08.
05.
2025.
Department
Acting
Acting
We are pleased to announce that the Award funded by Jerzy and Mikołaj Antczak will be presented for the first time on 18, May during the closing gala of the 43rd Drama Schools Festival in Łódź.
Jadwiga Barańska and Jerzy Antczak were among the first students of the Acting Department of the Lodz Film School and today they are among the most famous graduates of our school. In October last year, we said goodbye to Jadwiga Barańska, but the memory of her and her roles in our School lives on and we want to pass it on to the next generations of students.
Łukasz Maciejewski, our lecturer, an outstanding film and theatre critic, came up with the initiative to establish the JADWIGA BARAŃSKA AWARD - (…) I came up with the idea to make the Jadwiga Barańska Award, a new tradition at the Drama Schools Festival in Łódź – and at the same time, to make it one of the most prestigious awards at our festival. An award for a young artist entering the profession, under the patronage of an actress who has shown what a wonderful profession acting can be. And that the status of an actor (film, theatre, television) is basically beyond time. It is both a joy and a mission.
Łukasz Maciejewski's idea was welcomed by the university authorities, Rector Milenia Fiedler and Dean of the Acting Department Piotr Seweryński. The idea was enthusiastically received by Jerzy Antczak, director of NIGHTS AND DAYS, COUNTESS COSEL and many outstanding TV Theatres with the participation of Jadwiga Barańska, as well as Mikołaj Antczak, son of Jadwiga Barańska and Jerzy Antczak. The gentlemen decided to fund the JADWIGA BARAŃSKA AWARD, securing it financially for many years.
- There are no words that would express the joy that Łukasz Maciejewski's initiative to create the JADWIGA BARAŃSKA AWARD has become a fact, writes Jerzy Antczak. We would like to thank the school authorities in the persons of the Rector Milenia Fiedler and the Dean of the Acting Faculty prof. Piotr Seweryński, for considering this proposal to make Jadwiga's presence at the school she loved so much last in the form of this award until the end of the world and one day. We enclose our deepest feelings and thoughts, signed: Jerzy and Mikołaj Antczak.
‘We gladly accepted the initiative put forward by Łukasz Maciejewski. We are also grateful for the openness and kindness of Mr. Jerzy Antczak in establishing this award’, says prof. Piotr Seweryński, Dean of the Acting Faculty. ‘Jadwiga Barańska is one of the most outstanding graduates of our Faculty and school. The expressiveness of the roles she created and the consistency of her artistic path are impressive and can be a point of reference for our students, young actors. The Jadwiga Barańska Award will be granted annually and we believe that it will be a significant distinction for its winners. We are convinced that this Award will strengthen the memory of Mrs. Jadwiga Barańska in the social and cultural space.’
In Łukasz Maciejewski's book ACTRESSES. MEETINGS, Jadwiga Barańska recalled: ‘The Acting Department of the Film School was located in the Poznański Palace, and the Directing Department was located on Targowa Street. The Acting Department was exclusive, four classes, each from fourteen to twenty people. We loved each other like family. But we were very close friends with the Directing Department. (…) I remember that every year we had a big Ragmen's Ball. Why the Ragmen? Because we were all terribly poor and couldn't afford new, nice clothes. The main brains and soul of the ball was Roman Polański. My real debut in front of the camera was a student film by Polański, LICHWIARZ GOBSECK (Gobseck, the Moneylender) based on Balzac. I was in my first year then.’
‘We are not recalling this quote by accident - the Drama Schools Festival is a festival of joy, optimism - a ball of balls, but also a festival of great hopes, first distinctions, first disappointments’, says Łukasz Maciejewski. ‘The artistic biography of Jadwiga Barańska was not free from any of these emotions, great creations, the life achievement role of Barbara Niechcic in NIGHTS AND DAYS, but also years full of silent humility in the United States. In times of a deficit of authorities, especially among the youngest generation, the JADWIGA BARAŃSKA AWARD will have a special value. It reminds us of an attitude full of dignity, love, respect. Of love for acting, i.e. for a human being.’
