11-02-2010

EFP Shooting Star Agata Buzek

By Katarzyna Grynienko
    Her talent earned her the title of the most promising young Polish actress; after appearing in Polish film for many years, Agata Buzek is finally in the international spotlight.

    Besides being an accomplished film and theater actress, Agata Buzek is also a trained dancer and a dubbing artist. Her first big leading role in Reverse directed by Borys Lankosz, where she appeared alongside Polish acting legends Krystyna Janda and Anna Polony, had earned her the award for the best female leading performance at the 34th Polish Film Festival in Gdynia (www.fpff.pl) and the Zbyszek Cybulski Award (www.nagrodacybulskiego.pl), the most important Polish award given to promising young actors.

    Born in 1976, the daughter of former Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek, she was used to the public eye from a very young age. In 1999 she graduated the Theater Academy in Warsaw, but even before getting her diploma she had her film debut in Kochaj i rob co chcesz, a popular Polish musical film directed by Robert Gliński and a TV debut in Pearl directed by Piotr Mikucki.

    In 1999 she appeared in her first foreign film, the Italian production La Ballata Dei Lavaverti (The ballad of the window cleaners) directed by Peter Del Monte. In 2000 her style, often compared to Tilda Swinton, resulted in Krzysztof Zanussi offering a role in Weekend Tales. A year after that she appeared in Wiedźmin, an adaptation of the famous saga written by Andrzej Sapkowski. The part of Klara in the film version of Aleksander Fredro's Revenge, directed by Andrzej Wajda brought her first nomination for the Polish Film Award in 2003.

    The appearances in the big Polish films as well as popular television series brought her immense popularity. Still active in theater, Buzek also works abroad with international film directors such as Peter Greenaway (Nightwatching), and Marleen Gorris in Within the Whilrwind alongside Emily Watson.

    In 2004 she was one of the Polish observers of the presidential elections in Ukraine. She is a strong supporter of the "Solidarity with Belarus" movement and engaged in charity work with the Polish Humanitarian Organization. She is also a long term member of Vivia, a Polish organization for animal rights.

    Currently, Agata Buzek is working on a new film Father, Son & Holy Cow, a co-production between Poland, Finland and Germany directed by Radek Węgrzyn.