Anka Malatynska

⸻ It’s pretty obvious from these photos: I receive so much freaking joy from the work I do— I can’t help but channel it into every single frame. I must’ve been laughing the entire shoot, because in every on-set photo, I’m absolutely beaming. Fun is an understatement. This was pure creative bliss. (Don’t worry there was pain, toil and hard work too- this Poland after all) I’m so deeply thankful for the opportunity to be part of this film—and to create with such an incredible group of women. This felt like one of those serendipitous, meant-to-be moments: my first feature in Poland, aligning just as @zuzagrabowska was seeking a cinematographer for her film. I’m beyond grateful that Zuza trusted me with her vision. She’s a grounded, powerful, and steadfast leader—and I know that the energy she carries will only continue to grow and blossom into extraordinary work. I can’t wait to see the films she creates next. To our producer @sylwiawit —an old soul whose presence felt like home from the very start—and her wonderful co-producer @vickyleala , and @paweldomagala who visited for a laugh on set and to flex his producer power🤣😉 @agatawatrobska , your performance truly stole my heart with @januszchabior To our entire crew—dziękuję. Thank you. @jasieksadowski @grzechglowny @iga.pop @redhead_crew @rafal.osin I feel like I’ve found my people. Like my people were always here, waiting for me. This was more than a film. It was a homecoming. 💫

Tonight is the Season Finale of HI SURF RESCUE 🌊 19 episodes. One wild, beautiful, unforgettable ride. From the soft, golden light of winter to the bold blaze of summer sun, we’ve followed the arc of the North Shore — not just in story, but in spirit. This coast has a pulse. A truth. A mana. And we’ve done our best to honor it. To our incredible cast, crew, creators, and the entire community that showed up with heart, grit, and aloha — mahalo nui loa. You brought this world to life with every frame, every wave, every moment of silence and action. This show is more than entertainment — it’s a love letter to the real Hawai’i. The one that exists beyond the postcards. The one where lifeguards are heroes, the ocean is both danger and healer, and ohana means showing up, every day, rain or shine. We hope you’ve felt that truth. And we hope to keep telling these stories for many seasons to come. Don’t miss the finale tonight. It’s a good one. #HiSurfRescue #SeasonFinale #Mahalo #RealHawaii #NorthShoreMagic #OceanStories @johnwellsproductions @juliardillard @lyac @shamessshute @robbiemagasiva @ariellekebbel @kekoascottkekumano @zoecipres @nigelnally @donkingfilms @briankeaulana @kanoadahlin @shakazaz @ted.tunney @tumua_23 @keokis10 @portyatpeace @rosiejaffurs @kilani.villiaros @katrinchong @keokis10 @katrinchong @rescueseries @rescuehisurf_fan_updates @savehawaiifilm

To big not to share. To awesome to keep to myself. To be invited to the jury at Camerimage holds such deep personal significance for me. The last time I was there was in 2008—with my mother, who has long since passed. Now, I return not as a student, but as a juror. Not as a foreigner or an immigrant, but as someone finally able to come home. Poland—you cut so deep. It feels poetic that this announcement arrives on 11/11, just days before my birthday, and on your Independence Day. I’m so deeply honored to feel accepted and elevated among my people and my peers. Thirteen years later, I return; not as a daughter, but as a mother. Not as a student, but as a lineage holder in this incredible art of cinematography. This heartbreakingly beautiful career sometimes feels not so different from the story of my homeland— both marked by struggle, resilience, and rebirth. Rising from the ashes seems to be the theme of this place, this year, and this moment in my life. To all who are out there working on your art, building your vision; what you’re doing has significance. It has power. Don’t ever give up on your vision. I say this to myself as much as I say it to you. Thank you to all those who light the path @camerimage.festival @jameschressanthis @wpagency @giftedtalentagency @visualfilmlabs @ralimage @ashleythughes38 @allmybeautifulpeoplewhoinspireme

Being your mom is truly the ultimate adventure. How could I ever have been so lucky to receive a Sagittarius son for my birthday, one beautiful year in 2014, bundled like a gift from the universe itself? The moment you came into my life, I knew we would travel the world together. And in just 11 years, you’ve already lived a bigger life than many people do in a lifetime. You carry so much wisdom, energy, curiosity, and light within you. Every single day, I feel grateful for the honor of being your mom. Motherhood has been one of the deepest gifts of my life. What an adventure it is to witness another soul grow beside you while discovering new parts of yourself along the way. Traveling the world with you, watching you learn, explore, laugh, question, and become — it has all been magic. And this is only the beginning. I cannot wait to watch you blossom through every season of your life. So many adventures still await us, my love. Happy Mother’s Day to the journey that made me a mother — you.

