Get to know the selectors of Animator 2026!

This year, a record-breaking 3,912 films were submitted to the Animator Festival competitions. We are delighted to see growing interest in our competitions year after year. For us, this is a sign of recognition from Polish and international filmmakers alike, as well as an opportunity to further develop our platform for showcasing animation. Now it is time for the selectors to watch the submitted films and decide which of them will have a chance to win awards at the 19th edition of Animator.

SELECTORS OF THE INTERNATIONAL SHORT ANIMATED FILM COMPETITION (ACADEMY AWARD® QUALIFYING)

Filip Kozłowski – chief program specialist of the ANIMATOR International Animated Film Festival. With a degree in philosophy, he has participated in film courses in Berlin and is a long-standing member of the AWA Film Club at Zamek Culture Center, where he worked as a screenwriter and director of several short film etudes. He has been associated with the ANIMATOR International Animated Film Festival in Poznań since its inception - initially serving for several years as head of the Festival Office, and currently acting as the main coordinator of the festival’s program and competitions, as well as a member of the Short Film Competition Selection Committee. He is an initiator of audiovisual projects and a program curator at film festivals, including MONSTRA Lisbon Animation Festival (Portugal), Animatou International Animation Film Festival (Switzerland), and StopTrik International Film Festival (Slovenia). In recent years, he has also served as a jury member at several festivals, including PÖFF Shorts, Short Waves Festival, and the Spektrum Film Festival.

Monika Łuszpak-Skiba – curator of exhibitions and artistic events at the Krupa Art Foundation, as well as a jury member and selection committee member for various competitions and festivals. In 2026, she serves as a juror for the first stage of the KAF Art Young Prize and as a member of the nomination committee for the Human AI Art Award. She is part of the team behind Punto y Raya Festival, dedicated to abstract moving art. Since 2020, she has been the founder and president of Punto y Raya Lab Poland in Wrocław. She has collaborated with film institutions, including the Wrocław Film Studio, and has worked on numerous international projects and festivals. She is also the curator of the animation screening series KAF x Animator.

Karol Szafraniec – cultural studies and film studies scholar, film educator, a selector for the ANIMATOR International Animated Film Festival in Poznań, and an expert with the Krakow Film Commission. He hosts the podcast “Audio/Wizualny”. He is a regular collaborator with institutions including MCK SOKÓŁ in Nowy Sącz, the Mazovian Institute of Culture in Warsaw, and Kino Cytadela at the Museum of Polish History. He is a lecturer and co-founder of several film discussion clubs and conducts film education courses across Poland. He is a two-time laureate of the National Film Speakers Competition (2011), receiving both the Grand Prize and the Audience Award. Szafraniec is also a curator and initiator of interdisciplinary cultural events combining art, music, and film, as well as projects promoting Polish cinema abroad, including in South Korea, Czechia, and Austria. He is one of the experts affiliated with the Film Educators Team. He co-authored the book “Elementarz polskiej kultury” (Warsaw, 2020). In 2025, he wrote an essay on the Polish school of animation for a Blu-ray anthology released by Radiance Films.

SELECTORS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FEATURE ANIMATED FILM COMPETITION

Anna Głowińska – production manager of short films, feature films, and animated series, as well as a specialist in festival distribution at Animoon. Since 2010, she has been associated with the ANIMATOR International Animated Film Festival, where she has served as festival producer, programmer, and selector of films for competition sections. She is a jury member at film festivals and a curator of numerous film showcases presented, among others, within FilmPOLSKA (Berlin), the Punto y Raya Festival (Reykjavík), and at the National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.). In 2022–2023, she was a lecturer in the Creative Video Production program at Collegium Da Vinci.

Karolina Miśkiewicz – film scholar, a graduate of Film Studies and Media Culture at Adam Mickiewicz University, and a postgraduate student of Cultural Management at the Polish Academy of Sciences. She is a film festival programmer and selector specializing in communication strategies, promotion, and cultural event branding. She has extensive experience collaborating with Polish film festivals, where she has been responsible for key organizational and public relations activities. She coordinates the development of visual identities and social media presence, and designs communication strategies for initiatives such as the ANIMATOR International Animated Film Festival, Culture4Climate, and Embodied Realms. Previously, she also worked with the young audience film festival Ale Kino!. At Estrada Poznańska, she worked as a production and program coordinator, co-creating events within projects such as Lato z Estradą and Poznanianki. She is also actively involved with Babi Targ - a series of events promoting clothing recycling and local community integration.

Michał Tomaszewski – audiovisual translator who specializes in coordinating film copies and Polish subtitles for numerous film events, including the ANIMATOR International Animated Film Festival, the British Film Festival, the Animocje International Animated Film Festival, and the HER Docs Film Festival. He collaborates with foundations and cultural institutions operating in Poznań and across Poland - such as Estrada Poznańska, Galeria Miejska Arsenał, Centrum Kultury ZAMEK, and HER Docs Foundation - supporting the implementation of their planned projects. He is a curator of Asian animation and a member of the Selection Committee for the International Feature Film Competition at the ANIMATOR Festival.

SELECTORS OF THE POLISH ANIMATED FILM COMPETITION

Maciej Kędziora – PhD student at the Doctoral School of the University of Silesia, affiliated with the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School at the University of Silesia. Outside the Academy, he is a film critic specializing in the history of Polish cinema; he regularly collaborates with ”Ekrany” and Polish Radio's Channel Two, and publishes in the monthly „Kino” magazine and on Filmweb. As a program selector, he has collaborated with Animator and the Warsaw Film Festival.

