We are thrilled to announce the creation of a new initiative to honour creativity, passion and a unique approach to art. The Igor Ostrowski Award, which will be granted as a part of the Main Competition for the Best Feature Film.
A professional jury of renowned art and film experts will award one production that inspires and changes the way we see the world.
The Igor Ostrowski Award of €3,000 will be presented for the Best Feature Film. The Feature Films shortlisted for the Igor Ostrowski Award (qualified by the decision of the selectors) take part in the audience poll at the same time.
Igor Ostrowski was a lawyer, respected expert and activist for human rights and equality, a great ally of the LGBT+ community in Poland.
Growing up in communist Poland, he experienced discrimination and social isolation. In recent years, amid the rise of political conservatism in Poland, he has engaged with the LGBT+ community. His aim was to “pay back a debt of gratitude” by using his position to raise awareness and shape policies that supported inclusiveness. He was an active and visible activist who pro bono supported many LGBT+ organisations in Poland.
In 2017-2020 he was a council member of the Polish Film Institute. He was also an executive producer and legal adviser at feature film productions, that were awarded at international film festivals, i.a. ‘Cold War’, ‘The Zone of Interest’, ‘Fools’.
Together with Sebastian Hejnowski, Agnieszka Holland, Olga Tokarczuk, Antoni Porowski, Anja Rubik and Kasia Adamik, he created the Equaversity Foundation to conduct fundraising campaigns for Polish NGOs supporting LGBT+ people in Poland. For his work for the community, he got awarded in 2020 by international organisation Stonewall Global with Senior Champion Award and in 2019 by international ranking Chambers Diversity and Inclusion Europe was named ‘LGBT+ Lawyer of the Year’.