Exclusive: Anna Dziedzic leaves the Polish Film Institute

Anna Dziedzic has left her post as Film Commissioner at the Film Commission Poland, a branch of the Polish Film Institute, which promotes the Eastern European country as a filming location.

Dziedzic has been replaced for now by marketing expert Justyna Strzelecka, content and communications manager at the Polish Film Institute.

"I have decided to take up a role as PR & New Business Manager at post production company Fixafilm, which specializes in restoration and services for clients from Europe, the US and Australia," Dziedzic told KFTV.

Prior to joining the film commission, Dziedzic worked in PR and media, serving as the festival daily editor-in-chief and in international media relations at the Krakow Film Festival; PR and communications specialist at Instytut Allerhanda; head of PR at Alvernia Studios, and advisor to the board – regional audiovisual policy and PR at the Polish Producers Alliance.

Dziedzic had been in the post at the Polish Film Institute for six years and oversaw the introduction of a 30% cash rebate last year to entice more international productions to the country.

It seems to be working as there are several projects now in production, including the US/Canada drama Warning, starring Patrick Schwarzenegger and Rupert Everett, which filmed in Warsaw, and the Netflix series The Woods.

Warning shooting in Poland. Credit: Film Commission Poland

Other recently productions to shoot in the country include the Canada/Hungary drama Song of the Names, starring Clive Owen and Tim Roth, which filmed in Treblinka, Warsaw and the Mazowieckie region. Plus, German film Ein Sommer, which shot in the Tri-City metropolitan area and around Leba for 23 days at the end of 2019. Academy award winner Dustin Loose is directing the project about a woman who leaves behind her ordered life and marriage and sets off to appear in a bear costume in a circus travelling across the Polish coast. The majority of the 65 crew used were Polish.