03.
09.
2025.
Department
Direction
Direction
At the 50th Polish Feature Film Festival in Gdynia, one of our most outstanding alumni – JERZY SKOLIMOWSKI – will receive a special award, one of the FIPRESCI 100 Lifetime Achievement Awards.
This is a huge distinction – for the director, for the festival and for Polish Cinema.
At the Opening Gala of the 50th Polish Feature Film Festival in Gdynia, Jerzy Skolimowski will receive a special FIPRESCI 100 Lifetime Achievement Award, which commemorates the 100th anniversary of the world's oldest international film critics association.
"It is a great honour to present the FIPRESCI 100 Award as a special tribute to a true master of cinema. As we celebrate the centenary of FIPRESCI and the 50th anniversary of the Polish Feature Film Festival, we look back on the past decades, appreciating how Jerzy Skolimowski has always been present with his extraordinary films – intelligent, humanistic, witty, thought-provoking, and simply amazing. He is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, and we are proud to share this moment with him," commented Ahmed Shawky, President of the International Federation of Film Critics. (FIPRESCI).
As Joanna Łapińska, Artistic Director of the Festival, says: "This will be a historic moment: 50 years of the Polish Feature Film Festival and the 100th anniversary of FIPRESCI, celebrated by the international film community here in Gdynia. And in such a unique way! I am very happy that the opening evening of the festival will be honoured by the presentation of the jubilee FIPRESCI Award to Jerzy Skolimowski. He has gone down in the history of cinema as an uncompromising artist. A Polish director of world caliber; once a rebel, today, he boldly pushes boundaries, as open and curious about reality as ever. The decision to award him the FIPRESCI 100 Lifetime Achievement Award has profound significance for me. This organization brings together people from all over the world, and Polish cinema is precisely that address: the world. We are part of a greater whole. And that is also what this year is about."
Jerzy Skolimowski adds: "It is a great honour to receive the Fipresci Award for Lifetime Achievement, even though I believe my most important film is still ahead of me. I owe my career to film critics – until now I have not had the opportunity to thank them properly."
This is a significant distinction for the director, but also for the Festival. The anniversary FIPRESCI Award has only been presented once this year at the Cannes Film Festival, and the next one is planned for the Venice International Film Festival.
In addition to the award ceremony, the 50th Polish Film Festival will also feature a special screening of Jerzy Skolimowski's first two films: IDENTIFICATION MARKS: NONE and WALKOVER, as well as his latest work EO, preceded by an introduction by Michał Oleszczyk and Ola Salwa.
photo: FPFF press materials
At the Opening Gala of the 50th Polish Feature Film Festival in Gdynia, Jerzy Skolimowski will receive a special FIPRESCI 100 Lifetime Achievement Award, which commemorates the 100th anniversary of the world's oldest international film critics association.
"It is a great honour to present the FIPRESCI 100 Award as a special tribute to a true master of cinema. As we celebrate the centenary of FIPRESCI and the 50th anniversary of the Polish Feature Film Festival, we look back on the past decades, appreciating how Jerzy Skolimowski has always been present with his extraordinary films – intelligent, humanistic, witty, thought-provoking, and simply amazing. He is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, and we are proud to share this moment with him," commented Ahmed Shawky, President of the International Federation of Film Critics. (FIPRESCI).
As Joanna Łapińska, Artistic Director of the Festival, says: "This will be a historic moment: 50 years of the Polish Feature Film Festival and the 100th anniversary of FIPRESCI, celebrated by the international film community here in Gdynia. And in such a unique way! I am very happy that the opening evening of the festival will be honoured by the presentation of the jubilee FIPRESCI Award to Jerzy Skolimowski. He has gone down in the history of cinema as an uncompromising artist. A Polish director of world caliber; once a rebel, today, he boldly pushes boundaries, as open and curious about reality as ever. The decision to award him the FIPRESCI 100 Lifetime Achievement Award has profound significance for me. This organization brings together people from all over the world, and Polish cinema is precisely that address: the world. We are part of a greater whole. And that is also what this year is about."
Jerzy Skolimowski adds: "It is a great honour to receive the Fipresci Award for Lifetime Achievement, even though I believe my most important film is still ahead of me. I owe my career to film critics – until now I have not had the opportunity to thank them properly."
This is a significant distinction for the director, but also for the Festival. The anniversary FIPRESCI Award has only been presented once this year at the Cannes Film Festival, and the next one is planned for the Venice International Film Festival.
In addition to the award ceremony, the 50th Polish Film Festival will also feature a special screening of Jerzy Skolimowski's first two films: IDENTIFICATION MARKS: NONE and WALKOVER, as well as his latest work EO, preceded by an introduction by Michał Oleszczyk and Ola Salwa.
photo: FPFF press materials