POLISH FILM ACADEMY

Her debut – not counting Dwie godziny [‘Two Hours], which was only allowed on screens eleven years after its making – was in Zakazane piosenki/Forbidden Songs, the first post-war film. She also played the main character in the first post-war comedy Skarb/The Treasure. She played romantic as well as dramatic and comedic roles. She returned to the screen as Tomaszek’s grandmother in Dolina Issy/ The Issa Valley, based on Miłosz’s novel and in a dramatic role of the doctor’s wife in Zylber’s Pożegnanie z Marią/Farewell to Maria based on a story by Tadeusz Borowski. Szaflarska’s career re-surged thanks to Dorota Kędzierzawska, who wrote a script – Pora umierać/Time to Die – specifically for her. Szaflarska played in most of Kędzierzawska’s film. She’s cast in small dramas (Bławut) and sentimental comedies (Machulski); and she lends her undying charm and grace to her characters.

Magda Sendecka