THE LATEST SUCCESSES
OF THE WAJDA SCHOOL GRADUATES

Bartek Konopka, Marcin Wrona, Katarzyna Rosłaniec, Michał Rogalski, Marcin Bortkiewicz – these are the directors who have been widely discussed lately. They all graduated from the courses at the Andrzej Wajda School, where they had the opportunity to produce their own film projects. We present their latest works.

The latest documentary film by Bartek Konopka entitled 'Królik po berlińsku [Rabbit a la Berlin]' is one of the eight films shortlisted for an Oscar nomination and at the same time it is the only Polish candidate in the Documentary Short Subject category. Bartek Konopka is a graduate of the Documentary Course and the EKRAN (a European training programme for film professionals), conducted by the Andrzej Wajda School.

'Królik po berlińsku' won the main Prize at  'The Magic Hour Award' competition at this year's Planete Doc Review and the Grand Prix – the Golden Lajkonik at the Krakow Film Festival 2009. The film was presented at many prestigious festivals where it was appreciated by both the audience and the critics. It tells a story of thousands of rabbits which lived in the Death Zone of the Berlin Wall. The film is an allegory which brings closer the history of Eastern Europe as seen from a 'rabbit' perspective. For director Bartek Konopka and cinematographer Piotr Rosołowski it is a second attempt, after 'Ballada o kozie [Goat Walker]', to tell about people through the prism of animals. 'Królik po berlińsku' is an international project financed by MDR, RBB and ARTE televisions and by Polish television TVP1. It was also co-financed by: Finnish television YLE, Belgian Lichtpunt and Dutch VPRO. The film was produced with the support of the MEDIA programme, the Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing and the Polish Film Institute. The producers are: MS Films (Poland) and majade Filmproduktion (Germany).

Bartek Konopka is currently preparing himself for the production of his feature film debut based on the ‘'Fear of Heights’ – a script awarded at the Polish edition of the Hartley-Merrill Script Contest 2009 (Piotr Borkowski was the co-author). The main parts in the film are to be played by Marcin Dorociński and Krzysztof Stroiński.

Marcin Wrona – graduate of the Feature Film Course and the EKRAN conducted at the Andrzej Wajda School – director of the film 'Moja krew [My Flesh, My Blood]' based on the script 'Tamagotchi' co-written by Grażyna Trela. The script for this film won the Polish edition of the Hartley-Merrill Script Contest 2007 and took the 3rd place at the International edition of the contest. The premiere of the film took place at this year's 'Young and Film' Festival in Koszalin, where it won the Journalists' Award and the award for the best script. Marcin Wrona is now finishing the shooting of another feature film 'Chrzest [The Christening]', co-produced by the Andrzej Wajda School.

Katarzyna Rosłaniec – graduated from the 'Studio Prób Development Lab at the Andrzej Wajda School – she made her debut with the film 'Galerianki [The Mall Girls]'. The film met with great interest and gathered many awards for the best debut: in Koszalin, where among other prizes it received the Grand Prix Wielki Jantar [Great Amber], as well as at the ERA NEW HORIZONS and at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia.

Michał Rogalski graduated form the Feature Film Course and the EKRAN – a European programme for film professionals, both conducted at the Andrzej Wajda School. In September, his film 'Ostatnia akcja [The Last Action]' where Jan Machulski played his last role, was released in cinemas. The film received the Audience Award at the 'Young and Film' festival in Koszalin. In 2008, the script by Rogalski entitled 'Letnie przesilenie [The Summer Solstice]' won the Polish edition of the Hartley-Merrill Scriptwriting Contest and took the second place in the International Edition.

Marcin Bortkiewicz – graduate of the Documentary Course at the Wajda School – after a series of documentary films, he made his debut with the film 'Nauczanie początkowe [Early Learning]'. The documentary film received a mention of the Polish Competition Jury at this year's Krakow Film Festival and it was also presented at the ERA NEW HORIZONS festival and at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia. As one of the few new Polish documentary films it was recently released on dvd. Bortkiewicz currently works on the feature film 'Trzeci dzień Kasi O. [The Third Day of Kasia O.]', produced within the framework of the 'Decalogue 89+' programme (the main parts will be played by Ewa Kasprzyk and Olaf Lubaszenko).

We sincerely congratulate our graduates and keep our fingers crossed for their further successes! We will keep you informed about other films produced or co-produced by the Andrzej Wajda School – please check out our website’s latest news releases.