Krystyna Janda

Krystyna Jolanta Janda (; born 18 December 1952) is a Polish film and theatre actress, director, and singer. She is best known internationally for playing leading roles in several films by Polish film director Andrzej Wajda, including Man of Marble (Człowiek z marmuru, 1976) and Man of Iron (Człowiek z żelaza, 1981). She is widely considered one of the most popular and successful Polish actresses of her generation and an icon of Polish cinema.

In 1981, she played in the Academy Award-winning movie Mephisto. In 1982, she played the lead character in Ryszard Bugajski's film Przesłuchanie (Interrogation), which first premiered seven years later in 1989, following the collapse of communism. Despite the film's late release, she garnered international acclaim for her performance, including winning Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival and Polish Film Festival in 1990. Janda is also known for her leading role in the second episode of Dekalog series of Krzysztof Kieślowski. In 2020, she won the Polish Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in drama film Dolce Fine Giornata.

Her accolades and honours also include the Zbigniew Cybulski Award (1978), Gold Cross of Merit (1989), Gloria Artis Gold Medal for Merit to Culture (2005), Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2011), and Special Jury Award for Acting at the Sundance Film Festival (2019).

Because of her prominent role in Polish culture, has been described as a "legend of Polish cinema and theatre" and a "national treasure".

Life and work She was born on 18 December 1952 in Starachowice, Polish People's Republic. She graduated from the Wojciech Gerson State High School of Fine Arts in Warsaw , and in 1975 she graduated from the State Dramatic Arts College in Warsaw (currently the Aleksander Zelwerowicz State Theatre Academy). She made her acting debut in 1974 playing the role of Maria Kulygina in Anton Chekhov's play Three Sisters, directed by Aleksander Bardini and broadcast in a Television Theatre production. In the same year, she played the role of Mannequin 34 in a street grotesque play The Ball of Mannequins by Polish futurist poet Bruno Jasieński, directed by Janusz Warmiński. In 1976, she played in the role of Dorian Gray based on Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, adapted by John Osborne and directed by Andrzej Łapicki in Warsaw's "Little Theatre". In the years 1976–1987 she worked as an actress in the Ateneum Theatre in Warsaw.

She made her film debut in 1973, when she starred in the historical-based TV series Czarne chmury ("Black Clouds"), but a turning point in her acting career came with the role of Agnieszka in Andrzej Wajda's Man of Marble (1976). She became known for portraying strong and determined female characters with complex personalities in her film roles. Apart from Man of Marble, her most memorable roles include characters in critically acclaimed films like Man of Iron, Interrogation and My Mom's Lovers.

She also embarked on a career as a singer and made her debut in 1977 during the 15th National Festival of Polish Song in Opole, where she sang the song Guma do żucia ("The Chewing Gum") with lyrics written by Marek Grechuta.

In the 1980s she appeared in numerous films and stage productions and started working as a film and theatre director herself. In 1995 she directed the film Pestka based on a novel by Anka Kowalska. During her professional career she has played over 60 theatre roles in virtually all the major theatre genres as well as appeared in around 100 films. Her role in Euripides's Medea is considered among her most successful ones. She is particularly known for her artistic collaboration with renowned Academy Award-winning filmmaker Andrzej Wajda. She starred in six of his films altogether: Man of Marble (1976), Man of Iron (1981), Without Anesthesia (1978), The Orchestra Conductor (1980), Solidarity, Solidarity... Man of Hope (2005), and Sweet Rush (2009).

In 1993, she was a member of the jury at the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival.

Throughout her career, she has received numerous prestigious awards, such as Best Actress at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival, Best Actress Award at the 1987 Montreal World Film Festival for the role in Helma Sanders-Brahms's Laputa, Best Actress Award at the Belgrade Film Festival for Interrogation, the Zbigniew Cybulski Award for best young Polish actress, as well as 4 Golden Duck Awards. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest actresses in the history of Polish cinema and was selected in a 1998 Polityka magazine survey among the greatest actresses of the 20th century.

In 2000, she embarked on one of the biggest tours in the history of Polish theatre, entitled Sto twarzy Krystyny Jandy (One Hundred Faces of Krystyna Janda). She performed in 48 different plays in Poland's eight largest cities within the space of two months.

In 2005, she established her own private Polonia Theater in Warsaw. She is also the founder and head of the Krystyna Janda Cultural Foundation. In 2010, her foundation opened another theatre in Warsaw, the Och-Teatr in the district of Ochota. She has also worked as a columnist in a number of magazines such as Poradnik domowy, Pani, and Uroda. She is also a member of the supervisory board of the Fundacja Okularnicy, which is a foundation dedicated to the promotion and popularization of Agnieszka Osiecka's poetic legacy.

In 2019, she received the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting for her role in Jacek Borcuch's film Dolce Fine Giornata at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.

Public health campaigns On 30 December 2020, after she reported on social media that she was vaccinated out of turn against COVID-19 at the Medical University of Warsaw, she became the central figure of the so-called vaccine scandal (in Polish: afera szczepionkowa).

In 2022 she took part in pan-European depression awareness raising campaign.

Personal life In the years 1974–1979 she was married to fellow actor Andrzej Seweryn. In 1981, she again married Edward Kłosiński, who died on 5 January 2008. She has three children: daughter Maria Seweryn and two sons Adam and Jędrzej Kłosiński. She is Lutheran. Janda currently lives in Milanówek near Warsaw.

In 2015, she launched her own cosmetics brand under her own name.

