Lecturers
Bartek Konopka
Director. A graduate of film studies at the Jagiellonian University and journalism at the University of Warsaw. He graduated from directing at the WRiTV in Katowice and a documentary and feature course in Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing.Member of the Polish Film Academy and European Film Academy (EFA). In 2011-2014 member of the Council of the Polish Film Institute.He worked as a reporter for TVN and TVP, where he made several reportages and documentaries. In 2004 created "Ballad of the Goat" awarded at the Berlinale. His next film was the 40-minute feature "Three to Take"(2006). In 2009 was nominated for an Oscar for the documentary "Rabbit à la Berlin". In 2011 Bartek completed his feature debut "Fear of Heights", which had its premiere at the IFF in Montreal, won awards including film festivals in Mannheim, Bombaj, Lecce, Vincennces, Gdynia. His creation documentary "The Art of Disappearance"(2013) received awards at RIDM Montreal, IFF Jihlava.In 2013 also produced 7 episodes of the series "In Treatment" for HBO Europe. He directed the TV series "Up to the Ceiling" and "Under the Surface" (TVN).There's arleady "Deep in the forest" (Netflix) a series in production process. Year 2014 brought two new movies: music documentary "New Warsaw" and short story" From your bed you arose", both with many awards. In 2018 he directed his next feature film "Blood of God".
Piotr Dumała
Director and screenwriter of feature and animated films, writer, illustrator, graphic designer, novelist and author of the visual setting for animated films. Professor of film art, lecturer at the Department of Cinematography and Television Production at the Leon Schiller National School of Film, Television and Theatre in Łódź, the Department of Animation at the University College of Arts Crafts and Design Konstfack in Sweden and Harvard University in the USA.
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Bartosz Nalazek
Bartosz Nalazek is a Polish cinematographer currently living and working in Los Angeles.
He is the author of photography of such films as "Run Sweetheart, Run" written and directed by Shana Feste, selected for the "Midnight" section at Sundance 2020; "Eastern" directed by Piotr Adamski, selected for the Panorama Section at the Polish Film Festival "Eagles 2019"; "Tell It To The Bees" directed by Annabel Jankel, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2018, starring Anna Paquin and Holiday Grainger; "The Perfect Date", directed by Chris Nelson, which proved to be one of Netflix's most-watched films of 2019 and "Song of Back and Neck", directed by Paul Liberstein, selected for the competition section of the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival's US films.
After graduating from the PWSFTviT in Łódź, Bartosz assisted two-time ©Oscar® winner Janusz Kamiński in several feature films - he is, among others, the additional cinematographer for the films "The Post" directed by Steven Spielberg and "Call Of The Wild" directed by Chris Sanders.
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Rafał Stoos
Rafal has been editing feature films, documentaries and commercials for over 10 years. He has also worked as an editor for television for over 10 years.
Radosław Ochnio
Graduate of the PWSFTviT in Wrocław and PWSFTviT in Łódź. He collaborates with the best independent film directors and visual artists in Poland, such as Joanna Kos Krauze, Wojciech Smarzowski, Jerzy Skolimowski, Michał Marczak, Kuba Czekaj and Katarzyna Kozyra. In 2016, he received the European Film Academy Award for Best Sound Design for his work 11 minutes / 11 minutes (2015) by Jerzy Skolimowski.
Jarek Sterczewski
Jarek Sterczewski has been involved in colour grading in film for almost 20 years. He is a lecturer at the Film School in Łódź. He has done colour grading for numerous feature films, documentaries, commercials and series.
Jacek Podgórski
Graduate of the Cinematography Department at the Film School in Łódź. Author of photography for many short and long feature films. In 2018, he received the award for best cinematography for "God's Blood" (2018) directed by Bartosz Konopka at the Polish Feature Film Festival in Gdynia 2018. His cinematography for "Bikini Blue" (2017) directed by Jaroslaw Marszewski brought him a number of awards at film festivals in Romford, Mindfield Film Festival, Birmingham Film Festival and the North American Film Award and Los Angeles Movie Awards. He did the incredible cinematography for the short film "Moloch" (2015) by Szymon Kapelniak. Most recently, he worked on Mateusz Rakowicz's "Najmro".
Piotr Borkowski
Graduated in English Studies from the University of Warsaw. He also studied Philosophy and Film Studies at Warwick University, UK. Long-time lecturer in English Studies, first at the University of Warsaw and then at the SWPS University (e.g. cultural theory, film narration, American genre cinema, auteur cinema, history and contemporary cinema). He participated in EKRAN programmes at the Wajda School and the ScripTeast programme. In the years 2010-2016 a member of the board of the Screenwriters' Circle of the Polish Filmmakers Association. In 2011-2013, he ran the SWPS Film Lab. Co-created 4 film scripts in the "30 minutes" programme (together with their directors: Bartek Konopka, Leszek Molski, Maciej Górski, Filip Dzierżawski). He was the main author of the script for Bartek Konopka's feature debut, "Fear of Heights" (2011). In addition to supporting directors at the beginning of their careers, in 2013 he worked on an unrealised film project by the late Krzysztof Krauze and Joanna Kos-Krauze, and then, from 2014, on several film projects by Paweł Pawlikowski, including "Cold War" (2018) (together with the late Janusz Głowacki). Among the many accolades that "Cold War" has received are a European Film Award for best screenwriter and BAFTA nomination for best screenplay.
