It is rare that a 14-year-old actor is nominated for Best Lead Actor at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, but Wojchiech Klata holds this honour. Klata received the nomination for his role in the 1990 film 300 mil do nieba / 300 Miles to Heaven. Klata’s role as Grześ Kwiatkowski, in a story about a young boy and his brother who illegally escape from a poor village to Sweden, won the sympathy of audiences for his tearful scenes and heartwrenching phone conversations with his parents. Directors began scrambling to hire Klata after his parts in films - including Andrzej Wajda’s Pierscionek z orlem w koronie / The Crowned-Eagle Ring and Korczak, Krzysztof Kieślowski’s TV series Dekalog / Decalogue, as well as Steven Spielberg’s Schindler's List.
Bożena Fedorczyk – Butterflies
Bożena Fedorczyk in Janusz Nasfeter's Butterflies, photo: Fototeka Filmoteki Narodowej.
Young audiences have connected well with the films directed by Janusz Nasfeter, likely because of his “fascination with the world of childhood. It is a poetic world unlike any other”, as one critic put it. He is behind such television hits as Abel, twój brat / Abel, Your Brother, Królowa pszczół / The Queen Bee, Kolorowe pończochy / Coloured Stockings and Motyle / Butterflies.
It was in Butterflies that one of the greatest child actors in Poland was discovered. At age 11, Bożena Fedorczyk played Monika, a city girl who wins the heart of young Edek while on a lakeside vacation. The young actress crafted a critically acclaimed performance as a seductive heroine. Her natural on-screen presence earned her another role in a Nasfeter film, Nie będę Cię kochać / I Won't Love You. Her career concluded with a part in the 1976 Brazilian drama La Menor.
Marcin Walewski – Venice
Marcin Walewski in Jan Jakub Kolski’s Venice, photo: ITI Cinema.
In 2010 Marcin Walewski won the award from Best Acting Debut at the Gdynia Film Festival. Only 13, he already had an impressive filmography. At age 6 he appeared in Władysław Pasikowski’s TV series Glina / Cop and for years afterward he continued to take parts in television and film entertainments, including a role in Andrzej Barański’s movie Braciszek / The Friar.
He was granted the main male role in Jan Jakub Kolski’s Wenecja / Venice, a story about childhood destroyed by war. The director used the narrative tale as a starting point for a film about dreams and imagination. Through this film Walewski became a recognizable cinematic figure, and in the past years he has been seen in the TV series Szpiedzy w Warszawie / Spies of Warsaw based on the bestselling novel by Alan Furst, and in Janusz Zaorski’s film Syberiada Polska / Polish Sibiriad.
Justyna Ciemny – The Devils, The Devils
Justyna Ciemny in Dorota Kędzierzawska’s The Devils, The Devils, photo: Promotional material.
Dorota Kędzierzawska’s movies are full of child heroes and creative young artists, showcasing her unique ability to direct young talent. Evidence of this can be seen in Justyna Ciemny’s ambiguous, understated performance in Diabły, diabły / The Devils, The Devils. She plays a young girl fascinated by gypsies who arrive in her village, turning toward the strangers with curiosity in spite of the fears of her community.