We are pleased to announce that the Winner of the JADWIGA BARAŃSKA AWARD will be announced for the first time on 18, May, during the closing gala of the 43rd edition of the Drama Schools Festival in Łódź.
photo by Czesław Czapliński
Łukasz Maciejewski, our lecturer, an outstanding film and theatre critic, came up with the initiative to establish the JADWIGA BARAŃSKA AWARD - (…) I came up with the idea to make the Jadwiga Barańska Award, a new tradition at the Drama Schools Festival in Łódź – and at the same time, to make it one of the most prestigious awards at our festival. An award for a young artist entering the profession, under the patronage of an actress who has shown what a wonderful profession acting can be. And that the status of an actor (film, theatre, television) is basically beyond time. It is both a joy and a mission.
Łukasz Maciejewski's idea was welcomed by the university authorities, Rector Milenia Fiedler and Dean of the Acting Department Piotr Seweryński. The idea was enthusiastically received by Jerzy Antczak, director of NIGHTS AND DAYS, COUNTESS COSEL and many outstanding TV Theatres with the participation of Jadwiga Barańska, as well as Mikołaj Antczak, son of Jadwiga Barańska and Jerzy Antczak. The gentlemen decided to fund the JADWIGA BARAŃSKA AWARD, securing it financially for many years.
- There are no words that would express the joy that Łukasz Maciejewski's initiative to create the JADWIGA BARAŃSKA AWARD has become a fact, writes Jerzy Antczak. We would like to thank the school authorities in the persons of the Rector Milenia Fiedler and the Dean of the Acting Faculty prof. Piotr Seweryński, for considering this proposal to make Jadwiga's presence at the school she loved so much last in the form of this award until the end of the world and one day. We enclose our deepest feelings and thoughts, signed: Jerzy and Mikołaj Antczak.
‘We gladly accepted the initiative put forward by Łukasz Maciejewski. We are also grateful for the openness and kindness of Mr. Jerzy Antczak in establishing this award’, says prof. Piotr Seweryński, Dean of the Acting Faculty. ‘Jadwiga Barańska is one of the most outstanding graduates of our Faculty and school. The expressiveness of the roles she created and the consistency of her artistic path are impressive and can be a point of reference for our students, young actors. The Jadwiga Barańska Award will be granted annually and we believe that it will be a significant distinction for its winners. We are convinced that this Award will strengthen the memory of Mrs. Jadwiga Barańska in the social and cultural space.’
In Łukasz Maciejewski's book ACTRESSES. MEETINGS, Jadwiga Barańska recalled: ‘The Acting Department of the Film School was located in the Poznański Palace, and the Directing Department was located on Targowa Street. The Acting Department was exclusive, four classes, each from fourteen to twenty people. We loved each other like family. But we were very close friends with the Directing Department. (…) I remember that every year we had a big Ragmen's Ball. Why the Ragmen? Because we were all terribly poor and couldn't afford new, nice clothes. The main brains and soul of the ball was Roman Polański. My real debut in front of the camera was a student film by Polański, LICHWIARZ GOBSECK (Gobseck, the Moneylender) based on Balzac. I was in my first year then.’
‘We are not recalling this quote by accident - the Drama Schools Festival is a festival of joy, optimism - a ball of balls, but also a festival of great hopes, first distinctions, first disappointments’, says Łukasz Maciejewski. ‘The artistic biography of Jadwiga Barańska was not free from any of these emotions, great creations, the life achievement role of Barbara Niechcic in NIGHTS AND DAYS, but also years full of silent humility in the United States. In times of a deficit of authorities, especially among the youngest generation, the JADWIGA BARAŃSKA AWARD will have a special value. It reminds us of an attitude full of dignity, love, respect. Of love for acting, i.e. for a human being.’
We are pleased to announce that the Winner of the JADWIGA BARAŃSKA AWARD will be announced for the first time on 18, May, during the closing gala of the 43rd edition of the Drama Schools Festival in Łódź.
photo by Czesław Czapliński