filmPOLSKA 2025 — Polish Cinema in Berlin

Report by Dipl.-Psych. Paiman Davarifard - imagofeminae

Berlin in September once again opened its doors to Polish cinema. The 20th edition of filmPOLSKA in Berlin, the largest Polish film festival abroad, presented a rich selection of films while bringing together directors, actors, curators, and moderators from Poland and beyond.

What’s in this Reportage:

• Festival Overview: Introduction to filmPOLSKA 2025, locations, and focus on contemporary Polish cinema

• Opening & Key Figures: Moderator Jenni Zylka, jury members, curators, and festival organizers

• Feature Films & Directors: Detailed interviews and reflections on Sezony (Seasons), It’s Not My Film, Travel Essentials, The Loss of Balance, and Glorious Summer

• Moderation & Festival Insight: Behind-the-scenes perspectives on festival organization and curation

• Awards & Recognition: Highlights of award winners and emerging talent

• Cultural & Artistic Reflections: Themes of resilience, truth, and creativity in Polish cinema

• Visual Documentation: Key images from screenings, interviews, and festival events

This reportage on filmPOLSKA 2025 — Polish Cinema in Berlin presents conversations, photographs, and reflections with:

• Directors: Michał Grzybowski (Sezony), Maria Zbąska (It’s Not My Film),  Korek Bojanowski (The Loss of Balance), Helena Ganjalyan & Bartosz Szpak (Glorious Summer), Maciej Drygas (Trains)

• Actresses: Agnieszka Duleba-Kasza (Sezony), Katarzyna Warnke (Travel Essentials), Mo Tan (the wolfstreet)

• Moderators: Jenni Zylka (Opening, City Kino Wedding), Julita Witt (Sezony& Glorious Summer)

• Curators & Jury: Magdalena Walo (Krakow Film Foundation), Valentina Bronzini (Jury), Katarzyna Sitko (Director, Polish Cultural Institute Berlin)

• Award Recipient: Christoph Terhechte (Director of DOK Leipzig, filmPOLSKA Award)

• Arjun Talwar : Director of the film Letters from Wolf Street / Listy z Wilczejby (Best Film)

filmPOLSKA 2025  AWARD WINNER

The jury of filmPOLSKA 2025 decided for: Letters from Wolf Street, set on a small street in Warsaw that unfolds as a microcosm of Polish society in the 21st century. The award went to: Letters from Wolf Street / Listy z Wilczejby Arjun Talwar. imagofeminae summer 2025 CINEMA. REPORTAGE filmpolska 2025.

Talwar  shows a view to the diversity in contemporary Poland— showing how different lives intersect in one small urban microcosm.

A Chinese woman Mo Tan  represents part of the street’s multicultural fabric: immigrants and outsiders who have made Poland their home. Alongside Ukrainian refugees, elderly residents, and others, she embodies how a single Warsaw street reflects wider experiences of belonging, estrangement, and cultural coexistence.

In the film Letters from Wolf Street (Listy z Wilczej), Mo Tan is credited as herself. She appears as a central figure in the documentary, representing the experiences of immigrants in Poland. Initially serving as the film's sound recordist, she later transitions into a more prominent role

Still: MO TAN  in the film: LETTERS FROM WOLF STREET by ARJUN TALWAR . Source: youtube Trailer. imagofeminae CINEMA filmPOLSKA reportage.

Still: MO TAN l. and ARJUN TALWAR r- in the film: LETTERS FROM WOLF STREET by ARJUN TALWAR . Source: youtube Trailer. imagofeminae CINEMA filmPOLSKA reportage.

CINEMA filmPOLSKA 2025

SEASONS (Sezony) Poland 2024. A Comedy Drama. Michał Grzybowski’sSezony(2024) weaves together the fragility of a long marriage with the language of theater. Across three stage worlds—Peter Pan, A Doll’s House, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream—the film follows Ola and Marcin as their professional and private lives overlap, exposing both tenderness and fracture. Comedy and drama merge in this exploration of love, passion, and the shifting seasons of a relationship, where life and performance constantly reflect one another.

