November 12 to 18
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Granica
Director: Maria Magriel
Director: Michał Kwieciński
Rysopis znaleziony po latach
Director: Sławomir Rogowski, Stanisław Zawiśliński
Entropy
Entropia
Director: Anna Fam-Rieskaniemi
Franz Kafka
Director: Agnieszka Holland
Larp. Milosc, trolle i inne questy. Plot.
Director: Kordian Kadziela
Life and Death of Max Linder
Director: Edward Porembny
To Uczucie
Director: Alex Baczyński-Jenkins
Director: Dominika Montean-Pańków
O psie, który jeździł koleją
Skarbek
Director: James Marquand
The Power of Resistance
Siła oporu
Director: Elżbieta Benkowska
The Strangers Came
Przybiezeli
Director: Bartosz Brzeziński
Rękopis znaleziony w Saragossie
Director: Wojciech Has
Director: Stephan Fleet
Polish Film Festival North America Hollywood
The Polish Film Festival North America in Hollywood
was established by Zygmunt Rygiel,
Łukasz Będkowski and Monika Ekiert, with the mission of showcasing the richness of Polish
cinema while fostering a deeper understanding of Poland’s heritage and culture.
The annual Polish Film Festival North America (PFFNA) is intended to become the largest exhibition of Polish cinema in the United States. PFFNA will take place this year in major cities, including Chicago, New York City, Hollywood and Miami. More than a film showcase, the festival will provide international awareness of the importance of Polish cinema on the global stage. Each November, PFFNA will present award-winning films, U.S. premieres, as well as interviews and discussions with filmmakers. These events intend to familiarize American audiences with the depth and diversity of Polish storytelling.
The Polish Film Festival North America will become a meeting ground where art, culture and business will intersect. We intend to unite film enthusiasts, motion picture professionals and anyone intrigued by Poland’s stories, traditions and creative spirit to come together in discovery and dialogue.
OPENING NIGHT
We are proud to announce that the Opening Night of the Festival will take place on November 12, 2025, in the stunning Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills — a true architectural and cultural gem.
We will open the festival with Chopin, a Sonata in Paris, a remarkable Polish-French co-production directed by Michał Kwieciński that brings the legendary composer’s life and music to the screen with stunning artistry. The evening will feature a private VIP reception, offering our special guests an intimate opportunity to connect, reflect, and toast the beginning of an unforgettable festival. Following the screening, there will also be a Q&A session with the creators, giving audiences a unique chance to engage directly with the artists behind the film. It promises to be an exciting night of beauty, culture, and meaningful exchange in one of the most inspiring spaces in the city.
Closing Ceremony Night Dinner
November 18, 2025
Hollywood Museum
We are thrilled to host our Closing Ceremony Night Dinner at the legendary Hollywood Museum in the Historic Max Factor Building, a place where the glamour of classic cinema meets the heart of Hollywood history.
The building itself holds special meaning — Max Factor (born Maksymilian Faktorowicz), the iconic makeup pioneer behind its legacy, was born in Poland, making this venue a truly magical setting to close our Festival.
The evening will include a festive dinner, followed by a special screening of Franz, the powerful Oscar submission from Poland directed by the internationally renowned Agnieszka Holland.
It will be a night of heritage and cinematic celebration, honoring the vibrant bridge between Poland and Hollywood.
In addition, the Closing Ceremony will feature a formal awards presentation, red carpet arrivals, press and media presence, a silent auction, and many surprises for our guests.
PFFNA HOLLYWOOD IS A PART OF NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION FORMED TO EDUCATE AND INFORM THE PUBLIC AND MOTION PICTURE PROFESSIONALS ABOUT POLISH FILMS AND THE POLISH FILMMAKING INDUSTRY
Our Guests
Hugo Cremaschi – actor, writer, and director.
