JUSTYNA CALIŃSKA DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER
She studied documentary filmmaking at the School of Visual Arts in New York and graduated from the Cinematography Department of the Polish National Film School in Lodz. Her diploma film was mentored by Professor Witold Sobocinski, who recommended her for the Young Poland Scholarship, awarded by Poland’s Minister of Culture and National Heritage in 2011.
Her films are rooted in the tradition of the Polish School of Documentary. She began her creative path in literary reportage, receiving the Grand Prix in a nationwide competition organized by Cogito magazine and the Polish Academy of Sciences.
She was named an Ambassador of Culture of the Lodz Region for international achievements in documentary film. Her work has been supported by the ZAiKS Fund for the Promotion of Creativity, the Polish Filmmakers Association, the Association of Polish Journalists, and the Press Center for Central and Eastern European Countries.
Member of the Polish Filmmakers Association
BLACK SHEEP
For several years, Poland became the first country to connect rehabilitation with active nature conservation. Between 2004 and 2008, an EU-funded program at one of the country’s most secure prisons restored sheep grazing to ecologically valuable meadows surrounding the facility.
A SHORT FILM ABOUT DEATH
GARDEN OF CZARDAS
As Miss Miecia approaches the end of her life, she thinks increasingly about the future of the garden that has been her confidant since childhood. A deep bond forms between her and the filmmaker as they travel through the landscape with the camera, trying to preserve what is about to disappear.
THE CONDUCTOR
A formally restrained portrait of ethnic tension along the Polish-Slovak border, observed through the local orchestra of Kacwin. The film received First Prize from the Goethe-Institut and the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future. SEEFEST LOS ANGELES · THESSALONIKI · GOEAST WIESBADEN · INTERFILM BERLIN · GERMAN HISTORICAL MUSEUM · CROSSING BOUNDARIES WARSAW
PASSACAGLIA
Renowned French baroque-dance choreographer Hubert Hazebroucq and Polish composer and violinist Stefan Plewniak tour the United States to reinterpret the passacaglia from Biber’s 1676 Rosary Sonatas.