BERLIN KINO AM BUNDESPLATZ BERLIN SEPTEMBER 17, 2025.  with Agnieska Duleba-Kasza & Michal Grzybowski REPORTAGE & INTERVIEWS imagofeminae CINEMA summer 2025 XLV filmPOLSKA.

image: BERLIN KINO AM BUNDESPLATZ SEPTEMBER 17, 2025. with Agnieska Duleba-Kasza & Michal Grzybowski with  the film SEZONY ( SEASONS) filmPOLSKA 2025  REPORTAGE & INTERVIEWS imagofeminae CINEMA summer 2025 XLV filmPOLSKA. foto: Paiman Maria Davarifard. (C) imagofeminae.

Berlin filmPOLSKA

words: by Paiman Maria Davarifard

Berlin September 17, 2025 

Actress Voice

Agnieszka Duleba-Kasza— Main Role of the film "SEZONY(Seasons)"

filmPOLSKA 2025

On her Life and the Film

Agnieszka Duleba-Kasza: "Film opowiada o relacji małżeństwa wieloletniego na przestrzeni trzech spektakli teatralnych. Nie jest to łatwe, ponieważ każdy związek wymaga dużej uważności, żeby się udał. W ogóle wszystko, co ma wartość, wymaga dużej uważności, cierpliwości i zrozumienia. Reżyserem filmu jest mój mąż, jesteśmy razem 26 lat, pozwoliliśmy sobie na studia, pracowaliśmy w teatrze jako aktor i aktorka, potem Michał stwierdził, że chce być reżyserem i skończył reżyserię i zaczął reżyserować filmy i spektakle teatralne, i zawsze ja w tych rzeczach grałam, ponieważ spędziliśmy razem życie i zawodowe, i rodzinne, więc było nam tak łatwiej, lubimy razem pracować, lubimy razem podróżować, co nie znaczy, że się nie kłócimy. Nasz związek jest takim włoskim, mocnym związkiem, gdzie każdy ma swoje zdanie, ale staramy się pielęgnować tę miłość i twórczą pasję, żeby nam się razem udawało, mamy dwie córki, jedna ma 11 lat, a druga 14, one też widzą swoich rodziców, którzy są w pracy i którzy kochają to, co robią, i mam nadzieję, że naszym dzieciom przekażemy pasję i to, jak należy ze sobą żyć w związku, żeby się wszystko zgadzało, żeby to miało wartość, miłość, żeby to był gorący związek i pełen pasji."

image:Agnieszka Duleba-Kasza - — Main Role of the film "SEZONY(Seasons)" filmPOLSKA 2025

Photo Ewelina Filochowska - INTERVIEW & REPORTAGE - filmPOLSKA 2025. (C) imagofeminae summer 2025 CINEMA.

Agnieszka Duleba-Kasza: “The film tells the story of a long-term marriage through three theater productions. It’s not easy, because every relationship requires great attentiveness in order to succeed. In fact, everything that has value requires attentiveness, patience, and understanding. The director of the film is my husband. We have been together for 26 years. We allowed ourselves time for studies, we worked in the theater as an actor and actress, then Michał decided he wanted to become a director. He finished his directing studies and began directing films and theater productions, and I always acted in these works because we shared both our professional and family life. It was easier for us this way—we like working together, we like traveling together—which doesn’t mean we don’t argue. Our relationship is like a strong, Italian-style relationship, where each of us has our own opinion, but we try to nurture our love and creative passion so that things work out for us. We have two daughters, one is 11 and the other 14. They also see their parents at work, parents who love what they do. And I hope that we will pass on to our children this passion and the understanding of how to live in a relationship, so that everything comes together, so that it has value, love, so that it is a warm relationship, full of passion.”

image: BERLIN KINO AM BUNDESPLATZ SEPTEMBER 17, 2025. with Agnieska Duleba-Kasza (middle in image) & Michal Grzybowski (l.) with the film SEZONY . Moderation JULITA WITT (r. i image) (SEASONS) filmPOLSKA 2025 REPORTAGE & INTERVIEWS imagofeminae CINEMA summer 2025 XLV filmPOLSKA. foto: Paiman Maria Davarifard. (C) imagofeminae.

