Director and screenwriter (born 1983). He graduated in political science from the Jagiellonian University and directing from the Faculty of Radio and Television of the University of Silesia. Krzysztof Kieślowski in Katowice. Previously, he was known as an active participant in the Groteska amateur film club in his hometown of Kędzierzyn-Koźle. He gained film experience on the set of Marcin Wrona’s “Baptism”, where he was assistant director. Later, he also became one of the authors of “Demon”. His diploma work “Magma” – about a frustrated furniture salesman – won the top prize at the Palm Springs ShortFest and the top prize in the Young Cinema Competition at the Polish Feature Film Festival in Gdynia. Another of Maślona’s school etudes, “Eclipse”, about the difficult relationship between a young man and his senile father, received an honorable mention for directing in Shanghai, and “Only for the Insane” won the student film competition in Munich. After the thrilling “Panic Attack”, a full-length feature debut nominated for POLITYKA Passport in 2017, Maślona directed the series “Writers” together with Mikołaj Lizut. He returned to the cinema unexpectedly, facing the challenges posed by the requirements of historical performances.

“Kos” is a depiction of the conflict-ridden and hateful 18th-century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which fell apart after the second partition. The hero of the film, as if stretched between the poles of Wajda’s vision and Tarantino’s brutal irony, is Tadeusz Kościuszko, who returns from America. The director brought the film to its knees at the last festival in Gdynia, winning the Golden Lion. Few people in Polish cinema can tell stories so efficiently, innovatively and worldly – without distancing themselves from Polish topics. Maślona dared to move away from sketches of stereotyped national heroes, he did not create the patriotic epic “Battle of Racławice”. “He guides the actors expertly, controlling space, rhythm and audiosphere like Hollywood’s greatest creators,” enthuses one of the nominees, Prof. Rafał Syska. “‘Blackbird’ says more about our attitudes toward politics, power, freedom and social inequality than many contemporary films,” said Barbara Hollender. The extraordinary impression produced by the film was cleverly summarized by Łukasz Maciejewski, who wrote that against the background of the gloomy and harsh trumpet of history, the picaresque story of Kościuszko looks like a colorful elephant in a red and white china shop.

***

FILM category partners are Kuyavian-Pomeranian Province

Other nominees in the film category: Nina Lewandowska and Kamila Tarabura, DK Welchman

***

Additionally, the following was reported: Olga Chajdas, Grzegorz Dębowski, Lena Góra, Maciej Hamela, Kuba Mikurda, Maria Kowalska, Eryk Kulm, Anna Maliszewska, Alin Szewczyk, Mateusz Więcławek.

They nominated: Jakub Banasiak (Magazyn SZUM), Jan Błaszczak (Dwutygodnik.com), Dobromiła Błaszczyk (Lynx Contemporary), Rafał Bryndal (“ZAiKS News”), Jacek Cieślak (“Rzeczpospolita”), Katarzyna Czajka-Kominiarczuk (Zwierz Popkulturalny), Anna S Dębowska (“Gazeta Wyborcza”), Łukasz Drewniak (Teatralny.pl), Gabi Drzewiecka (Chillizet, TVN, Glamour, “trójkąt” on YT), Mirosław Filiciak (SWPS University), Jacek Hawryluk (Polskie Radio Dwójka), Barbara Hollender ( “Rzeczpospolita”), Alek Hudzik (Mintmagazine.pl), Katarzyna Janowska (Onet.pl, “Newsweek”), Eliza Kącka (University of Warsaw), Piotr Kofta (independent critic), Piotr Kosiewski (“Tygodnik Powszechny”), Dariusz Kosiński (“Tygodnik Powszechny”, Jagiellonian University), Zofia Król (Dwutygodnik.com), Monika Kwaśniewska-Mikuła (“Didaskalia”, Jagiellonian University), Łukasz Maciejewski (Film School in Łódź, Interia.pl), Jakub Majmurek (” Krytyka Polityczna “), Paulina Małochleb (Jagiellonian University, blog “Książki na sharp”), Anna Marchewka (scholar and literary critic), Jacek Marczyński (“Rzeczpospolita”, “Ruch Muzyczny”), Katarzyna Niedurny (Dwutygodnik.com, “Gazeta Wyborcza” , Podcast about theater), Michał Nogaś (“Gazeta Wyborcza”, Radio Książki), Marta Perchuć-Burzyńska (TOK FM), Anita Piotrowska (“Tygodnik Powszechny”), Iza Pogiernicka (twitch.tv/9kier, “CD- Action” ), Adriana Prodeus (“Kino”), Anna Sańczuk/Maciej Ulewicz (Kultura do Kwadratu), Paweł Schreiber (UKW), Barnaba Siegel (“CD-Action”), Karol Sienkiewicz (“Gazeta Wyborcza”), Jędrzej Słodkowski (“ Gazeta Wyborcza”), Krzysztof Stefański (“Ruch Muzyczny”), Rafał Syska (National Center for Film Culture), Wojciech Szot (blog “Zdaniem Szota”, “Gazeta Wyborcza”), Jarek Szubrycht (“Gazeta Wyborcza”), Agnieszka Szydłowska ( newonce.radio), Bogna Świątkowska (Bęc Zmiana Foundation), Jan Topolski (“Glissando”), Grażyna Torbicka (independent journalist, director of the Dwa Brzegi festival), Jacek Wakar (blog “Zdania Wakara”), Michał Walkiewicz (Filmweb.pl) , Marcin “Flint” Węcławek (Interia.pl, CGM, blog “Raptus”), Marlena Wieczorek (meakultura.pl), Michał R. Wiśniewski (Dwutygodnik.com), Kinga A. Wojciechowska (“Presto” ), Elwira Wojtunik ( Photon Foundation, Patchlab Digital Art Festival) and journalists from the culture department of the weekly POLITYKA.