Director, screenwriter, actor, and esteemed academic lecturer at the Faculty of Languages at the University of Gdańsk - mgr Paweł Podolski has been named the winner of the Mayor of Gdynia’s “Galion Gdyński’ Award for 2025 in the Artistic Debut category. The jury recognised his debut feature film ‘Life for Beginners,’ describing it as a ‘bold interpretation of genre cinema imbued with Gdynia’s sensibility.’

The ‘Galion Gdyński’ awards were first presented in 1996 (for artistic achievements from 1995). The award recognises artists and cultural patrons associated with Gdynia and is currently presented in four categories: Artistic Creation, Cultural Animation, Artistic Debut, and Cultural Patronage. The Mayor of Gdynia may also award a prize for Lifetime Achievement; this year, it was awarded to Ewa Ignaczak in recognition of her ‘long-standing and consistent contribution to the development of socially engaged off-theatre in Gdynia and throughout Pomerania.’

The winner of this year’s award in the Artistic Debut category was mgr Paweł Podolski, a graduate of the Gdynia Film School and the University of Gdańsk, currently an assistant at the Department of Audiovisual Production, the Institute for Cultural Research at the University of Gdańsk.

‘The idea for the film came from a simple thought: if people sometimes behave like monsters, can monsters behave like people? What does it even mean to ‘be a monster’? These (somewhat playful) reflections prompted me and my co-screenwriter, Lynn Kucharczyk, to work on the idea. We wanted to create an intimate story about how life, even in its worst moments, can have bright sides-sometimes we just find it hard to notice them,’ said Paweł Podolski about his debut feature film ‘Life for Beginners’ last year, when the production began its festival run (read more: ‘We wanted to create an intimate story about how even the worst moments in life can have silver linings’ - Paweł Podolski's film awarded at the Mastercard Off Camera international festival | NEWS - Uniwersytet Gdański).

The ‘Galion Gdyński’ awards for 2025 were presented on April 13, 2026, at the Consulate of Culture in Gdynia. You can read more about the awards ceremony here: Gdynia honoured artists and patrons of culture. The 'Galion Gdyński’ awards ceremony is behind us!- Gdynia Kulturalna.

We warmly congratulate Paweł Podolski and the other winners!