Polish Film Institute Hires Karolina Rozwód After Radosław Śmigulski Exit

The Polish Film Institute has named its new head honcho two months after dismissing the previous one.

Karolina Rozwód has been appointed by the nation’s minister of culture after a special commission was established to find a successor to Radosław Śmigulski.

Over two days, 13 candidates were reviewed, including prominent figures such as Michał Merczyński, former head of the National Audiovisual Institute, and Marlena Gabryszewska, head of the Association of Studio Cinemas, the institute said. On 13 June, the commission recommended Rozwód for the position, and the decision was approved by the current Minister of Culture, Hanna Wróblewska.

Rozwód was involved in the creation of the Polish-German Film Fund, the Lublin Film Fund and the Lublin-Lviv Film Cinematic Cities project. She has also played a key role in promoting Polish cinema internationally through the Polish Film Institute, while she managed the renovation of the Old Theatre in Lublin. Earlier this year, she briefly served as the director of the Malta Festival in Poznań.

The news comes after Śmigulski’s dismissal sent shockwaves across the local film industry, although it was not wholly unexpected given the direction of the political wind.

Since taking power from the right-wing Law and Justice Party, centrist leader Donald Tusk has set about restoring the independence of state institutions that it says was eroded under the previous administration.

One of his most dramatic moves was to dissolve management of state news channel TVP, which is very much in recovery mode six months on.