Oscar-nominated costume designer Bina Daigeler, director Agnieszka Smoczyńska, Glasgow Film CEO Allison Gardner, experienced casting director Dixie Chassay, director-writer and producer Tonia Noyabrova, acclaimed producer Alice Dawson, as well as Daniel Oliveira, Hanna Margolis and Salome Kikaleishvili. It’s hard to find louder names in the world of cinema, and they will be the ones who will sit on the jury of competitions at the 18th Mastercard OFF CAMERA 2025!
Jury of the Main Competition “Making Way”
The “Making Way” Main Competition showcases the first or second films of filmmakers who are currently the most talked about in the film world. These are films that have also been recognized at major film festivals around the world, including Toronto, Locarno, Rotterdam and Sundance. This year the following films will be competing for the Andrzej Wajda Kraków Film Award:
- The Ugly Stepsister, dir. Emilie Blichfeldt
- Chlorophyll, dir. Ivana Gloria
- The Good Sister, dir. Sarah Miro Fischer
- Gulizar, dir. Belkıs Bayrak
- My Fathers’ Daughter, dir. Egil Pedersen
- Pierce, dir. Nelicia Low
- Rabia, dir. Mareike Engelhardt
- Sister Midnight, dir. Karan Kandhari
- Smaragda: I Got Thick Skin and I Can’t Jump, dir. Emilios Avraam
- It’s Not My Film, dir. Maria Zbąska
The creators will be judged by the biggest stars. Costume designer Bina Daigeler has made costumes for such films as Pedro Almodóvar’s latest film The Room Next Door, Todd Field’s TÁR, for which she received a Costume Designers Guild Awards (CDGA) nomination, and Disney’s live-action film Mulan, directed by Niki Caro. For Mulan, Daigeler received her first Oscar nomination and won the CDGA award for outstanding costumes in a fantasy film.
Alice Dawson has produced some of the most famous films of recent years, including: Edward Berger’s Conclave, Wes Anderson’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, and Florian Zeller’s The Father.
Chairing the Main Competition Jury will be Agnieszka Smoczyńska – winner of numerous film awards, including the Golden Lions for Silent Twins, the award for best directorial debut or second film at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia for Fugue and The Lure for which she also received an “Eagle”. Two of her films – Fugue and Silent Twins, were screened at the Cannes Film Festival. She also won the Global Filmmaking Award at the Sundance Film Festival.
The amount of the Andrzej Wajda Krakow Film Award in the Main Competition of “Making Way” is as much as $25,000.
Jury of the Polish Feature Film Competition
The Polish Feature Film Competition brings together the most interesting and original Polish productions. This year, the nominees for the Main Prize in the Polish Feature Film Competition in the amount of PLN 100,000 are:
- Where Do We Begin, dir. Monika Majorek
- Kulej. All That Glitters Isn’t Gold, dir. Xawery Żuławski
- Wet Monday, dir. Justyna Mytnik
- Travel Essentials, dir. Kamila Tarabura
- Seasons, dir. Michał Grzybowski
- Simona Kossak, dir.Adrian Panek
- The Crossroads, dir. Dominika Montean-Pańków
- Światłoczuła, dir. Tadeusz Śliwa
- Loss of Balance, dir. Korek Bojanowski
- Życie dla początkujących, dir. Paweł Podolski
These will be reviewed by: Allison Gardner – CEO of Glasgow Film, Tonia Noyabrova – Ukrainian director, writer and producer, and Dixie Chassay, who as casting director has worked with many prominent directors and writers, including: Yorgos Lanthimos, Joe Wright, Tony Gilroy, Stephen Daldry, David Hare, Will Sharpe, and Tony McNamara.
Even more awards
The 18th edition of Mastercard OFF CAMERA will also feature an award from the International Federation of Film Critics, FIPRESCI (Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique) – an organization that brings together film critics from more than 50 countries around the world and awards the best film festivals. This year the films will be judged by:
Daniel Oliveira – selector at the CineEco International Environmental Film Festival and Porto Femme IFF, Hanna Margolis – film scholar and director of animated films, doctor of humanities, lecturer at the PWSFTviT in Lodz, curator, expert and festival juror, and Salome Kikaleishvili – film critic, journalist and lecturer.
During the Mastercard OFF CAMERA Closing Gala at the Juliusz Słowacki Theater in Krakow, we will also recognize: Best Actress (PLN 10,000), Best Actor (PLN 10,000), Mastercard Rising Star (debut, PLN 10,000) and Female Voice (award sponsored by Mastercard and Bank BNP Paribas, PLN 50,000) – awards for Polish filmmakers who are nominated for awards in the Polish Feature Film Competition. During Saturday’s Gala (May 3, 2025), we will also recognize the winners of the #63seconds competition, which the OFF CAMERA Foundation is co-organizing together with the Warsaw Uprising Museum, as well as the winner of the National Chamber of Audiovisual Producers KIPA competition.
Of course, there will also be an Audience Award, which will be contested for by the directors of the films participating in the Main Competition “Making Way” and the Polish Feature Film Competition. Which film will be awarded is up to the most discerning jurors – the audience. Before the screening of the competing films, audiences are given a ballot and can drop it into a ballot box after the screening of the film.
The celebration of independent cinema starts in just a few days.
The Mastercard OFF CAMERA 2025 festival starts already on April 25, 2025 and will last until May 4. Tickets for single screenings are already on sale. On May 3, Saturday, the Closing Gala will be held at the Juliusz Słowacki Theater, during which we will recognize the winners in all competitions, with a prize pool of more than PLN 300,000.