What are young, debuting filmmakers interested in? And what new perspectives do they bring to Polish cinema? The Cinerama Fest 2025 Student Film Festival has once again shown that a generation of future filmmakers with a lot to say is on the rise. The film about growing up entitled ‘Heelflip’, directed by Andrzej Habas, received the highest recognition from the jury and the first prize.
The next edition of the Cinerama Fest 2025 Student Film Festival took place on 23-25 October this year at the Faculty of Languages of the University of Gdańsk. Thirteen films qualified for the Main Competition. In addition, non-competition films were presented in the ‘Gdańsk Panorama’. It was a great opportunity to see new film narratives by young filmmakers.
‘This year's edition of Cinerama Fest showed that students from Gdańsk universities are maintaining their high standards. Already at the film selection stage, we had trouble choosing which ones would be included in the Main Competition, which is why we decided to create an additional, non-competitive film review entitled ‘Panorama Gdańska’. Our goal is to professionalise the festival in such a way that students can benefit from it as much as possible. For the first time in the history of the festival, we have managed to award cash prizes, which we hope will help young filmmakers develop their film careers,’ said Anna Balkiewicz, Coordinator of the Cinerama Fest 2025 Student Film Festival.
The jury, consisting of Anna Serdiukow (Programme Director of the Youth and Film Festival in Koszalin), Paweł Podolski (lecturer at the University of Gdańsk and director of the film ‘Life for Beginners’), Kacper Gawron (cinematographer for Iga Lis's film ‘Bałtyk’) and Weronika Orzechowska (Gdańsk Film Commission) selected the three most interestingly directed films in the Main Competition.
1st place (prize of PLN 2,000): ‘Heelflip’ directed by Andrzej Habas - for the vivid creation of a conscious film story about growing up, the attempt to find courage in the search for closeness and authenticity, for accurate and skilful staging decisions and for sensitivity in creating a coherent world, and above all, a credible and moving portrait of the main character.
Second place (prize of PLN 1,000): ‘Też kiedyś byłam harcerką’ directed by Olga Malinowska - for an empathetic story about love and the need for acceptance, for a creative form that combines documentary honesty with poetic imagery, and for giving a symbolic voice to many women who find their strength and community in the rhythm of nature.
Third place (prize of PLN 500): ‘Kwiat strzygi’ directed by Martyna Modrzejewska - for a vivid, beautiful and wise portrait of sisterhood. For a noir-style world, created consciously, credibly and consistently, despite budget constraints. For wittily incorporating a Slavic legend into contemporary genre cinema – you can feel the fresh blood of film!
In addition, the jury decided to award a distinction to the film ‘Ona żyje’ directed by Marcel Pawluk - for consciously reaching for a radical and cruelly funny form that reminds us that entertainment in Polish cinema is not dead yet. The Audience Award went to Aleksandra Kochanek for her film ‘W czepcu urodzony’, which stole the hearts of viewers.
The award-winning and honoured films will be shown at the next edition of the Youth and Film Festival in Koszalin!
The awards were presented by the jury and the Director of the Academic Culture Centre ‘Alternator’ of the University of Gdańsk, Michał Biełuszko.
Cinerama Fest 2025 viewers could also watch films honoured in recent editions of the Youth and Film Festival in Koszalin and take part in meetings with people from the film industry. At the end of the event, right after the awards ceremony, a silent disco was held, which turned out to be a great opportunity to celebrate and dance out the emotions after the three-day festival.
The Cinerama Fest 2025 Student Film Festival is an intercollegiate festival for cinema enthusiasts and young, debuting filmmakers, aimed in particular at the academic community. This year, students from the Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk (FarU), i.e. the University of Gdańsk, the Medical University of Gdańsk and the Gdańsk University of Technology, as well as students from the Gdańsk Academy of Fine Arts, were eligible to enter the competition.
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The executive producer of the Cinerama Fest 2025 Student Film Festival is the Andrzej Wajda Film Centre of the University of Gdańsk, operating within the structures of the UG Academic Cultural Centre ‘Alternator’.
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Organisers: University of Gdańsk, University of Gdańsk Academic Culture Centre ‘Alternator’, Andrzej Wajda Film Centre at the University of Gdańsk, University of Gdańsk Film Discussion Club ‘Miłość Blondynki’
Partners: Fahrenheit Universities, Youth and Film, Żak Club, Artists' Colony, Kameralne Cafe Cinema, Euroshorts, Wybrzeże Theatre, Young Cinema Forum, Gdańsk Film Foundation, University of Gdańsk Development Foundation
Media patrons: Trojmiasto.pl portal, Radio Gdańsk, MORS Radio UG, CDN - Your University Newspaper, University of Gdańsk Newspaper, SpoilerMaster - Podcast to listen to after the screening
Prizes from the UG Shop were funded by the Foundation for the Development of the University of Gdańsk