To był jeden z tych dni ,które zapamiętasz na zawsze !Kiedy czujesz wokół tyle ciepła ,przyjaźni ,spełnienia i dumy .Zuziu ! Jestem z Ciebie przedumna !!!! @zuzagrabowska Przeniosłaś na ekran historie ,którą dłubałyśmy sobie po cichu ,wieczorami w swoich domach .Nie wierzyłam ,że to się uda ale Ty ani razu nie zwątpiłaś .Szłaś jak burza .Nigdy nie widziałam Cię tak zdeterminowanej .Nie mogłam wymarzyć sobie lepszej ,partnerki -reżyserki-przyjaciółki zarówno na planie jak i w życiu .Paweł! @paweldomagala spełniając marzenie Zuzy ,spełniłeś również i moje marzenie .Dziękuję Ci ! I Choć inwestując w to „nasze marzenie „postawiłeś na szali przyszłą edukację Waszych córek :) to słysząc reakcje Cieszyńskiej publiczności jestem o nią spokojna ♥️kochanie @januszchabior dziękuje ,że zawsze mnie wspierasz ,że kiedy ja godzinami , nieudolnie wystukiwałam swoje pierwsze ,zdania wielokrotnie złożone 🤦‍♀️Ogarniałeś nasze życie .Widziałam jak na mnie patrzysz w tym dniu ,na tej scenie .Z jaką dumą ,do tego stopnia ,że czułam wręcz namacalnie, jak rosną mi skrzydła . Dziękuję Aniu @ankavision za piękne zdjęcia😍🎥Dziękuję @lukasz_m_film dziękuję publiczności ,dziękuję @kino_na_granicy za ten dzień który będę pamiętać ♥️🌷 #drogarzadziejprzemierzana #kinonagranicy #cieszyn #film

There is something deeply humbling about making a film in Poland. Your peers will hold you to the highest standards and they will not sugarcoat. I came here carrying enormous reverence for Polish cinema, for its rigor, intelligence, and uncompromising artistic standard. The bar is high, and artists hold each other to it. That relentless pursuit of truth is what makes Polish cinema so powerful. We made this film independently, outside the traditional system, on faith, grit, and heart. Then came months deep in the edit, so deep we could no longer see clearly. Only questions. Only doubt. Only the beautiful swamp of creation. I arrived at Kino na Granicy carrying fear. Then the lights went down, and for the first time, I truly saw the film, alive on the big screen, full of nuance, extraordinary performances, and the quiet language of image. And I watched the audience watching, laughing, leaning in, quietly crying. Then came an ovation that erupted with deep gratitude. One person said the film felt like a beautiful Chekhov story, lighthearted and heartbreaking, comedic and tragic, just like life itself. Some people stopped us in the streets of Cieszyn to say, This is exactly the film we need in Poland right now. We believed in a dream. And somehow, it became something true. True enough to profoundly move the audience.

There is something sacred about belonging to a city of dreamers. A city built on wild imagination, impossible odds, strange beautiful souls, and the stubborn human act of believing in something before it exists. I came back wondering what Los Angeles would feel like after years away, after oceans crossed, homes built and unbuilt, after searching from Hawaii to Poland and across the world for that deep sense of belonging. And what I found was abundance. Friendship. Soul. Home. Not because the city is perfect. It is wild. It is chaotic. It is expansive and intimate at once, full of glittering worlds and tiny hidden pockets of life where artists gather, lovers dream, and beautiful weirdos keep creating against all odds. This city raised me. It shaped me as an artist. It challenged me, stretched me, humbled me, and taught me how to make beauty from longing, vision, and grit. And while the industry shifts, contracts, reinvents itself, and parts of the old machine collapse, the essence remains untouched: This is still the great city of makers. The city that believes in dreams. The city where wild artists still wake up with fire in their hearts. The city where deep soulful friendships become family. The city where impossible things are imagined, and then made real. I may keep traveling. The world may keep calling. The planet may be my home. But part of my soul will always live here, among the dreamers. And I still believe, with everything in me, that there is no greater place on Earth to create beautiful things.

