Łukasz Adamski - Festival MC: Introducing films and moderating Q&A sessions at APFF 2026

Łukasz Adamski, film critic, columnist, journalist. Artistic director of Freedom Film Festival and Kameralne Lato. He won the Polish Film Institute award for the best film critic of the year.  Since 2005 he has published in various magazines, journals and websites. He regularly publishes in magazine Rzeczpospolita and on Interia.pl. He was the host of movie magazines in TVP Culture. He was/ is also a host of several radio shows  (RDC, Polish Radio 24, Polish Radio Olsztyn) and he is a co-host of a movie show “Się Zobaczy” on YouTube.  He interviewed a lot of acclaimed polish and Hollywood (including Oscar winners) filmmakers. 

Esther Wojcicki - In attendance on Saturday, Nov. 7

Wilhelm Sasnal - In attendance on Saturday, Nov. 7

Stefan Tompson - In attendance on Sunday, Nov. 8

Stefan Tompson is a London-born Polish-South African PR consultant, content creator, the host of “Polish Heritage” on TVP Historia, and a documentary filmmaker (In Search of A Homeland, They Built Our Happiness, Covenant of Blood).

“Polish Heritage, which ran for three seasons and spanned 32 episodes, covered Polish history, architecture, culture and art in the “Kresy”. The episodes were filmed in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia and Germany.

Tompson is also the founder of Visegrad24, one of Europe’s most influential new media companies, which generates roughly 800 million monthly impressions across social media. V24 is a conservative leaning news aggregator that covers topics including mass migration to Europe, anti-communist freedom movements, the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, and the full scale Russian-invasion of Ukraine.

Marek Drewnowski - Performing on Sunday, Nov. 15

Marek Drewnowski is one of Poland's most distinguished pianists. He gained international recognition when Leonard Bernstein invited him to perform with the Boston Symphony Orchestra after hearing his recording of Domenico Scarlatti's piano sonatas. He later appeared with Bernstein again during the internationally televised concert marking the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II.

Since then, Marek Drewnowski has performed in many of the world's leading concert halls across Europe, the United States, and Japan. His extensive discography includes acclaimed recordings of works by Chopin, Scarlatti, Weber, Tansman, and Szymanowski, and he has devoted many years to recording the complete piano works of Fryderyk Chopin.

A celebrated educator, conductor, and cultural leader, he is the founder and president of the Joseph Hofmann Foundation, founder of the Chopin Soloists Orchestra, and director of the J. Hofmann and I.J. Paderewski Festivals. He has taught at leading music institutions in Poland and abroad and currently serves as Professor at Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatory in Turkey.

His artistic achievements have been recognized with numerous honors, including the Orpheus Award, Chopin's Passport Award, the Gloria Artis Medal for Merit to Culture, and the Grand Prix du Disque Frédéric Chopin. 

Michał Drewnowski - Performing on Sunday, Nov. 15

Michał Drewnowski is an internationally acclaimed Polish concert pianist, educator, and artistic director. A graduate of the University of Music in Łódź and the Conservatory of Music in Geneva, he has performed throughout Europe and the United States, appearing in prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, and the Palau de la Música Catalana. Michal Drewnowski

A passionate advocate of Polish music, he has championed the works of both renowned and lesser-known Polish composers and has premiered numerous contemporary compositions. Since the 2024/2025 academic year, he has served on the piano faculty of the Chicago College of Performing Arts, Roosevelt University. Michal Drewnowski

For the Austin Polish Film Festival Closing Concert, Michał Drewnowski will perform works by Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Alexandre Tansman, and Józef Hofmann, and will lead a conversation with his father, Marek Drewnowski, about his extraordinary artistic collaboration with Leonard Bernstein.