The WAJDA RE/FRAME competition, organized by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in cooperation with the Film School in Łódź and the Documentary and Feature Film Studio in Warsaw, with financial support from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and held as part of the 2026 Andrzej Wajda Year celebrations, was open to students of film and art schools from around the world. The competition confirmed the high level of creative skills demonstrated by young filmmakers engaging in a dialogue with the work of Andrzej Wajda.

The works, created in the form of found-footage film essays, demonstrated a high degree of interpretive maturity, strong technical skills, and a conscious use of audiovisual language.

The international character of the competition proved particularly compelling. Participants from diverse cultural backgrounds identified themes in Wajda’s films that remain relevant today, including the relationship between the individual and power, collective memory, identity, and political tensions. The most compelling essays went beyond an analysis of the source material and entered into a creative dialogue with it, proposing new interpretive contexts and original readings of classics of Polish cinema.

The standard of the competition was very high and remarkably consistent. The jury assessed works representing a broad spectrum of artistic strategies, ranging from historical and political essays to metaphorical and experimental approaches. The intensive and multifaceted deliberations reflected the quality of the submissions. The competition confirmed that Andrzej Wajda’s work remains a vital point of reference for successive generations of filmmakers and continues to inspire new and contemporary interpretations.

On September 15, the jury, composed of director and screenwriter Agnieszka Holland, rector of the Film School in Łódź Milenia Fiedler, director and screenwriter Kuba Mikurda, and deputy Director of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute Olga Brzezińska, selected the winners of the competition:

* 1st place – Grand Prize Winner: Sebastián Hurtado – Mexico, Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica, Licenciatura en Cinematografía (Film Major);

* 2nd place – Honourable Mention: Catalin Munteanu – Romania, UNATC, Documentary Film.

List of the 10 WAJDA RE/FRAME competition laureates:
1. Sebastián Hurtado, Mexico
2. Catalin Munteanu, Romania
3. Anna Livieratou, Greece
4. Paula Toro, Brazil
5. Du Lee, China
6. Qiang Wang, China
7. Tsotne Kavelashvili, Georgia
8. Eryk Makol, Greece
9. Anna Beitia, Panama
10. Mariana Nobre Portela, Brazil

Congratulations to all the participants of the WAJDA RE/FRAME competition, and thank you for the high artistic standard, creativity, and commitment demonstrated in the making of the competition film essays. We are delighted that the work of Andrzej Wajda has inspired such diverse, mature, and original interpretations created by young filmmakers from around the world.

The prize for first place, awarded to Sebastián Hurtado, is a five-day study visit to Poland following in the footsteps of Andrzej Wajda, as well as a screening of his winning essay and participation in a panel discussion during the ToruńCAMERIMAGE festival.

WAJDA RE/FRAME Competition Results

Organizer: Adam Mickiewicz Institute (IAM)
Partners: The Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School in Lodz, Documentary and Feature Film Studios in Warsaw (WFDiF)

Project co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland