Michał Walkiewicz - Festival MC: Introducing films and moderating Q&A sessions at APFF 2025
Michał Walkiewicz is a film critic, essayist and video games journalist. He graduated from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań with a degree in film studies. Since then he worked for the most prominent polish cultural media outlets and was awarded for his work with multiple The Polish Film Institute Awards among many others. He was a lecturer at the Warsaw Film School; radio, video & podcast host and co-authored books about movies, pop culture and video game theory. Nowadays he is a contributing writer to “Tygodnik Powszechny”, MINT Magazine, CD-Action Magazine, PSX Extreme and Newonce. He is a co-host of “Zero Kultury” show for YouTube channel Kanał Zero alongside Marcin Sońta and Maciej Dąbrowski. “AC Milan for life!” - he never said. But he would if someone asked him to.
Maciej Drygas - In attendance on Friday, Nov. 7
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Morgane Polański - In attendance on Saturday, Nov. 8
Born and raised within the international film and entertainment world, Morgane is a young French-Polish actress, filmmaker, and model. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the Royal Central Drama School in 2014.
She most recently stars as Krystna Skarbek in biographical spy thriller “The Partisan”, and in the BFI's indie feature “Looted”, which received notable critical acclaim within the international independent film space earning 4-stars from The Guardian and picking up a BIFA nomination in 2021. She is most well known for playing the role of Gisla, the Princess of France, in the popular television series “Vikings” for the History Channel. She can also be seen in Film 4 commissioned short “False Indigo” for which she won Best Actress in the Short Film category at the Milan Gold Awards and was a finalist at the New York International Film Awards. Other acting credits include Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch”, “The Ghost Writer”, “The Pianist”, and “The Wife”.
Alongside her acting endeavours, Morgane has also proven herself as a directorial force with several short films well received on the film festival circuit - including “Through the Looking Glass”, which picked up several nominations at 2021 London Film Festival and won 2 awards at London Fashion Film Awards. She’s also shot campaigns for the likes of Love Magazine and Dior, in collaboration with ‘Citizen K’. She is currently in pre-production of her first feature film.
Morgane co-owns her production company called Stroke Productions with Serena Jennings.
Idan Weiss - In attendance on Sunday, Nov. 9
Idan Weiss was born in the tranquil town of Seesen in Lower Saxony in 1997. At the time, there was nothing to suggest that he would pursue a career as an actor. In his youth, he did everything he could, liked to try out everything and gained experience for life, says Idan Weiss today. He even has a forklift driver's license, because it allows him to earn money alongside his studies.
He started acting in "Cactus Junges Theater (improvisation/acting training/2015-2016), an intercultural theater group in Münster whose work focuses on teenagers and young adults. That was his thing. This was followed by a year at the ARTURO acting school in Cologne (2016-2017) and a move to the IAF International Academy for Film Acting (2017-2018). From 2020 - 2023, Idan Weiss attended various coaching classes and workshops, while at the same time gaining acting experience on stage and in front of the camera.
First he was “Peer Gynt 2.0”, followed by Henri in “Drei Mal Leben” and he even played Andy Warhol in “Leben des Andy Warhol”. At Theater Gängeviertel Hamburg, he directed his first plays himself: “Ich bin die Isolation” and “Die Wahrheit über dich Nichts”. As well as the theater performances at The Space - am Ballindamm: “Sehnsuchtskammer” and “Wolkenmonolog”, which he also directed himself.
Parallel to the theater, Idan Weiss worked in front of the camera. Initially he played leading roles in short films by filmmaker friends, but director Robert Thalheim soon became aware of Idan Weiss and cast him in his feature film TKKG (2019). This was followed by many more educational productions and short films - and then came the call from casting director Simone Bär for the movie project FRANZ K..
The biopic depicts the life of writer Franz Kafka as a mosaic, from his birth in Prague at the end of the 19th century to his death in Berlin after the end of the First World War. The screenplay was written by Marek Epstein in collaboration with Holland. FRANZ K. was produced as a Czech-German-French-Polish co-production and will represent Poland in the 2026 Oscar race. It will be released in German cinemas on 16 October 2025.
Idan Weiss is currently in front of the camera in Italy in the international cinema production DAS MÄDCHEN MIT DER LEICA (The Girl with the Leica), directed by Alina Marazzi. A production by Vivo Film (Italy), in co-production with Komplizen Film.
In addition to acting, his passion is music. Idan Weiss is the lead singer of the band TRAUMWERK, which explores areas such as jazz, post-punk and electro. The first album will be released between summer and fall 2025. He also works as a performance artist, paints and writes.