In 2022, Hugo Cremaschi wrote and directed his first short series “SELFTAPES,” in which he stars alongside Abraham Wapler, Yvan Naubron, and Alexandre Desrousseau. Nominated at the Festival de Luchon, this series would in fact become the precursor to the play “Moi Je Joue,” which he directed and which he co-wrote with Victoria Monfort and Julien Grange.
First noticed in the audio-fiction “La Disparition de Stéphanie Mailer” directed by Ana Girardot, Hugo is also a singer-songwriter and released his first EP Sable & Or in 2021. He also distinguished himself as author and director of the play “Ça patine à Tokyo,” in which he staged Nelson Monfort & Philippe Candeloro. On the cinema side, he has been seen in the film Karaoké, as well as in the biopic about the life of Frédéric Chopin.
Dobromir Dymecki – a theatre, film, and television actor.
He graduated from the Acting Department of the Leon Schiller National Film, Television and Theatre School in Łódź. He has performed in over forty theatre productions and more than fifty film and television roles. He has collaborated with some of the most prominent theatres in Poland, including the National Theatre, the Powszechny Theatre in Warsaw, and the Nowy Theatre, and has been a long-time member of TR Warszawa.
His work includes both repertory productions and experimental projects, often presented at major theatre festivals in Poland and abroad. He is a recipient of numerous individual and ensemble awards, including the Second Acting Prize for his roles in Pieces of a Woman, directed by Kornél Mundruczó at the 12th International Divine Comedy Theatre Festival in Kraków. He made his screen debut in the late 2000s and has since consistently developed his film career, balancing auteur cinema with mainstream productions. Dymecki has worked with acclaimed directors such as Małgorzata Szumowska, Anna Jadowska, and Władysław Pasikowski.
He also actively collaborates with representatives of the younger generation of filmmakers, including Aga Woszczyńska, Kalina Alabrudzińska, Rafał Skalski, and Maciej Buchwald. In recent years, he has gained wide recognition for his portrayal of Bogdan in the Netflix series 1670.
Such Feeling (producer)
Ivo Krankowski is a writer, director and film producer working and living between London and Warsaw.
His award-winning short films include “A Memory of Last Summer” and “8 Stories That Haven’t Changed The World”. He produces films by visual artists through his production company LaCamera Independent. Producer of the feature documentary film “Such Feeling” (2024) and creative producer of the Netflix series “1670”.
Idan Weiss – an actor, musician, and all-around creative force.
He looked at the wall for a long time and then fell asleep, says Idan Weiss about the moment that changed his acting life. Polish film director Agnieszka Holland had hired him for the lead role in her feature film FRANZ. The film was shot for several months in Prague and Berlin in 2023 and is due to be released in cinemas in 2025/2026.
Idan Weiss was born in the tranquil town of Seesen in Lower Saxony in 1997. At the time, there was nothing to suggest that he would pursue a career as an actor. In his youth, he did everything he could, liked to try out everything and gained experience for life, says Idan Weiss today. He even has a forklift driver’s license, because it allows him to earn money alongside his studies.
He started acting in “Cactus Junges Theater (improvisation/acting training/2015-2016), an intercultural theater group in Münster whose work focuses on teenagers and young adults. That was his thing. This was followed by a year at the ARTURO acting school in Cologne (2016-2017) and a move to the IAF International Academy for Film Acting (2017-2018). From 2020 – 2023, Idan Weiss attended various coaching classes and workshops, while at the same time gaining acting experience on stage and in front of the camera.
First he was “Peer Gynt 2.0”, followed by Henri in “Drei Mal Leben” and he even played Andy Warhol in “Leben des Andy Warhol”. At Theater Gängeviertel Hamburg, he directed his first plays himself: “Ich bin die Isolation” and “Die Wahrheit über dich Nichts”. As well as the theater performances at The Space – am Ballindamm: “Sehnsuchtskammer” and “Wolkenmonolog”, which he also directed himself.