Beata Calińska
Beata Calińska is a program manager at the Sundance Institute in Los Angeles - New Frontier Labs Programs, which identifies, supports and exposes artists working at the intersection of film, art, media and technology. Previously, she worked for creative studios in New York and Los Angeles and diplomacy. She studied cultural anthropology at the University of Lodz, film and television production at the Lodz Film School, and participated in fellowship programmes at the University of Cyprus (visual anthropology) and the University of California, Los Angeles (documentary media). In addition, she was selected for a one-year artist residency at the Union Docs Documentary Arts Centre in New York, where she was involved in several film productions, including her original project 'Have no Fear'. Her films have been screened and awarded at Visions du Réel, BAMcinemaFest in New York, NewFilmmakers Los Angeles, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and the Cyprus International Film Festival, among others. She also received first prize at the Goethe Institute's international competition for a short documentary film.
Rafał Kapeliński
Rafał is a London-based, award-winning
writer/director and lecturer. Since 2006
he has been making short and feature films that have
won over twenty-five
international awards at major
festivals such as Cannes, Oberhausen, Austin,
New Horizons and Brest, Berlinare. His debut
feature film Butterfly Kisses (BBC Films / Film
London ) won the Crystal Bear at the
Berlin International Film Festival
2017. Rafal teaches all aspects of
feature directing, practical filmmaking and
screenwriting at The London Film School,
The Central London Film School, The London Film
Academy, The Northern Film, American Film
Institute in Los Angeles. Creator thestoryspectrum.com.
Olga Chajdas
Born in '83, she made her debut in theatre in 2008 with Tuvia Tenenbom's production of "The Last Jew in Europe" at the Na Woli Theatre. In the following years, she directed "The Goat or Who is
Sylvia?" Edward Albee, "Zrób sobie raj", an adaptation of Mariusz Szczygieł's book, "Branoc Mamo" by Marsha Norman. On television, she has directed, among others, the internationally acclaimed "Deep Water"and the series "Wataha", recently awarded a Polish Film Academy Award. She has made the short film "3x LOVE" (Grand Prix at the Dublin Distance Festival), and "A Woman Wakes Up in the Morning" (Best Director Award at the Oakland Film Festival). Her cinematic feature-length debut titled "Nina", received the VPRO Big Screen grand prize at the Rotterdam International Film Festival.
Diana Aszyk
Graduate of the Łódź Film School. For many years she worked as a producer of short forms, later as a member of the production team in TV. In the role of a film production manager she cooperated, among others, with A. Titkow. She is passionate about directing observational documentaries. She debuted 7 years ago with a film about a Ukrainian family "God's Lake", qualified and published in competitions at documentary festivals around the world (including Spain, Canary Islands, Azerbaijan). This film won the DOCSDF 2013 Grand Prize in Mexico in the category 'Best International Short Documentary'. She is currently working on two long-term original documentary projects.
Jagoda Szelc
Director and screenwriter. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław in 2006.
In 2004 she was a scholarship holder at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. In 2012, she was a scholarship holder of the Minister of Culture.
In 2018, she graduated with honours from the directing department of the Film School in Łódź.
Her films have been screened at festivals such as Karlove Vary,
Hot Docs, Cannes Short Corner, New Horizons or Brooklyn Film Festival and many others.
Her short feature "Taki pejzaż" (Such a Landscape) won the main prize for student film - the Golden Tadpole
at the Camerimage Film Festival (2013). In 2017, her film debut "The Tower. Bright Day" won the
Best Debut and Screenplay award at the 42nd Polish Feature Film Festival, as well as
many other international awards. It was screened at the Berlinale Festival in the prestigious
Forum section. In 2018, she was the winner of the Polityka Passports. In the same year, she completed
her second feature film "Monument" (special award of the 43rd Polish Feature Film Festival).
She teaches feature film directing at the Film School in Łódź and camera work at the Wrocław AST.
She is a vegan. Friend of the Open Cages organisation.
Przemysław Brynkiewicz
Graduate of the Art of Cinematography at the Faculty of Cinematography and Television Production at the Łódź Film School. As a cinematographer, he has shot feature films and documentaries, as well as collaborated with artists to co-create works on the borderline between film and video art. He made his debut with a film directed by Mariusz Grzegorzek, which won the main prize, "Golden Claw", in the "Other Views" competition at the Polish Feature Film Festival in Gdynia in 2015. His close collaboration with director Jagoda Szelc has resulted in a number of productions, of which the film "Tower. Bright Day" won the award for best directorial debut at the 2017 Gdynia Polish Film Festival, and the film "Monument" won the Special Jury Award in the 2018 'Other Views' competition. A member of the Society of Cinematographers (PSC) since 2020.
