Participant profile: Joanna Kos-Krauze

We travel northward again to learn about Polish screenwriter and director, Joanna Kos-Krauze:

Polish delegate: Joanna Kos-Krauze

Joanna was born in Olsztyn, Poland, and began her studies at the Faculty of Polish Studies of the University of Warsaw. She followed it with a 2-year programme on oriental studies at the Oriental School of the University of Warsaw, and Summer University at the European Union of Jewish Students in Barcelona (1993), and Kopenhagen (1994).

She started as a casting director at the Actors Agency “Gudejko”, became director of entertainment programmes at Endemol Neovision, then branched into documentary scriptwriting and directing for Da Vinci Film,  and became programming supervisor at the R. S. Lauder Foundation.

She had written and co-directed several commercials, including advertisements for the Telekomunikacja Polska campaign, which won the award for The Best Informative Campaign of 2003. Her experience also includes working for the tv theatre – in 2002 she was the casting director and first assistant director in the production of the play Farrago, and in 2002 she adapted They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (Czyż nie dobija się koni?) for Polish television.

For the past decade she has collaborated with Krzysztof Krauze on numerous documentaries and features. Together they wrote the television miniseries Great Affairs (Wielkie rzeczy). However, it was their two feature films that brought them immediate critical attention.

Joanna was the co-writer, casting director, and first assistant director for Mój Nikifor (My Nikifor, 2004). The film has been shown at over 130 festivals worldwide, and garnered seventeen international awards including five “Eagles” –  the Polish Film Awards.  Two years later she co-wrote and co-directed Plac Zbawiciela (Saviour Square, 2006). It went on to win twelve international awards, including the prestigious “Golden Lion” at the Polish Film Festival,  and the Best Film Eagle at the Polish Film Awards.

Currently, two of her projects are in production: Ptaki śpiewają w Kigali (Birds Are Singing in Kigali) and Papusza.

Joanna was nominated for the Woman of the Year 2007 award by the Polish daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza.  She is a member of the Polish Film Academy, the Polish Filmmakers Association, and is also a member of Artistic Board of the Andrzej Munk Film Studio. In 2008 she was elected president of the Koła Scenarzystów Filmowych (Union of Polish Screenwriters) at the Polish Filmmakers Association.