Berlin filmPOLSKA

words: by Paiman Maria Davarifard

Berlin September 17, 2025

Director Voice

Michal Grzybowski— Director of the film "SEZONY(Seasons)"

filmPOLSKA 2025

Between Berlin and Łódź: A Director’s Vision

Michal Grzybowski: “Jestem w Berlinie czwarty dzień i właśnie mieliśmy czwarte spotkanie po naszych projekcjach filmu i to było czwarte bardzo miłe spotkanie. Bardzo się cieszę, że jest tylu chętnych ludzi właśnie w Berlinie, którzy chcą obejrzeć nasz film i zadają tak dużo ciekawych pytań. Berlin jest wspaniałym miastem otwartym, bezpiecznym. Chodziliśmy codziennie po 12-14 km, po różnych dzielnicach, też w nocy i czujemy się tutaj jak w domu. Mam nadzieję, że przyjedziemy jeszcze nie raz na ten festiwal z kolejnymi projektami i już nie mogę się tego doczekać.” „Ja bym chciał, tak myślę sobie, że chciałbym zrobić jakiś film, który mógłby być koprodukcją polsko-niemiecką i żeby film działa się i w Berlinie, i w Łodzi. I może to się uda, żeby coś takiego zrobić tutaj, komedię, która byłaby o Berlinie i o Łodzi. Myślę, że to mogłoby być bardzo dobry film i mam nadzieję, że wpadnę na jakiś pomysł, który ten projekt jakoś rozwinie."

image: Michal Grzybowski— Director of the film "SEZONY(Seasons)" filmPOLSKA 2025 & Agnieszka Duleba-Kasza— Main Role of the film "SEZONY(Seasons)" filmPOLSKA 2025 Photo Ewelina Filochowska - INTERVIEW & REPORTAGE - filmPOLSKA 2025. (C) imagofeminae summer 2025 CINEMA.

Michal Grzybowski: “I’ve been in Berlin for four days now, and we’ve just had our fourth meeting after the screenings of our film, and it was another very pleasant meeting. I’m really happy that here in Berlin there are so many people who want to see our film and who ask so many interesting questions. Berlin is a wonderful city—open and safe. Every day we walked 12 to 14 kilometers through different neighborhoods, even at night, and we feel at home here. I hope we will come back to this festival many more times with new projects, and I’m already looking forward to that.

I would like—I think I would really like—to make a film that could be a Polish-German co-production, with the story taking place both in Berlin and in Łódź. And maybe it will work out, to do something like that here—a comedy that would be about Berlin and about Łódź. I think it could be a very good film, and I hope I’ll come up with an idea that will let this project grow.

image: Michal Grzybowski— Director of the film "SEZONY(Seasons)" filmPOLSKA 2025 & Agnieszka Duleba-Kasza— Main Role of the film "SEZONY(Seasons)" filmPOLSKA 2025 Photo Ewelina Filochowska - INTERVIEW & REPORTAGE - filmPOLSKA 2025. (C) imagofeminae summer 2025 CINEMA.

