This jubilee edition of the festival will be a time to celebrate cinema, a gathering for the film community, and an opportunity for poignant farewells and heartfelt retrospectives. After 25 years at the helm, Krzysztof Gierat is stepping down as Director of the Krakow Film Festival.
Krzysztof Gierat’s contribution to the promotion of Polish cinema and to Kraków’s reputation as a vibrant centre for film culture is immeasurable. The festival has evolved and expanded, adapting to changing times – including the challenges of the pandemic edition five years ago. A quarter of a century of ambitious choices, spectacular film discoveries, and immensely successful ventures has cemented the festival’s reputation not only in Poland but far beyond.
I’ve been considering this decision for some time. I’ve grown deeply attached to the Krakow Film Festival and have lived it intensely for 25 years – but the time has come to hand it over to a younger generation. Four years ago, I passed the leadership of the Krakow Film Foundation to a team of women: Barbara Orlicz-Szczypuła, who’s been with me from the beginning and helped build the organisation from the ground up, along with Patrycja Czarny and Katarzyna Wilk. They make a fantastic team – organising the festival and championing Polish documentary and short films abroad. I’ll be cheering them on with my whole heart, says Krzysztof Gierat, Director of the Krakow Film Festival.
Krzysztof Gierat, born in 1955 in Żary, is a cultural manager, film distributor, and film scholar. A graduate of the Jagiellonian University, he also studied at the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. He was a co-founder and director of Klub Sztuki Filmowej Mikro, the Jewish Culture Festival, Centrum Filmowe Graffiti, and the Fundacja Promocji Kina Film Polski. He also served as Deputy Mayor of Kraków, Director of Agencja Filmowa Telewizji Polskiej, and General Director of the Polish Filmmakers Association. From 2005 to 2008, he was a member of the first council of the Polish Film Institute.
Since 2000, he has served as Director of the Krakow Film Festival. Founder and – from 2003 to 2021 – also President of the Krakow Film Foundation, the festival’s producer and a key promoter of Polish short and documentary film on the international stage. Between 2013 and 2020, he taught at Kraków’s Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski University. Gierat has served on juries at numerous international film festivals and is a member of both the Polish and European Film Academies. His accolades include the Wyspiański Award, the Kino magazine prize, the Laterna Magica award, the Allianz Award, the City of Kraków Award, and the Silver Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Culture.
Krzysztof ushered the festival into the 21st century. He reimagined it, shaped it into a unique and original event that reintroduced Polish audiences to documentary and short film – while also transforming the festival into a recognisable and respected international brand. Simplifying the festival’s name, establishing the Documentary Competition and DocFilmMusic, and creating the open-air Kino pod Wawelem are true milestones in the festival’s rich history. Thanks to his passion for cinema, which he so generously shared with us, we are now able to carry on the festival’s legacy with a strong team, united by the values of collaboration, openness, and tolerance, says Barbara Orlicz-Szczypuła, President of the Krakow Film Foundation.
Krzysztof’s departure will be accompanied by the premiere of the book Skazany na kino, published by Austeria. In it, Ewa Ziembla speaks to the outgoing director about his incredible ties to cinema and the people who shape it. This anecdote-filled interview is filled with memories of encounters with some of the greatest names in the industry (among them Robert De Niro, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Wim Wenders), tales from international festivals, and, of course, stories that involve the Krakow Film Festival itself.
Krzysztof Gierat will remain in post until the conclusion of this year’s edition. His successor will be announced by the Programme Council of the Krakow Film Foundation in September.
Insider passes for the 65th Krakow Film Festival are now on sale!
The Krakow Film Festival is on the exclusive list of film events qualifying for the Academy Awards® in short film categories (fiction, animation, documentary) and feature-length documentary, the European Film Awards in the same categories, and serves as a qualifying event for the BAFTA Awards.
The Krakow Film Festival is organised with financial support from the City of Krakow, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Polish Film Institute, and the Creative Europe MEDIA Programme. The Polish Filmmakers Association serves as co-organiser.
The KFF at the Barbican is co-organised by the National Cultural Centre as part of the cultural programme of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2025.
The 65th Krakow Film Festival will be held in cinemas from 25 May to 1 June 2025, and online on KFF VOD from 30 May to 15 June 2025.