04/07/2025 - Korek Bojanowski’s debut feature is a shrewd study of manipulation and abuse of power in the most vulnerable of spaces – the acting school

Korek Bojanowski’s confident debut feature, Loss of Balance [+see also:
interview: Korek Bojanowski
film profile], explores the murky tension between ambition and manipulation inside a Polish acting school, where emotional boundaries blur in the name of art. The film, which started its international run at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia in September, recently won the Best Script Award at Shanghai IFF. It has just been presented at an exclusive screening organised in Brussels by Cineuropa, the Polish Film Institute and EFAD, and is also showing at Tofifest IFF in Toruń, Poland.

The students in an acting class, who are about to graduate in a matter of weeks, are attempting Antigone. However, they show little engagement with the ancient tragedy’s themes and deeper meanings. Suddenly, a stranger appears in the room, halts their rehearsal, and announces that he is taking over the preparations for their diploma and that they need to change the material. This is Jacek (Tomasz Schuchardt), a star theatre director, who has returned after a two-year hiatus. Maja (a mesmerising Nel Kaczmarek), who is on the verge of quitting acting after dozens of failed auditions and who moonlights as a bartender, suggests Macbeth, and Jacek says yes. The two develop a strange bond – initially, Jacek encourages Maja to invest more of herself in acting and to fight for the lead role of Lady Macbeth, and also, he makes her his confidante. But as the night of the premiere nears, Jacek reveals his darker side – and so does Maja.

From this point on, the film becomes a study of ambition, manipulation and the act of forcing actors to dive into their fears and traumas “for the sake of art”. Loss of Balance shows how, slowly but surely, Maja gets sucked into the realm of ambition and power play – her character shimmers with both good and bad intentions. She is a well written and even better played character; Kaczmarek gets both our sympathy and our growing concern over Maja’s actions. She is like a frog slowly being boiled in water. However, one of the mysteries of the film and one of its most appealing qualities is the question of to what extent Maja is aware of what she is doing. How intentional are her ambitions, and was she so determined from the start, or is it the pressure that Jacek has put her under that has ultimately changed her?

The story, which is not based on any specific case in particular, stems from the #MeToo movement in Polish acting schools and theatres. For the past few years, a lot of unethical and violent practices used by directors have been revealed to the public, and new working standards have been introduced. Bojanowski, who co-penned the script with Katia Priwieziencew, uses this knowledge in a smart and subtle way: Loss of Balance is a universal study of manipulation, which can happen in any milieu where there is an imbalance of power and a lack of standards. At the same time, the film is not judgemental or dark; it does not profess to know it all, but rather, it offers some humour and a lot of youthful energy and enthusiasm.

The number of locations is limited, and the camera is often fixed on Maja or her fellow actors’ faces in order to carefully observe what is happing inside of them. Bojanowski helms the film and directs his actors in a confident manner, deftly combining darker and lighter tones. His directorial hand is steady, purposeful and gentle at the same time, and even if the protagonist increasingly loses her balance, Bojanowski never does.

Loss of Balance was produced by Poland’s Dynamo Film. Its world sales rights are up for grabs.