Let’s meet the Jury in the ON AIR competition at the 22nd edition of the Tofifest International Film Festival. Kujawy Pomorze Region!
Let us introduce to you the composition of the jury in the main competition of the Tofifest International Film Festival. Kujawy Pomorze Region – the ON AIR international competition for début and sophomore feature films. This year, the winning film director, who will receive the Grand Prix Prize - the Golden Angel of Tofifest - will be selected by a group of extraordinary artists composed of: Kinga Dębska, Katarzyna Figura, Damian Kocur, Wojciech Urbański, and Zbigniew Zamachowski.
Kinga Dębska
Graduated from film directing at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, and from Japanese studies at the University of Warsaw. Her professional portfolio includes between ten and twenty documentary films, several dozen episodes for television productions, and six feature films. Her sophomore feature film ‘Moje córki krowy / These Daughters of Mine’ was a commercial and artistic success, and received numerous awards, for example the Audience Award, the Journalists Award, and the Arthouse Cinemas Network Award at the 40th edition of the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, as well as a few dozen awards at film festivals in Poland and abroad. Her successive films, such as ‘Plan B’, ‘Zabawa zabawa / Playing Hard’, and ‘Zupa nic / Back Then’ were all box office successes. Kinga Dębska has also written two books, namely ‘Moje córki krowy’ and ‘Porozmawiaj ze mną’. She has directed a theatre play ‘based on the modern play by the Czech writer Marek Horoŝčak, and also ‘The Dancer’ written by Witold Gombrowicz and ‘Pogo’ by Jakub Sieczko. She works as an academic teacher at the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art Branch Campus in Białystokat Wajda School, and at the Gdynia Film School. Her latest film ‘Święto ognia / Feast of Fire’ is an adaptation of the novel by Jakub Małecki.
Katarzyna Figura
A theatre, film, and television actress. In 1985, she graduated from the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw, and then pursued further education in acting at the National Academy of Dramatic Arts (CNASD) in Paris. Currently, she works as an academic teacher at the Gdynia Film School. In 2013, she joined the team of actors at Wybrzeże Theatre in Gdańsk. She has worked with many renowned Polish filmmakers, and her film portfolio includes such films as ‘Kingsajz’ (1987) and ‘Kiler’ (1997) directed by Juliusz Macuhlski, ‘Złoto dezerterów / Deserter’s Gold’ (1998) by Janusz Majewski, ‘Ajlawju’ (1999) by Marek Koterski, ‘Żurek’ (2003) by Ryszard Brylski, ‘Yuma’ (2012) by Piotr Malaruk, ‘Panie Dulskie’ (2015) by Filip Bajon, ‘7 uczuć / 7 Emotions’ (2018) by Marek Koterski, or ‘Chrzciny / The Christening’ (2021) by Jakub Skoczeń. Katarzyna Figura has received numerous prestigious awards, including Złota Kaczka (Golden Duck) Award (twice in 1987 and 1997), honorary mentions at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia (in 1999 and 2003), the honorary award Kryształowy Granat (2000), the Polish Film Award (The Eagle) for the best female character in ‘Żurek’ (2004), the Wielki Ukłon Award for lifetime achievement (2011), the Platynowy Szczeniak Award for outstanding achievements in film acting (2012), or the Zbigniew Cybulski Award (2019).
Damian Kocur
The winner of the last year’s edition of the Tofifest IFF, the Grand Prix Prize in the ON AIR competition for the film ‘Chleb i sól / Bread and Salt’. He is a film director and cinematographer, considered to be one of the most talented and award-winning Polish filmmakers. He is a graduate of the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School in Katowice, where he studied Film and TV Production Management and Photography at the Faculty of Radio and Television. He is a doctoral student at the Leon Schiller National Film School in Łódź. He is a member of the European Film Academy. A breakthrough in his film career was the feature début ‘Chleb i sól / Bread and Salt’ from 2022, which brought him the Polish Film Award (The Eagle) in the Discovery of the Year category, the Special Jury Award at the Venice International Film Festival, Krzysztof Krauze Award of the Directors’ Guild of Poland, the Journalists Award at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, and many others. In cooperation with Anastassia Solonevych, he directed the short film ‘As It Was’ (2023), which was selected for the Short Films competition at the 2023 Cannes International Film Festival.
Wojciech Urbański
One of the most valued Polish composers and music producers. He has composed music to such films as ‘Hiacynt / Operation Hyacinth’ (2021), ‘Lewandowski Nieznany’ (2023), and ‘Fanfik / Fanfic’ (2023), and to the television productions ‘Ultraviolet’ (2017-2019), ‘Rysa’ (2020’, ‘Układ’ (2021), and ‘Infamia / Infamy’ (2023). He has worked with many recognized Polish artists, such as Brodka, Tymek, Julia Wieniawa, Maciej Musiałowski, and Pezet. He is a music director and arranger behind many music events, such as the Empik Bestsellers Gala, the ‘Together with Ukraine’ charity concert, Urbański Orchestra and Guests (as part of the Męskie Granie concert), or the audio-visual show ‘Usłysz Planetę’ (Hear the Planet). He is one of the founders of the Dyspensa Records Company. He and Łukasz Stachurko are the behind the music duo Rysy. He has received many prestigious awards, such as the Fryderyk Award for the album ‘4GET’ (2022), and awards for the best Polish soundtrack for the film ‘Hiacynt / Operation Hyacinth’ (2022) at the Kraków Film Music Festival.
Zbigniew Zamachowski
A Polish film and theatre actor, music composer, and lyricist. He is a graduate of the Leon Schiller Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School in Łódź (finished in 1985). For many long years, he performed on stage of the most prestigious Polish theatres (he has the longest contract with the National Theatre in Warsaw). Today, you can watch him perform on stage of Och-Teatr in Warsaw, for example. His début on the silver screen came in ‘Wielka majówka / The Big Picnic’ directed by Krzysztof Rogulski (1981), where gave a superb performance as the main protagonist Rysiek. That paved the way to further successes and cooperation with many outstanding Polish film directors, for example in ‘Dekalog X / Ten Commandments 10’ and ‘Trzy Kolory: Biały / Three Colours: White’ by Krzysztof Kieślowski, ‘Ucieczka z kina Wolność / Escape from the 'Liberty' Cinema’ by Wojciech Marczewski, ‘Zmruż oczy / Squint Your Eyes’ by Andrzej Jakimowski, ‘Cześć, Tereska / Hi, Tessa’ by Robert Gliński, or ‘Pianista / The Pianist’ by Roman Polański. He has received numerous awards and honorary mentions for his film achievements, such as the Stanisław Wyspiański Award of 1st degree for acting achievements in theatre, film, and stage, the Zbigniew Cybulski Awards, awards for leading male character at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, and also the Polish Film Awards (the Eagles). He was awarded the Silver Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis (in 2015), and the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (in 2017).
