Jowita Budnik

Jowita Budnik, born in Warsaw in 1973, is a graduate of the Institute of Applied Social Sciences of the University of Warsaw. In 1985, at the age of 11, she made her screen debut in a supporting role in Radosław Piwowarski’s acclaimed Kochankowie mojej mamy (My Mother’s Lovers, 1985). A student of Halina and Jan Machulskis’ famous Theater Group at the Ochota Theatre in Warsaw, she later collaborated with various prestigious theatre scenes in Warsaw, like the Ochota Theater, Powszechny Theatre, Prezentacje Theatre, Kamienica and the Studio. She has also starred in numerous highly popular TV series, as well as many feature films. Since the late 1990s she has collaborated with Joanna Kos-Krauze and Krzysztof Krauze on all of their films, starting with Wielkie rzeczy (Big Deals, 2000) and Dług (The Debt, 1999), continuing with the award-winning Mój Nikifor (My Nikifor, 2004), and the leading roles in Plac Zbawiciela (Saviour Square, 2006) which brought her the Best Actress prize at the Gdynia FF, the Polish Film Academy’s Eagle prize, and the Valladolid IFF Best Actress Award; Papusza (2013), awarded in Karlovy Vary, Valladolid, Thessaloniki, Pune and Istanbul; and recently Ptaki śpiewają w Kigali (Birds Are Singing in Kigali, 2017).