On 11 September, Wajda School is presenting New Talents at the Polish Institute in Berlin. It’s a curated showcase of feature-length fiction and documentary projects created by young directors and screenwriters (mainly graduates of the Wajda School) that have potential for international partnerships and co-productions.

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They are coming to Berlin to find minority co-producers, post-production partners, sales agents and German regional fund involvement. Poland offers a strong production infrastructure and support from the Polish Film Institute (PISF). The projects have solid foundations and are ripe for international co-production. A list of the selected projects can be found at the end of this article.

Wajda School projects consistently perform well at major festivals, thanks to its effective development methodology. Established in 2002 by Andrzej Wajda and Wojciech Marczewski, the school acts as a practical bridge between development and the global market. Its core methodology relies on intensive, master-led lab work where directors, screenwriters and producers refine their projects alongside tutors like Paweł Pawlikowski, Ildikó Enyedi and Volker Schlöndorff. This focus on story structure and market viability produces direct results. When producers evaluate a Wajda School project, they know it has undergone high-level artistic and structural vetting.

Projects developed so far at the school include Igor Bezinović’s Fiume o Morte! (Tiger Award and FIPRESCI Award at Locarno in 2025, Croatian Oscar entry), Saule Bliuvaitė’s Toxic (Golden Leopard for Best Film at Locarno in 2024, European Film Awards nominee), Carla Simón’s Summer 1993 (Berlinale Best First Feature Award winner) and Agnieszka Smoczyńska’s Fugue (Cannes Critics’ Week).

The pitching session takes place at 2 pm on Friday 11 September 2026, at the Gallery of the Polish Institute in Berlin. Following the pitches, there will be a networking reception. Producers will be able to request the project catalogue and book individual meetings ahead of the event.

Following the Berlin showcase, the New Talents project will head to France for its second phase. On Thursday 3 December 2026, a second pitching session will take place at the Polish Institute in Paris, organised in collaboration with the Arras Film Festival and Arras Days.

To register your attendance for the Berlin session, please click here. For more details, please visit the Wajda School website or contact the school at [email protected].

Wajda School New Talents | Berlin is realised in cooperation with filmPOLSKA – Polnisches Filmfestival, the biggest showcase of Polish cinema in Germany, organised by the Polish Institute in Berlin. The 21st edition of the festival honours the legacy of Andrzej Wajda in order to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth. Click here for more details about the Polish Institute Berlin and filmPOLSKA.

Wajda School New Talents | Berlin is being implemented as part of the Wajda School International Programme in the Year of Andrzej Wajda. The patron of the programme is the Polish National Foundation. The project was made possible thanks to co-financing ​by the Polish National Foundation and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund (State Special-Purpose Fund). The Adam Mickiewicz Institute is a project partner. The Polish Institute Berlin is a co-organiser. The event is run in cooperation with filmPOLSKA, FilmFestival Cottbus, Connecting Cottbus and JazzRadio Berlin.

Here is the full list of projects taking part:

Short Stories About Lucia
Writer/director/producer: Agnieszka Iwańska
Producer: Seven Films

The Return
Writer/director: Weronika Piaścik

The Prophet
Director: Dorota Welchman
Writer: Zbigniew Szczerbetka
Producer: Sean Bobbitt (BreakThru Films)

Komputer
Director: Tomasz Wróbel
Writer: Łukasz Czapski
Producer: Julia Jendrysik (Rizz Films)

Wrestler
Writer/director: Kajetan Żakowski
Producers: Emilia Mitka, Maria Surzycka (Shoot me)

Tapiwa’s Story
Director: Greg Zgliński
Writer: Kamil Dąbrowski