Nikola Olszak – graduate of Theatre Studies with a specialization in Performance Studies at Jagiellonian University in Kraków. She has been a speaker at numerous academic conferences related to film. For three years, she worked as a theatre educator at the Dramatic Theatre in Wałbrzych, collaborating with renowned theatre directors, managing educational projects, leading workshops and theatre groups, and overseeing the artistic archive. Since 2023, she has been with Estrada Poznańska and the ANIMATOR International Animated Film Festival, where she serves as a programmer and producer. At the festival, she is responsible for the Asian program section, co-curates Panorama, Feel Good, and many other sections, and manages contracts and formalities. At Estrada Poznańska, she also serves as accessibility coordinator, and oversees accessibility at both the ANIMATOR Festival and the British Film Festival. She is a regular attendee of film festivals.

Remigiusz Różański – film and comics journalist who grew up on farms and construction sites. A little bit Gen Z, a little bit not. He is an editor at the quarterly magazine “Ekrany”, a regular contributor to “Tygodnik Powszechny” and Culture.pl, and an occasional contributor to Filmweb and “Dwutygodnik”. He has served as a jury member of the Young Critics section at the 42nd Ale Kino! Festival and on the jury for the Polish competition at the 36th International Festival of Comics and Games. He is also a selector for the Polish animated film competition at the 19th ANIMATOR International Animated Film Festival. Różański is a passionate fan of Polish comics and American cartoons, with a keen interest in wrestling.

SELECTORS OF THE INTERNATIONAL ANIMATED SERIES COMPETITION

Magdalena Chomczyk – cultural journalist and communications specialist in the Film Department of Estrada Poznańska. She is a graduate of Cultural Studies and Polish Philology at Adam Mickiewicz University. For the past ten years, she has been affiliated with Radio Afera, where she worked as a culture editor; from 2019 to 2023 she served as head of the Culture Department, and she currently hosts the “Odsłuch teatralny” program. She collaborates with the monthly “IKS” magazine and the Kultura.poznan.pl online portal, and has also written for “Freshmag” and “Glissando”. She has worked on major cultural events including the Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition, Malta Festival, the Festival of Radio Plays, and the Short Waves Festival. She has edited several books published by Wydawnictwo Miejskie Posnania. She has been with the ANIMATOR International Animated Film Festival since 2025.

Piotr Maciantowicz – graduate of Philosophy at Adam Mickiewicz University. He is a film scholar, animator, and educator with a passion, working actively in the field of audiovisual culture. In his career, he curated the Animation Interaction - Video Games at the ANIMATOR International Animated Film Festival. He also gives lectures in the Game Development program at Collegium Da Vinci in Poznań. He explores video game culture through his podcast “Kulturalnie o Grach”. He collaborates with film festivals such as ANIMATOR International Animated Film Festival, Ale Kino!, and Ligatura. Recognized for his film expertise, he has served as a jury member at major events, including the Gdynia Polish Film Festival and the film festival in Coimbra. Maciantowicz is an active programmer, speaker, master of ceremonies, DJ, and cultural event producer. He has also worked as a music promoter. He currently focuses on film marketing.

Piotr Milczarek – director, animator, and storyboard artist. He graduated in Animation and Special Effects from Łódź Film School, where he currently works as an assistant professor. He is the creator of films such as “Komiks”, “Wojna światów”, “Pan Pan”, “Karaluch”, “Deszcz”, and “Innego końca nie będzie”. His animations have been screened at numerous festivals in Poland and internationally.

SELECTORS OF THE OPEN CALL ANIMATED MUSIC VIDEO COMPETITION

Marta Duszyńska – graduate of Journalism and Social Communication at Adam Mickiewicz University. She gained professional experience through internships at Radio Meteor, Radio Afera, and the Press Office of Adam Mickiewicz University among others. For over four years, she was affiliated with the Centre of Culture and Art in Konin, where she was responsible for the implementation of numerous projects, including Malta Festival na Bis, the OKFA Film Festival, the Jazzonalia Music Festival, and the Konin Miasto Kobiet project. She also coordinated the programs of two music stages and produced concerts. She collaborated with the local portal LM.pl, where she hosted the original music show “Duszy Kawałek”, the program “Grasujmyż”, and the cultural magazine “KulTUra odNOWA”. Since January 2024, she has been with Estrada Poznańska, where she is responsible for music production and programming for the ANIMATOR International Animated Film Festival, as well as production at NEXT FEST. On a day-to-day basis, she is a music editor at Hiro.pl, a booker and promoter of new music projects, and a selector and DJ at Silent Disco events.

Jakub Skorupa – one of the most compelling voices of contemporary Polish alternative music - an artist focused on sincerity, emotion, and attentive observation of everyday life. His music moves between intimate ballads and energetic tracks that, in live performances, turn into a shared, communal experience. He is the recipient of the Grzegorz Ciechowski Award and the author of the albums ”Zeszyt pierwszy” (2022) - nominated for the Fryderyk Awards and honored with the Empik Discovery Award - as well as ”Zeszyt drugi” (2024), named Album of the Year by Polityka. He has performed at major festivals such as OFF Festival, Męskie Granie, and Inne Brzmienia. He has collaborated with Marcelina, Piotr Zioła, and Dawid Tyszkowski. Alongside his musical career, he also works in animation and motion design. His short animated film ”Frank O’Hara – Mayakovsky” was screened in official festival selections in Los Angeles, Palm Springs, London, Athens, and Gdańsk.

Maks Rzontkowski – director, painter, and music producer. His debut film, “Martyr’s Guidebook”, gained international recognition and was screened at prestigious film festivals such as Sundance, Annecy, Ottawa, and many others.