Parallel to the theater, Idan Weiss worked in front of the camera. Initially he played leading roles in short films by filmmaker friends, but director Robert Thalheim soon became aware of Idan Weiss and cast him in his feature film TKKG (2019). This was followed by many more educational productions and short films – and then came the call from casting director Simone Bär for the movie project FRANZ K..
The biopic depicts the life of writer Franz Kafka as a mosaic, from his birth in Prague at the end of the 19th century to his death in Berlin after the end of the First World War. The screenplay was written by Marek Epstein in collaboration with Holland. FRANZ K. was produced as a Czech-German-French-Polish co-production and will represent Poland in the 2026 Oscar race. It will be released in German cinemas on 16 October 2025.
Idan Weiss is currently in front of the camera in Italy in the international cinema production DAS MÄDCHEN MIT DER LEICA (The Girl with the Leica), directed by Alina Marazzi. A production by Vivo Film (Italy), in co-production with Komplizen Film.
In addition to acting, his passion is music. Idan Weiss is the lead singer of the band TRAUMWERK, which explores areas such as jazz, post-punk and electro. The first album will be released between summer and fall 2025. He also works as a performance artist, paints and writes.
Idan Weiss lives in Hamburg and Cologne.
Claudia Fortunato
Claudia Fortunato is an award-winning French actress trained at the London School of Dramatic Art. She has starred in two acclaimed franco libanese feature films as the lead that earned her five international awards for Best Actress (Vortex and Ultravokal) On television, she appeared in France’s most popular series, including Capitaine Marleau (TF1) and H24 (Netflix). On stage, she has played leading roles in both comedy and drama, performing in Paris Avignon international theater festival and in London. She runs a theater compagny and in 2025, she joins the cast of the major biopic on Chopin directed by Michal Kwiecinski as Chopin’s doctor wife Matushynska.
Actress
Paulina Gałązka
Paulina Galazka is a Polish actress. She graduated from the National Film School in Lodz in 2013. She is best known for portraying Emi in the film Dziewczyny z Dubaju, Maja in Horror story and Mimi in Furioza. Her acting career includes performances at Teatr Ateneum in Warsaw.
Marcin Wierzchosławski – Producer / Managing Director at Metro Films
A graduate of Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School (a.k.a. Katowice Film School), participant of high-profile international industry trainings, including EAVE Producers Workshop, Inside Pictures (London) and Trans-Atlantic Film Partners (Berlin, Halifax, New York). A member of the Polish Film Academy (PAF) and European Film Academy (EFA). Develops and produces films with both acclaimed and young talents. One of the recent films where Wierzchosławski acted as the lead producer was “Green Border” by Agnieszka Holland. The film was presented at many festivals (awarded in Venice) and nominated for European Film Awards in three main categories. By votes of the members of the Polish Producers Guild (PGP), Wierzchosławski was named Producer of the Year 2023 in the feature film category.
Feature films produced by Metro Films and Marcin Wierzchosławski:
2025 FRANZ (FRANZ KAFKA), dir. Agnieszka Holland
2023 GREEN B0RDER (ZIELONA GRANICA), dir. Agnieszka Holland
2022 DAD (TATA), dir. Anna Maliszewska
2019 BIRD TALK (MOWA PTAKÓW), dir. Xawery Zulawski
2016 THE HIGH FRONTIER (NA GRANICY), dir. Wojciech Kasperski
2011 THE MOLE (KRET), dir. Rafael Lewandowski
The Power of Resistance (director)
Elżbieta Benkowska – film director, screenwriter and President of The Young Filmmakers' Club at The Polish Filmmaker's Association.