CINEMA filmPOLSKA 2025

Debut feature by Maria Zbąska. Starring Zofia Chabiera(Wanda) andMarcin Sztabiński(Janek). The story follows a couple who undertake a 400-kilometre hike along Poland’s Baltic coast in winter to decide the future of their marriage. Part of filmpolska 2025. imagofeminae CINEMA summer 2025 XLV.REPORTAGE & INTERVIEW. Video: Official Trailer "ITS NOT MY FILM"  BERLIN KINO AM BUNDESPLATZ BERLIN SEPTEMBER 15, 2025.  With  Maria Zbąska.

words: by Paiman Maria Davarifard

Berlin September 15, 2025

Director Voice

Maria Zbąska—  Director of the film "ITS NOT MY FILM"  filmPOLSKA 2025

On her Film 

Maria Zbąska: "When I finished my film, I didn't like it because a lot of... it's always when you have a dream and after this film process, everything was destroyed, but it was amazing thing when I show this film with the public. I know that I made a lot of space for the... space between the story and audience, that they can put all feeling there, but I didn't expect it will be so, so powerful, really.

This film was... have a new life in the public mind, in the person mind, because they... a lot of persons tell me it's my film, it's about me, and it doesn't matter how old is the audience, sometimes the very old lady say, how you know my husband, or something like that. It's amazing thing what's happened, it's a miracle of the movie, that this film really created the public, and the audience give me a lot of power to work and to understand all my movie."

image: Maria Zbąska— Director of the film "ITS NOT MY FILM" filmPOLSKA 2025- in Conversation (with Julita Witt Moderation) about her film in Kino Am BUNDESPLATZ Berlin September 15, 2025. foto: Paiman Davarifard.  ©imagofeminae - CINEMA summer 2025 XLV,

CINEMA filmPOLSKA 2025

Travel Essentials (Rzeczy niezbędne) is the new feature film directed by Kamila Tarabura, one of the most promising voices of contemporary Polish cinema. Tarabura, known for her award-winning short Into the Night(2020), continues to explore intimate and emotional landscapes through a distinctly feminine lens. The film stars Agnieszka Grochowska, one of Poland’s most acclaimed actresses, internationally recognized Berlin Kino am Bundesplatz 2025 20:30 h Polish original with English subtitles. imagofeminae CINEMA summer 2025 XLV. REPORTAGE & INTERVIEWS -KATARZYNA WARNKE as main Role in INTERVIEW. BERLIN KINO AM BUNDESPLATZ September 2025 with Katarzyna Warnke. 

filmPolska 2025

words: by Paiman Maria Davarifard

Berlin September 14, 2025

Actress Voice

Katarzyna Warnke — Main Role and Script in "Travel Essentials" Directed by Kamila Tarabura Travel Essentials (Rzeczy niezbędne)   filmPOLSKA 2025

On Women, Truth, and Cinema

Katarzyna Warnke: “I think we have a great time for women, because we can create, we are visible, and we can change innovation. All of our art, especially cinema, the innovation is from the perspective of men. And mostly, we have seen on the screen gangsters, godfathers, and they are romanticized. And I think it's wrong. We should make films about also survivors, like my current work. It's very interesting. And I think that people who are looking for truth, who have the ability to stand for the truth, they are real warriors. And we need such characters.

And we need such characters also as women, because women are very strong, I think. Maybe stronger than men, because we are with our children, we need to give birth, and we are pushing this word further, I think. Because it's so simple to ruin the world, and it's not so simple to make it better. And so, I stand for women. And I really enjoy this work that I've made of this script, and also as I've played Robson.

CINEMA filmPOLSKA 2025

Video:Katarzyna Warnke (Actress & Scriptwriter- Poland) on her Role in the film "TRAVEL ESSENTIALS". imagofeminae REPORTAGE & INTERVIEWS. summer 2025 XLV..

CINEMA filmPOLSKA 2025

The Loss of Balance With director Korek Bojanowski in attendance Maja has devoted her life to acting, yet she struggles with self-doubt and a lack of confidence in her own talent. On the verge of giving it up for a career in marketing, she encounters a new director whose trust and support encourage her to return to her passion — and to herself. Potsdam, Kino Thalia September 12, 2025 18:30 h Polish original with English subtitles. imagofeminae CINEMA summer 2025 XLV. REPORTAGE & INTERVIEWS- INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR

image: Korek BojanowskiDirector of the film: "OUT OF BALLANC" - foto: Paiman Davarifard imagofeminae Cinema XLV.

