Michal Gazda

Michal Gazda, born smack-dab in the middle of Lódz, Poland, 1972, didn’t exactly take the scenic route when it came to carving out his spot in the film world. You can tell he’s got that gritty, Eastern European touch in his work—there’s this edge, this rawness, like he’s seen a bit too much and now he’s gonna make you see it too. People probably know him best for “The Border” from 2014, which is one of those crime dramas that just refuses to play nice. Corruption, moral gray zones, folks making terrible choices for reasons that actually make sense—nothing’s black and white, and Michal leans right into that chaos. Then, in 2023, he dropped “Forgotten Love,” which, trust me, isn’t your typical sappy romance. There’s love, sure, but it’s tangled up with regret and memory, and the whole vibe is haunted, like old secrets lurking in every frame. Gazda’s not afraid to let his characters be messy, flawed, sometimes downright unlikable, but real in a way that’s almost uncomfortable. He also worked on “Odwróceni. Ojcowie i córki” in 2019—think family drama but with teeth, digging into generational baggage and the ways parents and kids just keep missing each other, no matter how hard they try. Gazda’s style? Direct, brutal when it needs to be, but sometimes he’ll surprise you with a moment of tenderness that sneaks up and hits harder than any twist. He’s not churning out blockbusters for the masses. He’s making stuff that sticks with you, whether you want it to or not.