The 20th Jubilee FilmAT Festival
–International Festival of Tourist Films,
Television Documentaries, and Corporate Films.
March 26–27, 2026
The anniversary edition of the FilmAT Festival was organized by the Tourfilm Academy Foundation and the Museum of Sport and Tourism in Warsaw. The awards ceremony took place on March 26, 2026, at the Museum of Sport and Tourism, in the institution’s most prestigious space—next to the Wall of Fame of Polish Sport, where the gold medals of Polish Olympians are displayed. This place symbolically embodies the highest values: excellence, representing the nation, and the enduring legacy of achievements that go down in history. The main patrons of the ceremony were: Adam Struzik—Marshal of the Mazovia Voivodeship, the Polish Tourist Organization, and the International Tourfilm Academy. The media patrons were TVP Kultura and “Film, Art & Promotion,” which has supported the Festival from the very beginning. On March 27, all guests were invited on a trip to Żelazowa Wola and Brochów so that we could connect our hearts with Fryderyk Chopin.
The aim of the FilmAT Festival is to showcase the latest trends in documentary films, television reports, tourism communications, corporate and institutional films, and to evaluate audiovisual productions based on their artistic merit and their ability to influence the target audience. The festival supports the development of domestic and international productions and organizes separate film competitions for films intended for the global market and those intended for the domestic market.
Films submitted to the FilmAT Festival must fall into one of the following main categories:
1. TOURISM COMMUNICATION
2. DOCUMENTARIES AND TV REPORTAGES
3. CORPORATE AND INSTITUTIONAL FILMS
A total of 101 films were submitted to the festival competition in various categories.
The 19th Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition kicked off the centennial celebrations of the Competition, and to our great delight, we were able to submit for evaluation to the International Tourfim Academy, led by President Alexander V. Kammel, and to an international jury chaired by Zbigniew Żmudzki (producer of the Oscar-winning film “Peter and the Wolf”), beautiful films and documentaries related to Fryderyk Chopin, his legacy, and his work. We are pleased that, due to the high quality and diversity of the productions related to this outstanding composer, the jury was able to award numerous prizes.
In the competition categories, the awards went to representatives of various media markets and industry sectors, underscoring the event’s global scope. The International Jury awarded two Grand Prix statuettes in the categories of Tourism Communication and TV Documentaries and Reportages. We present both Grand Prix Awards:
20th FilmAT Festival 2025
GRAND PRIX TOURISM
„Echoes of the legend. Elbląg”
The City of Elbląg
20th FilmAT Festival
GRAND PRIX DOCUMENTARY2025
”The Score in my Mind”
Andrzej B. Czulda
Awards were handed out in all categories. The prizes consist of tourist figurines created by sculptor Jacek Podlasiński. In the category “Fryderyk Chopin and His Legacy,” the winners were films by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute and documentaries and reports from the most well-known television stations. They will receive statuettes featuring a bust of Fryderyk Chopin, also created by our sculptor.
TVP Kultura receives the TOURIST 2025 non-competitive award, a prize with a long-standing tradition, for its professional promotion of the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition. We have been presenting this award since the Festival’s beginnings, and it has been given to individuals and institutions distinguished in Polish culture: Krzysztof Zanussi, Andrzej Wajda, Roman Polanski, Studio Se-ma-for, the Łódź Film School, Rafał Blechacz, Paweł Pawlikowski…
presents the Tourist Owl statuette to Andrzej Kosowski,
Deputy Director for Museum and Education at the Fryderyk Chopin National Institute.
The Board of the International Tourfilm Academy, led by President Alexander V. Kammel, awarded the “Tourist Owl” statuette to the Fryderyk Chopin Institute for promoting Chopin-related tourism through film. This is the only statuette of its kind in the world—a beautiful sculpture of a tourist owl with wings spread for flight, created by Jacek Podlasiński—awarded to films that combine tourism with valuable, knowledge-based content and direct it toward the academic community, providing valuable support for research and teaching. In this way, they create a much-needed bridge between KNOWLEDGE, TOURISM, and ACADEMIC RESEARCH.
The world of science appreciates its collaboration with the Academy. During the Gala, a butterfly was unveiled that was named in honor of Fryderyk Chopin, as a tribute to the international impact of his talent. The idea came from Professor Tomasz Pyrcz, a world-renowned entomologist at Jagiellonian University and a great lover of Chopin’s music, who was the lead participant in the international expedition during which the butterfly was discovered. From among the three names he proposed, the final scientific name was selected in consultation with the Fryderyk Chopin Institute.
We closed the festival with a trip to Żelazowa Wola and Brochów.
Fryderyk Chopin’s Birthplace and the Park in Żelazowa Wola are visited by fans of great composer from all over the world.
The Chopin family lived in a modest building, which was converted into
a beautiful, traditional Polish manor house and named the “Fryderyk Chopin Birthplace.” Fryderyk Chopin was born on March 1, 1810, and a salon has been created at the site of his birth, where famous concerts are held. The park and the magical garden provide a beautiful setting for this manor house. Here, even in winter, special varieties of flowers bloom…
Brochów is a village located about 15 km from Żelazowa Wola. Today, when traveling by car, it is not a long journey, but the Chopins likely traveled with little Fryderyk to the church in Brochów by horse-drawn carriage. It was, therefore, quite an expedition. This place was very important to the Chopin family, as on June 2, 1806, Mikołaj Chopin and Tekla Justyna née Krzyżanowska, Fryderyk Chopin’s parents, were married in this church.
The Church of St. Roch and St. John the Baptist in Brochów is a church with unique fortified architecture, highlighted by three cylindrical towers dominating the area and walls with bastions. Picturesquely situated on the old riverbed of the Bzura, this monumental structure makes a great impression and remains in the memory of everyone who has had the pleasure of visiting Brochów. To mark the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth in 2010, restoration work was undertaken in the church, partially restoring the interior’s painted decorations—particularly the coffered barrel vault—and new furnishings were designed.
But for us, the music was the most important thing. And it was – Bartosz Izbicki -a great expert on the old instruments used to enhance church ceremonies in centuries past – who transported us into this historical world of music. We learned about their fascinating construction and sound. And he concluded the presentation with a concert on the organ…
Photos: Foundation Tourfilm Academy & Museum of Sports & Tourism