Potsdam-Germany September 12, 2025 words by paiman maria davarifar

Director Voice 

Korek Bojanowski Director of the film: "OUT OF BALLANCE"

“Losing Dreams, Finding Truth: Korek Bojanowski on The Loss of Balance”

A Director’s Reflection

Korek Bojanowski: "I'm a film director from Poland, from Warsaw, where I just made my feature film debut. It's a feature-length movie called 'The Loss of Balance.' It's a story about acting students who are graduating from the university, and they are preparing their final theater play. And we are focusing on the main character, it's Maya, she's the final year student, and she wants to quit her dreams about being an actress and change the studies for something more practical, like finance and marketing. And just a few weeks before staging that play, the new director appears, and he decides that they will stage 'Macbeth' by Shakespeare, and he gives a new hope for Maya, the main character, to act, and he gives her the main role, the female role of Lady Macbeth.

And Maya is getting more and more involved in the rehearsals, in the process, but she's realizing that the manipulative method of the teacher, and we are getting into the psychological thriller of her losing in his methods and then revealing them. So that's the plot of my film. And I wanted to say the story of a coming-of-age story, the moment when we are losing our dreams, when we are graduating from the university, and we are losing our dreams because there's someone who stays on our way to fulfill them, and in that case, it's the director who wants, on one hand, prepare the students for the job of being an actor, but on the other, is using those harassment and manipulative methods.

And the topic is quite powerful, especially in Poland, because five years ago, one of the graduate students from Polish film school wrote on Instagram and Facebook a huge post about her experience during the classes, that the teacher was throwing some objects towards the students, was harassing them, and after her, lots of actors and actresses, both young and well-known, started to reveal their experiences about what's happening in the acting classes. And that showed a huge problem in the artistic education in Poland. So that movie also had a huge impact because of that fact, and that's one of the strongest topics of the movie, the method used by the professor, which is harassment, and after those classes, lots of students had to go for therapy. My Motivation was to show the Moment in our lif, when we have to decide how much we have to commit from ourselves to fulfill our dreams and what price we pay for that in a world that tries to kill our fragility and our pure view of our dreams.

And I think my movie focuses on a female character, and it's natural that it was a lot of those situations towards women, so I wanted to show a strong character who is fighting against a man, a strong teacher, but she's not entirely pure, she makes mistakes, she's also lost in the situation, but even when she's lost, she wants to fight for herself and for her friends and for the truth. So that was something very important. We worked a lot with the main actress on that project, thinking about what stage of life the main character is in and what happened with her after we cut her story in the movie. So it was very important to show it from a female perspective, because it touches mostly on the topic of harassment towards women."

CINEMA filmPOLSKA 2025

On 11 September 2025, Glorious Summer was screened at Kino am Bundesplatzin Berlin, as part of a Filmpolska presentation by Imagofeminae. The event was moderated by Polish artist and presenter Julita Witt, and the director was present — giving the audience a chance to engage directly with the creative vision behind the film. FILMPOLSKA 2025 imagofeminae CINEMA summer 2025 XLV. Reportage by Paiman Davarifard - INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTORS:

image:HELENA GANJALYAN  Director of the film: "GLORIOUS SUMMER"  imagofeminae CINEMA summer 2025. foto: Courtesy of Helena Ganjalyan. filmPOLSKA 2025 REPORTAGE.

Berlin September 12, 2025

Director Voice

Helena Ganjalyan & Bartosz Szpak— Directors of the film "Glorious Summer" filmPOLSKA 2025

Bartosz Szpak On his Film, Trust, Freedom, and the Feminine Side of Art

Bartosz Szpak: So with our film, Glorious Summer, I have to say that I feel really grateful and happy that I got to work with amazing women on this piece. Women who were in the top positions all over the project - my co-director, Helena Ganjalyan, production team, our set designer, costume designers, makeup artist, 1stAD, colorist. Our producers from Rozbrat Films have created this environment of great trust and great artistic freedom. For me personally that feeling of safety is an essential quality to be able to freely express myself.