Selected filmography 1976: Man of Marble – Agnieszka 1977: – Krystyna 1977: – Elżbieta Biecka 1977/1988: On the Silver Globe – Aza 1978: Without Anesthesia – Agata 1978: – Anna 1979: Manchmal besucht der Neffe die Tante (guest performance) 1979: Golem 1980: The Green Bird – Katzka Widuchowski 1980: The Orchestra Conductor – Marta 1980: – Rozyna 1980: W biały dzień – Ewa 1980: Uoni – Kira Kirova 1981: – psychologist 1981: Man of Iron – Agnieszka 1981: Mephisto – Barbara Bruckner 1981: The War of the Worlds: Next Century – Gea 1981: Fik – Mik – Doktor Anita 1982: Avant la bataille – as herself 1982: Ce fut un bel été – Wanda 1982: Espion, lève-toi – Anna Gretz 1982: Interrogation – Antonina Dziwisz 1983: Bella Donna – Lena 1983: – Ewa Jaskólska 1983: – Majka Lenczewska 1983: – Gloria Lamb 1984: Embers – Anna 1984: O-Bi, O-Ba: The End of Civilization – Gea 1984: – Gerlinde 1985: Vertiges – Maria1985: – Krystyna Traczyk 1986: Laputa – Malgorzata 1986: Suspended – Anna Mroczyńska 1987: A Short Film About Killing – Dorota 1988: Dekalog: Two – Dorota Geller 1988: Dekalog: Five – Dorota Geller 1989: Inventory – Julia 1991: – Margaret Szymanko 1992: – French woman 1995: – Agata Koman 1995: – Magda 1995: – Halina 1995: – Ewa Kozłowska 1997: An Air So Pure – Ms. Leduroy 2000: Life as a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease – Anna 2000: – wife 2000: – Elka 2001: – Jadwiga Barykowa 2002: – Krystyna Janda 2005: – Jadwiga Stańczakowa 2005: The Call of the Toad – Aleksandra Piątkowska 2007: – Wiadro 2009: Tatarak – Marta / Actress 2009: Reverse – Irena Jankowska, Sabina's mother 2011: Elles – Alicja's mother 2014: All About My Parents — Grandmother 2015: Panie Dulskie – Melania Dulska's grandmother 2019: Dolce Fine Giornata 2026: The Doll

Television series

1973: , Polish TV series – dancer 1978: , Polish TV series – Christina 1979: , Polish TV series – Zośka "Arletka" 1984: , Austrian TV film based on Pale Blue Ink in a Lady's Hand – Amelia Tachezy 1988: – Marianne Küssling 1989: , Polish TV series – Helena Modrzejewska 1991: , Polish political film and TV series – Margaret Szymanko 1993: – Maria Bellheim 2002: , TV series based on The Spring to Come novel – Jadwiga Barykowa 2003–2004: , Polish TV comedy series – Lilka Janicka 2007: Niania, TV series, remake of American sitcom The Nanny – Episode 66: "Moje perły" – as herself 2011: , Polish TV series – Barbara Lewicka 2023: Warszawianka – Maria Czułkowska

Discography (guest performances) 1984: Krystyna Janda i Marek Grechuta W malinowym chruśniaku (Polskie Nagrania Muza) 1985: Music from Poland at midem '85 (Polskie Nagrania Muza) 1990: Marek Grechuta Anawa – Ocalić od zapomnienia (Polskie Nagrania Muza) 1991: Marek Grechuta Anawa – Ocalić od zapomnienia (Polskie Nagrania Muza) 1996: Summer Hits 2 – Piosenki na lato (Caston) 2001: Marek Grechuta Serce 2005: Marek Grechuta Serce (Pomaton EMI) 2007: Trójka live! Agnieszka Osiecka – Kobiety mojego życia (3 SKY MEDIA) Człowiek z żelaza śpiewa Balladę o Janku Wiśniewskim ("The Man of Marble Sings the Janek Wiśniewski Ballad") Pięć oceanów ("The Five Oceans") featuring Agnieszka Osiecka's works, Janda she sings the Na zakręcie song

Honors and awards

Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2011) Golden Medal of the Medal for Merit to Culture - Gloria Artis (2005) Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2002) Distinguished Cultural Activist Award (1997) Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1991, France) Golden Cross of Merit (1989)

Other awards Zbigniew Cybulski Award (1978) Silver Asteroid for the role in Piotr Szulkin's film Golem at the 19th Trieste Science+Fiction Festival (1981) Best Actress Award at the Montreal World Film Festival (1986) Aleksander Zelwerowicz Award (1988) Polish Cultural Foundation Award for her role in the film Interrogation (1989) Vittorio de Sica Medal (1990) Golden Duck for Best Actress (1990) Best Actress Award at the Gdynia Film Festival (1990) Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival (1990) Nomination for European Film Awards, Best Actress category (1990) Best Actress Award at the Belgrade Film Festival for her role in Ryszard Bugajski's film Interrogation (1991) Silver Shell at the San Sebastian Film Festival (1992) Golden Duck for Best Actress (1993) Best Debut Award for her film Pestka at the 20th Gdynia Film Festival(1995) Super Golden Duck for Best Actress in the History of Polish Cinema (1996) Telekamera Audience Award for the Most Popular Actress (1998) SuperWiktor Lifetime Achievement Award (1998) Nomination for Polish Film Awards for Best Actress Award in the film Life as a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease(2001) Golden Lions Award at the Gdynia Film Festival for the film Parę osób, mały czas (2005) Medaille Charlemagne pour des Medias Européens (2006) Nomination for Polish Film Awards for Best Actress Award in the film The Call of the Toad (2006) Golden Duck for Best Actress of Half a Century (2007) Hiacynt LGBT Award for "her unwavering support for the idea of tolerance in her theatre, film and Internet activity" (2007) Nomination for Polish Film Awards for Best Actress Award in the film Parę osób, mały czas (2008) The Capital City of Warsaw Award for her contributions to the promotion of the city of Warsaw (2011) World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting at the Sundance Film Festival (2019)