Date: September 10th – 12th, 2026

Venue: Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF

Workshop Language: English

The workshop is free of charge.

This practical workshop, led by acclaimed Polish director Agnieszka Smoczyńska, is designed for aspiring filmmakers developing their first feature film. Participants are invited to bring an original film idea, which will serve as the starting point for the workshop.

Drawing on examples from her own films, she will guide participants through the creative and production process of bringing a project from  the concept to the screen. Together, the group will develop selected ideas while exploring the key stages of filmmaking.

Topics include:

• choosing the right film idea
• writing a director’s statement
• preparing a project pitch deck
• creating a mood board
• developing compelling characters
• shaping the visual language of a film
• building strong dramatic structure
• approaching the casting process
• collaborating with the cinematographer and production designer
• assembling the creative team
• financing a film project

The award-winning Polish film director and screenwriter Agnieszka Smoczyńska is renowned for her bold visual style, distinctive storytelling, and genre-defying approach. She gained international recognition with her feature debut, The Lure (2015), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and received the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Unique Vision and Design, before going on to win numerous international awards. Her acclaimed films include Fugue (2018), selected for Cannes Semaine de la Critique, and Silent Twins (2022), which premiered at the Cannes Un Certain Regard and later was presented at  Toronto International Film Festival. Her latest feature, Hot Spot (2026) debuted at the coveted genre festival Fantasia in Montreal, and is distributed worldwide by Focus Features and Universal Pictures International.

Agnieszka Smoczynska © Zuza Krajewska

HOW TO APPLY?

If You would like to participate in the three-day-workshop, please send a treatment of your feature film idea (2 pages A4 max) by email to filmpolskaworkshop@gmail.com. The application deadline is August 15th, 2026.

The workshop size is limited to 12 participants.

filmPOLSKA – Polnisches Filmfestival is the biggest showcase of Polish cinema outside Poland. Over the course of a week, it will show a selection of works by both established and emerging Polish filmmakers in Berlin and Potsdam cinemas. The programme includes some of the most significant productions of recent years, including films not available in regular German distribution. The programme consists of Competition of the 7 first and second features (both fiction and documentary), Panorama with the films of established Polish filmmakers, Retrospektive, which will present the works of Andrzej Wajda and Zespół Filmowy “X”, amongst others.  Screenings will be accompanied by discussions with filmmakers.

Organiser: Polish Institute Berlin

Partner: Filmuniversität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF

Supporters: Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Polish Film Institute