I wish every young director to have such partners. Safety and fear were also some of the central themes in our film, and I remember we were asked a question at some point: what is more important, safety or progress? And my answer was that I believe those can co-exist. Not staying in one’s comfort zone is possible while having the feeling of safety - in our body and in our mind. And I think that it’s worth not equating these two states (comfort zone and safety) - sense of security for me is essential to be able to focus on where you actually want the progress to go - consciously and in line with your values.

I had this feeling of safety here - not only on professional level, not only on artistic level, but also on the human level. So again - that is something that I'm really, really grateful for. I would also love to encourage men to not be afraid of embracing something that we would call a „feminine side”. I’m talking about a kind of sensitivity that we as men sometimes might not be allowed to have, to feel or to explore. And I think it is something quite valuable — to have access to that. This could mean many different things, have many different colors. But I believe it's good to allow yourself to see your sensitive side - and cherish it.

image: Bartosz Szpak On his Film, Trust, Freedom, and the Feminine Side of Art foto: paiman Davarifard- KINO FSK Berlin- imagofeminae  CINEMA summer 2025. filmPOLSKA 2025 REPORTAGE.

image: BARTOSZ SZPAK (Director) l. and Julita Witt (Moderator) r. presenting the film Glorious Summer in Kino am Bundesplatz Berlin filmPOLSKA 2025.  foto: Paiman Davarifard imagofeminae summer 2025 XLV.

Berlin September 11, 2025

filmpolska 2025 words by paiman maria davarifard

Moderator Voice

JULITA WITT (Film Moderator) — Her Words on filmPOLSKA 2025

On herself and her Role as a Film Moderator

Julita Witt: I am honored. I am also very pleased to be part of the Polish Film Festival, which has been around for 20 years. Personally, I find the films featured at this festival extremely fascinating. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to watch all the films since I’ll be moderating at the Bundesplatzkino during that time, and other films will be running simultaneously. However, the themes this year really resonate with me on a personal level.

I come from Poland and moved to Germany with my parents when i was 10 years old,  settling in Hamburg where I grew up and studied German language and literature at university for two years.  Eventually, I decided to focus on acting  which became my profession. This connection to the festival is quite personal since I’ve been in front of the camera and on stage myself. I find it fascinating to see how actors approach their roles and also how filmmakers bring their visions to life.

I’m always impressed by how an idea evolves into a full project with the help of many people, and seeing it on screen feels like witnessing a miracle. It’s like a birth—sometimes it takes years to secure funding, to find the right producers, and to get everything going. It’s a long process, but also incredibly beautiful. Even though I haven’t made my own film yet, I’m fascinated by the entire process. As an actress and a film enthusiast, I find the topics being discussed at this festival very thought-provoking. For instance, the documentary about a man from Warsaw trying to establish himself as an artist in a foreign country is incredibly moving and makes you reflect deeply.

That’s what cinema can do—it can entertain, but also touch us on a profound level and even inspire life-changing decisions. I love that this festival offers a window into Polish culture and society for the people in Germany. Even though it’s just a selection of films, it still provides a great opportunity to engage with important themes. I really hope the festival continues for many years to come, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.

— Julita Witt, Moderator at filmPOLSKA 2025

image: Jenni Zylka  (Journalist -Moderation filmPOLSKA 2025) moderating the opening of the filmfestival in City Kino Wedding on September 10, 2025. imagofeminae CINEMA summer 2025 XLV foto: aiman Davarifard 

Berlin September  22, 2025

filmpolska 2025 words by paiman maria davarifard

Moderator Voice

JENNI ZYLKA (Film Moderator) — Her Words 

on Filmpolska 2025, Female Perspectives, and International Film Curation

I'm a film journalist and music journalist, a cultural journalist with a focus on film and music, a film curator, and presenter for, among others, the Berlinale – for which I've been for a very, very long time, for over 20 years. I write freelance for various newspapers and work for radio and television. I also write commentaries, books and similar things.