For her diploma film “Olena,” produced by the Gdynia Film School, she received numerous awards, including a nomination for the Palme d’Or in the short film competition at the 66th Cannes IFF. She directed “Zhanna,” the first part of a feature triptych titled “New World,” produced by Akson Studio. She is currently working on her solo feature debut, „Orunia 4ever,” for which she received the Script Pro Special Award. Recently, the short feature film “The Power of Resistance,” directed by Elżbieta, received a special mention from the jury at the Kraków Film Festival 2024 National Competition. The laudation read: “For an engaging story about freedom in times when the courage to say ‘NO’ came at a great price.” The film is also nominated in the Short Film Competition at the 49th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia and in the Short Feature Films Competition at the Międzynarodowy Festiwal Filmowy Młodzi i Film in Koszalin. Recently, Elżbieta was nominated for the Jan Machulski Award for her direction of “The Power of Resistance.”
This year, Elżbieta, along with Katarzyna Warzecha, received a special award from the Polish Screenwriters’ Guild for services to the film community for their victorious fight for royalties from the Internet.
In the meantime, Elżbieta finished her PhD thesis on the folklore of Polish and Serbian football fans.
The Strangers Came (director)
Bartosz Brzezinski - Graduate of Film Directing at the Warsaw Film School.
Director of short films “The Strangers Came “, “The Howling” and “Boundary”, as well as music videos. Winner of numerous awards for the film “The Howling,” including the “Special Award” at the Polish Film Festival, the “Journalists’ Award” at the Koszalin Film Debut Festival “Young and Film,” and the “Golden Frog” at Camerimage.
Entropy (director)
Anna Fam-Rieskaniemi – an intercultural artist, award-winning director, and screenwriter.
She encourages multicultural, intergenerational dialogue that shifts and has an impact on a new, diverse society. Her last movie, “Entropy”, exposes the birth of chaos in microcosms that shift society into a new direction. She graduated from Polish Philology at the University of Warsaw and Wajda School & Studio. Also, she is an alumnus of prestigious programs like EAVE, Eurodoc, Ace Producers and more for emerging writers/artists. She is among the winners of „Young Poland”, category: film. She has been a member of the Polish Filmmakers Association (SFP).
Border (director)
Maria Magriel – a Polish-Israeli film and theatre director.
She earned a BA in Arts from Tel Aviv University and later studied directing at the Wajda School in Warsaw. She further honed her skills through prestigious international programs, including Milcho Manchevski’s workshop for European directors in Belgrade, Vadim Yusov’s masterclass, and Atom Egoyan’s screenwriting workshop.
Before becoming an independent filmmaker, Maria worked as a personal assistant director with renowned studios such as Zentropa, Axon Studio, and Nancy Spielberg Production Studio.
Her work has earned her multiple accolades, including scholarships from the America-Israel Fund, nominations from the Perlov Documentary Film Fund, and recognition from the Rabinovich and Eli Gelfend Film Funds. Her short film Phone Booth won the Audience Award at the IKON Film Festival, while Three Brothers was showcased at the Jerusalem International Film Festival, São Paulo International Film Festival, Lithuanian Film Festival, and Cambridge Film Festival.
Composer, Producer
Robert Koch
Robot Koch is an award-winning composer, producer, and sonic innovator whose work exists at the intersection of sound, art, and immersive technology. With a deep curiosity about the connection between music, science, and consciousness, he creates cinematic soundscapes that transcend traditional genres, blending electronic, ambient, and modern classical elements into deeply evocative experiences.
With a discography spanning multiple albums and over 100 million streams, Koch’s music has been featured in films, TV series, and immersive audiovisual experiences that captivate audiences worldwide. His live performances, known for their multi-sensory depth, have sold out venues across the globe.
A recipient of multiple international awards, including “Best Immersive Experience” at the DTLA Film Festival, Koch has collaborated with renowned artists such as Grammy-nominated conductor Kristjan Järvi, as well as Max Richter, Christian Löffler, and Anoushka Shankar.
Constantly exploring the transformative power of sound, Koch’s work pushes the boundaries of music as a tool for healing, connection, and expanded awareness—bridging art, technology, and human emotion in profound and unexpected ways.
Director, Producer
Stephan Fleet
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