Łukasz Żal
He is the cinematographer of ©Oscar®-nominated "Ida" and Paweł Pawlikowski's "Cold War". "Cold War" also brought an ASC (American Society of Cinematographers) award, a Silver Frog at the 2018 Camerimage Festival, and a BAFTA nomination.
Previously, Lukasz worked on "DOVLATOV" (dir. Alexei German Jr.), which premiered at the 2018 Berlinale, and on "Intruder"(dir. Magnus von Horn), which premiered at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. He was one of the two cinematographers of the 2017 Oscar-nominated animation "LOVING VINCENT" (dir. Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman).
Charlie Kaufmann's film "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" premiered in 2020; Luke is the author of photography.
Grzegorz Pamrów
Graduate of the University of Sydney Faculty of Arts and Film Studies, and the Film School of Sydney. He also graduated from the University of Warsaw and SWPS (Faculty of Linguistics and English). He has participated in numerous filmmaking workshops organised by Universal Pictures (Australia). He has worked with various universities and organisations, teaching courses on art, film: audiovisual, music video analysis, animated film, Hollywood history, film perception, auteur cinema, psychology and cinema. He was Deputy Director of the Film Laboratory at SWPS (academic/scientific consulting centre - over 50 film scripts and editing versions). Main areas of interest: aesthetics of film language, audiovisual perception, perception of the human body in relation to 'inorganic' film elements, cinematographic art, film storytelling, creative thinking.
Liza Mora
She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Kiev. Studied at School of Form, SWPS, Communication Design. 7 years in the directing department. 2 feature films as an assistant director. For a few years she has been working as a producer of short fiction and documentaries. In 2022 - assistant director, Nowy Teatr, 'Uśmiechnięty' directed by Jagoda Szelc.
For 5 days we will go through a series of practical exercises in directing, the art of cinematography and lighting in the fantastic aura of Studio Burdąg. The materials created by the participants will be edited and color graded during their stay.
Participant's opinions
Tomasz Krajewski
On the course I learned how to tell a story and understood what I really wanted to tell. The support of the tutors and the group allowed me to realise my dream project in the form I intended.
It was a great adventure and a challenge worth taking on.
Łukasz Grodziński
The educational proposal of the Speakers' Avenue collective raises film education to a level rarely seen in Poland. This is mainly due to two reasons, namely the huge personal commitment of Diana Aszyk and Grzegorz Pamrow and the impressive substantive knowledge of the entire teaching staff. Throughout the course of the directing course, the participant has the support of the aforementioned two, which consists, among others, of: on the possibility of consulting every detail of the creative process. E-mail exchanges, telephone conversations or live conversations give the young director, above all, one invaluable thing, namely the feeling that he is not alone with all the complicated film matter. In addition, there are classes with top-class professionals who clearly systematize knowledge in every field necessary for the creation of a film work. The lectures use a clear, modern language, recalling the latest methodologies of visual image research. The key issue, however, are practical classes, which are filled with exercises that give a clear idea of what contemporary film directing is. I highly recommend!
Chantal Shuku
Speakers' Avenue helped me open up. Now I can boldly engage in projects related to film production, which seemed impossible to me a year ago. Grzegorz and Diana treat everyone individually and are sensitive to the different sensitivity of each group member, which is why the process of gaining knowledge was very comfortable for me. This does not mean, however, that the course did not provide us with challenges and adrenaline. Don't let the weekend form of the course fool you! The whole trip was very intense! We were often thrown into deep water, receiving a lot of developing tasks that at first seemed to be too much for us. This is what made me feel happy after each class with the progress I had made.
Antoni Strawa
The moment you stop chasing the things that are not written for you - then the right ones catch up with you." I found myself at the Speakers' Avenue Directing Course by chance; and what I experienced here allowed me to stop believing that it was an accident. I would like to thank the wonderful hosts who create this project with full passion, which they effectively infect others with. Here I learned to appreciate what I already have and how to use it in the context of creating the most beautiful film stories. I have met many soul mates here that will stay with me forever. No degree from the National Film and Television School or NYU Tisch School of the Arts can replace this process.
Małgorzata Juchnik
Brilliant course worth more than its price, which is absolutely unique in recent times. Lots of practical knowledge, not just theory. The most important value of this course are the teachers. Passionate about what they do, open and helpful at every stage of the process. It's worth it, it's worth it.
Hubert Płotnicki
I came across Speakers' Avenue by accident and I wasn't sure if I was good enough, if I was suitable, if I could handle it. The directing course was full of film knowledge, practical classes and mentoring assistance. The motherly care of Grzegorz and Diana helped me understand myself as a director, and despite the (metaphorical) blood, sweat and (real) tears, I think it was worth it. All this and the implementation of my own project with the help of professional equipment and crew gave me confidence on my film
by the way.