There's a very strong tradition of Polish film culture, with fantastic directors, both male and female, whom I love very much. When I curate films, I actually don't have to pay much attention to looking at enough female perspectives, because I get enough. I watch sometimes almost 800 films throughout the year, international films from many countries, including at other festivals, and at least 50 percent of them are always by non-male directors. I believe that female perspectives are generally underrepresented. Well, for me, they're not underrepresented, but when I see what ends up in the mainstream, female perspectives are naturally underrepresented. That's simply a fact.

There are some truly great films at the filmpolska festival. Of course, it's about a film telling a universal, important story. It doesn't always have to have a female perspective, or a non-male, non-hetero, or any other perspective. Above all, it has to have a global message. For me, the most important criterion as a curator, and one that always works, is internationality. I don't curate anything that's intended only for a German audience or can only be understood by Germans. I think that globality is the case with filmpolska films.

For example, Trains, a documentary film with only original footage from different countries and eras. It's super-universal precisely because it uses no language at all, but works purely with images. That's an incredibly good idea. There's also very little text in the images, which is also a great idea—a brilliant trick for giving a film a global narrative. Apart from that, I've only seen two others that I also liked.

I'm a big fan of Paweł Pawlikowski, who's currently shooting a new film, a high-profile German-Polish production called 1949. It's about Europe, Germany, and Poland after the Second World War—a typical Pawlikowski theme. I think it shows very well how it can work when Europeans invoke their shared past. It makes total sense and will definitely be great. Pawlikowski's last two films, Cold War and Ida, also tell similar stories and worked incredibly well.

That's also the trick with female perspectives: always let the people who know the story tell the story. Women may, in many cases, tell stories about women better than men about women – or vice versa. That always plays a role, and you should at least consider who's actually telling the story. The same applies to migration stories. I would never say I'm not allowed to tell someone's story. But for that, I would have to team up with someone who knows. If you really want to understand the stories, you have to be open to them and willing to listen. For example, I see a lot of films in which people tell family stories. If they don't have a family themselves, no children, you sometimes realize that the situation being described has never been experienced before. So you're allowed to do anything, you just have to prepare well enough.

I've been in Berlin since 1988 and came here from Osnabrück, northern Germany, at the age of 19, just one week after graduating from high school. I studied art history, linguistics, and communication studies. I lived a lot in the cinema – I didn't know anyone at first and had no one I could meet up with. So I went to the cinema because it was a place where you could experience a lot of things alone, and in Osnabrück, I was already going to the cinema all the time. At the same time, cinema is escapism. You go somewhere else; the cinema itself is a place of refuge.

image: JENNI ZYLKA  Moderator & Film Expert   REPORTAGE: filmPOLSKA 2025 MODERATOR VOICE.  imagofeminae  CINEMA summer 2025 XLV - foto: Fotostudioneukoelln.de. 

I've always been interested in stories, literature, and everything that tells stories. In the mid-nineties, I started working as a journalist. I wrote a lot of film and music reviews, which made me engage with films even more intensively. I had many opportunities to talk to filmmakers because in 1999, I started working as a presenter for the Berlinale. As I engage with films, my passion grows, and hopefully, so does my expertise. It's like a cultural tree that has grown in all directions, constantly branching out. It was the same with music: I played in a band for a long time. And I learned how to write a script and create a synopsis. I tried to research all the phases you go through as a filmmaker—production, script, idea, etc. Because I don't just want to look at it from the outside; I also want to understand how a film works from the inside. Of course, I can't understand everything, but some things are closer to me than others. I don't understand acting at all; I never could. That remains a bit of a mystery. Directing is also far too complex for me, as a non-director, to fully understand. But I can imagine a script for a production. I can imagine making music. I don't think I can do it myself, but I can imagine it. All these experiences have always helped me as a curator and journalist.

