Meet our guests!

How was the film that wowed the American Film Academy made? What is it like to work for platforms and studios such as Netflix, Disney, Warner Bros., MAPPA, Aardman and Illumination? What are the characteristics of writing for animation? How do you tailor humour to the audience’s age group? How are storyboards and puppets created? You’ll be able to ask these and other questions to our guests during live sessions taking place on 6, 7, 8 and 10 July at 4.30 pm at Słodownia +3, in Stary Browar. The events will be held in English.

Oscar Talk: Maciek Szczerbowski x Maciej Kędziora
6.07, 16.30

Maciek Szczerbowski – screenwriter, director and animator, this year’s Academy Award winner for the film “The Girl Who Cried Pearls.” Together with Chris Lavis, he forms the artistic duo Clyde Henry Productions. Their first film, “Madame Tutli-Putli,” was nominated for an Oscar and won the Grand Prix at the Animator IAFF. In 2016, they created “Higglety Pigglety Pop!” featuring Meryl Streep. They have twice been nominated for the Canadian Screen Awards: for production design on “The Forbidden Room” and for the VR film “Gymnasia.” The 20th anniversary of their work was celebrated with retrospectives at the Cinémathèque Québécoise in Montreal and at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. 

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.

Live Talk: Greg Grabianski x Hammerzeit
7.07, 16.30

Greg Grabiański – screenwriter, producer, and television creator. His best-known project is the cult MTV series “Beavis & Butt-Head.” He worked on all episodes from 1996 through the 2025 season. He also co-wrote the screenplays for “Scary Movie” and “Scary Movie 2.” He created children’s programs developed at Disney EMEA and BBC Studios, and sold original projects to Warner Bros. and MGM. He co-created animated series such as “Skunk Fu,” “The Loud House,” “Pickle & Peanut,” “Angry Birds,” and “Agent 203,” as well as adult web series including “Executioner” and “Goodbye Kitty”.

Filip Grabski and Hubert Hafke – since 2014, they have been running the pop culture podcast Hammerzeit. Over the course of more than 280 episodes, they have exchanged countless comments on both new and classic cinema, and have also had the opportunity to conduct many interviews with some of the most creative people on the planet. Privately, they are passionate pop culture enthusiasts who consume a huge amount of content and then try to transform it into something digestible for their loyal listeners, as well as viewers (because if they talk about films, they might as well make them too).

Masterclass: Aya Suzuki
8.07, 16.30

Aya Suzuki – a Japanese artist based in London, combining Japanese animation with international film production. In Japan, she worked on “Ponyo” directed by Hayao Miyazaki and “The Dreaming Machine,” the final unfinished project of Satoshi Kon. In Hollywood, she collaborated with Netflix, Disney and Warner Bros., joining the animation team of “Isle of Dogs” by Wes Anderson and the live-action “Aladdin” by Guy Ritchie. In recent years, she has been working with the MAPPA studio on major productions, including “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” and “Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3.” 

Live Talk: Daniele Zannone x Hammerzeit
10.07, 16.30

Daniele Zannone – Italian visual effects artist and former character animator. Graduate of the online character animation school Animation Mentor. Over the course of his career, he has collaborated with studios such as Sony Pictures Imageworks, Illumination, and Mikros Animation on films including “Arthur Christmas,” “Hotel Transylvania,” “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2,” “Minions,” “Despicable Me 3,” “Cherry,” “Dog Man,” and “Troll 2.” He currently lives in Paris and works at One of Us on a yet unrevealed production. 

Filip Grabski and Hubert Hafke – since 2014, they have been running the pop culture podcast Hammerzeit. Over the course of more than 280 episodes, they have exchanged countless comments on both new and classic cinema, and have also had the opportunity to conduct many interviews with some of the most creative people on the planet. Privately, they are passionate pop culture enthusiasts who consume a huge amount of content and then try to transform it into something digestible for their loyal listeners, as well as viewers (because if they talk about films, they might as well make them too).