Dotarliśmy do Cieszyna. „Droga rzadziej przemierzana” w reżyserii @zuzagrabowska ma pokaz przedpremierowy na festiwalu @kino_na_granicy już trzeciego maja. Zapraszamy🎥 #cieszyn #kinonagranicy #film

W tę niedzielę, na Festiwalu Kino na Granicy, odbędzie się przedpremierowy pokaz filmu Droga rzadziej przemierzana. To film w reżyserii Zuza Grabowska, przy którym miałam zaszczyt realizować zdjęcia. Jest to mój pierwszy film nakręcony w Polsce i moment, który ma dla mnie bardzo osobisty wymiar. Po wielu latach spędzonych za granicą wracam do kraju, z którego wyrosłam, do swoich korzeni, do ziemi moich przodków i do języka, w którym po raz pierwszy nauczyłam się czuć świat. Im głębiej zapuszczam korzenie tutaj, tym mocniej czuję swoje zakorzenienie w świecie. Coraz wyraźniej odkrywam, że gdziekolwiek jestem, niosę w sobie poczucie domu, budowane przez wspólnotę, głębokie przyjaźnie i ludzkie połączenia, takie jak te opowiedziane w tej pięknej historii. To piękne dzieło powstało dzięki niezwykłemu zespołowi. Reżyseria: Zuza Grabowska. Produkcja: Sylwia Witowska, Paweł Domagała oraz Vikki Witowska. Światło: Iga Pop i Studio Kosmos. Asystenci kamery: Janek i Grzegorz. Jestem wdzięczna, że mogłam wrócić do domu i opowiedzieć tę historię razem z moimi ludźmi. This Sunday, at Kino na Granicy, there will be a special pre premiere screening of Road Less Traveled, directed by Zuza Grabowska, a film I had the honor of photographing and my first feature shot in Poland, a moment that holds deep personal meaning for me. After many years abroad, I am returning to the country that shaped me, to my roots, to the land of my ancestors, and to the language in which I first learned to feel the world. The deeper my roots grow here, the more deeply rooted I become in the world itself. Wherever I go, I carry a sense of home within me, built through community, deep friendship, and meaningful human connection, much like the bonds reflected in this beautiful story. This beautiful work was created by an extraordinary team. Directed by @zuzagrabowska Zuza Grabowska. Produced by Sylwia Witowska, @paweldomagala Paweł Domagała, and Vikki Witowska. Lighting by Iga Pop and Studio Kosmos. Camera assistants: Janek and Grzegorz. Starring @paweldomagala @zuzagrabowska @agatawatrobska @januszchabior

So excited to share some of the darker work from the past several years. A lot of this period of my career has been spent digging deep into the shadows — working with very minimal light, shaping contrast, and building atmosphere for horror, thriller, and action projects. I love the precision and restraint that this kind of work requires, where every source matters and darkness becomes part of the storytelling. This world has become a place where I feel most creatively alive — a space where light and shadow become the language of the story. Featuring work from Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, Monsterland, I Know What You Did Last Summer, NCIS, and more.#magicnotlogic #visualstorytelling #cinematographylife #femalefilmmaker #visuallanguage

RIP Wayne Heber Wulfenstein 9/9/70 - 1/10/26. Husband. Father. Brother. Friend. Son of Kathy and Leon. Maverick. Gaffer. Key Grip. Cinematographer. Friend of all Animals. Wayne and I met on set and were immediately drawn to each other. For over a decade our adventures took us around the the world. We worked together, we lived together, we had a son together and loved eachother fiercely . Our relationship was not easy, but our bond was so strong. We lived in Qatar, Nicaragua, New York City, North Carolina, Hawaii, Utah, California, Arizona, and Poland—not all in that order. We had a crazy, wild ride together. And then came a complete plot twist for an ending. Wayne came to spend Christmas with me and our son, arriving on December 24th in the evening to Warsaw, Poland. He hadn’t been feeling well for several weeks, but I was not prepared for how unwell he truly was. On the 25th, we went to the hospital. He never left the hospital again. He was diagnosed with an extremely aggressive lymphoma—suspected lymphoma, because they didn’t have time to get the biopsy. For two weeks, as I got to know the oncological medical system in Poland more intimately than I would ever care to, we raced for a solution. But the illness was faster than access to any kind of medicine. I watched the disease eat him before my eyes. In a last-ditch effort, he was intubated and put on 24-hour dialysis so his blood could be cleared of the tumor particles decomposing into his bloodstream, in hopes that the doctors could get him through this crisis moment in the disease, buy some time, and find treatment. He was such a light—a complicated, tough, and sensitive human. In the end, we were stripped of our conflicts, and nothing but pure love remained. I LOVE YOU WaYNE with all my heart and soul.

To było szalone filmowe lato 🎬🥰 A teraz film nabiera kolorów 😊#drogarzadziejprzemierzana #fabuła #womenfilmmakers