In 2022, I took over the Berlinale section Perspektive Deutsches Kino, which I headed for a year. After that, there was a major slump at the Berlinale, and the smallest sections were cut, including mine. I continue to curate the Panorama, recommending films to the other sections, and work as a delegate for German talent films. I try to include as many German debut films as possible in the festival. We also have various activities—workshops, networking events, and awards. I maintain contact with film schools throughout the year and also travel to work-in-progress festivals.

For me, it's important that a film isn't motivated purely by ideology. If a woman plays an important role in the story, that's wonderful, but it has to be right. No one should make a film just to say something about women's rights. The story has to be right. If I only found or curated good films by men, it would annoy me enormously, but fortunately that's not the case. In any case, I'm glad I have enough choice. I don't want to program, review, or praise nonsense for ratings reasons. That raises the question: What is a good film? I don't know; there's no guarantee of a good film; everyone sees it differently. My job is to explain to everyone why I think something is good, so that viewers become curious and can then decide for themselves. In cultural criticism, there is no good or bad, no right or wrong. If there were, everyone would only make "good" films. But we don't do that because tastes differ.

A film is only truly important, relevant, or good if its global message also has social significance. It has to be transferable. I pay attention to the country the film comes from—whether there are film schools there, for example, or whether filmmaking is severely restricted, like in Iran, where you might not even be allowed to shoot on the street. Then I'm particularly impressed that it still worked. I don't care about technical perfection, at least not if the film was made under these conditions. Then I'm proud that anything came of it at all.

Every film must first function as a story, dramaturgically and emotionally—regardless of its form. It can also be formally completely free, have no conventional narrative, or be extremely reduced. The main thing is that I fall in love with one of its elements, or ideally, with all of them. Then I'm in love. And that's the best thing that can happen to the film and me.

 --Jenni Zylka

image: Jenni Zylka (Journalist -Moderation filmPOLSKA 2025) moderating the opening of  filmPOLSKA at City Kino Wedding on September 10, 2025 In Conversation with Maciej Drygas Director of the film: Trains.foto: Paiman Davarifard. Copyright .imagofeminae CINEMA summer 2025 XLV.

image: AWARD- Christoph Terhechte DOK Leipzig wurde mit dem filmPOLSKA Award ausgezeichnet! opening of the filmfestival filmPOLSKA in City Kino Wedding on September 10, 2025. imagofeminae CINEMA summer 2025 XLV foto: aiman Davarifard- 

Filmpolska Opening – Berlin, September 10, 2025

The opening of filmPolska 2025 in Berlin gathered voices of women who shape the festival’s vision and cultural dialogue. On stage and in conversation stood Jenni Zylka, prominent journalist- Moderation filmPOLSKA 2025) , Valentina Bronzini, member of the jury, Magdalena Walo, curator of filmPolska and also serving on the jury, and Katarzyna Sitko, director of the Polish Cultural Institute in Berlin.

Their presence marked not only the opening of the largest Polish film festival abroad, but also the perspectives of women at its heart—each shaping the encounter between Polish cinema and international audiences in distinct ways.

In this reportage for imagofeminae, we introduce these voices. The full interviews with each of these women—offering insight into their work, visions, and reflections on cinema—will follow.

imagofeminae

mages: from left to right:Jenni Zylka (Prominent Journalist, Moderation filmPolska 2025), Valentina Bronzini (jury member filmPolska 2025), Magdalena Walo (Curator filmPolska 2025, jury member), Katarzyna Sitko (Director Polish Cultural Institute Berlin filmPolska 2025) - Reportage & Interviews:"Filmpolska Opening"Berlin September 10, 2025.imagofeminae CINEMA summer 2025 XLV. fotos: Paiman Davarifard © imagofeminae.