Wojciech Smarzowski is a Polish director and scriptwriter, a graduate of the Cinematography Department at the Film School in Lodz, a member of the Polish Film Academy and the European Film Academy. He began his career directing very successful music videos. His first TV feature, Małżowina (The Auricle, 1998), an art-house distribution film was popular especially among young audiences and received awards at Polish film festivals. While continuing, directing TV dramas and series, he made a spectacular entrée into the world of cinema with his debut feature The Wedding (2004), a grim grotesque portrait of Polish life, which won over 20 awards, a result that he easily topped with his next films The Dark House (2009) and Rose (2011). His film Traffic Department (2013) gathered an audience of over 1 million viewers and was a number 1 box-office hit of Polish films in Poland in 2013. Also The Mighty Angel (2014) proved that Smarzowski’s movies are not only valued by critics for their artistic qualities but also reach the status of blockbusters in Polish cinemas. With Volhynia (2016), an epic drama set during the WWII, Smarzowski swept the Polish Film Awards receiving the Best Film, Best Director and the Audience Award. His latest film Clergy has attracted much attention in Poland as well as internationally. It was the third most successful Polish film since 1989, totaling over 5 million admissions, and received, among other prizes, the Special Award of the 43rd Polish Film Festival for „the courage to explore a topic of particular importance to the public”. The CinEast festival has screened all of the above mentioned films by Wojtek Smarzowski and having hosted him already in 2010, we are proud to be able to welcome this exceptional film director once again at this 12th edition.