a passion, as cinema – both the TV theatre and the classical one. She has collaborated with such renowned theatres in Warsaw, as the Dramatic Theatre of the Capital City of Warsaw and the Ateneum Theatre. She is also no stranger to computer games. When recording the soundtrack for the already legendary computer game The Witcher, she impersonated as many as five different characters: Abigail, Carmen, the Queen of the Night, a nurse, and an Elven druidess. Her professional portfolio includes between ten and twenty dubbing performances. She has dubbed such figures, as Julia Roberts in Mirror Mirror (2012) or Rapunzel in Shrek the Third (2007).
Is there any chance for Agata Kulesza would receive an Academy Award for her supporting role in Ida? We believe she deserves it entirely. The official nominations for Academy Awards 2015 will be announced on 15th January and that day we will know, whether Agata Kulesza has been included in the “golden five” – we sincerely wish her the best of luck! What we know for certain today is that Agata Kulesza will receive her Golden Angel on 18th October, during the Opening Ceremony of the Tofifest IFF.