A new wave of artists is coming to Łódź.

WAVE – the theme of this year’s 17th edition of the Kamera Akcja Festival –evokes movement, change, and the energy of something yet to come. It opens up space for new phenomena and fresh ways of thinking about cinema, but it can also spiral out of control. Today we are immersed in a constant flow of content, in which no opinion goes unnoticed. A review, a post-screening discussion, or a comment posted online can trigger further reactions, shift the direction of a discussion, and even go viral. We’re interested in the wave as an impulse. “We’re not offering answers. We’re proposing a wave of questions, discussions, and screenings that – we hope – will spread further, sparking a wave of reflection among festivalgoers,” says Malwina Czajka, the festival’s director.

The poster for this year’s edition, designed by Arkadiusz Jaworek, echoes this year’s theme by depicting thought as a fluid, ever-changing process that defies easy categorization. The bold, structured typography is intertwined with organic, neon forms that float in space, permeate the composition, and transcend its boundaries. They remind us that we experience cinema through emotions, intuition, and sensations that do not always fall into a logical order. Audiences’ tastes evolve, change over time, and often contain apparent contradictions. A wave can herald both a rebirth and the moment when its force begins to overwhelm us. It is precisely between these meanings that the 17th Kamera Akcja Festival will navigate. We are not interested in cinema that leaves everything as it is. We’re looking for films, conversations, and experiences that move us, provoke thought, and shift perspective and form. “THE WAVE” is a symbol of this energy – the moment when we step outside established patterns and open ourselves to new perspectives,” says Przemek Glajzner, the festival’s director.

The 17th Camera Action Festival will take place from October 22 to 25, 2026, in Łódź, and online from October 19 to 21, 2026, on the Think Film platform. This project is made possible thanks to funding from the City of Łódź’s budget. It is co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund – a state-administered special-purpose fund – as well as by the Polish Film Institute and the University of Łódź, the festival’s patron. The festival’s main partners are Monopolis, the Łódź Film School, and the Museum of Cinematography. The Kamera Akcja Festival and the “Man in Danger” Media Festival form the “Łódź Film Festival” network.