Patrycja Planik

Patrycja Planik is a Polish photographer, visual artist and actress. Patrycja Planik studied photography at the National Film School in Lodz. She co-created the independent contemporary dance festival The International Maat Festival in Poland. She produced and created Dance.doc, a series of short documentaries about dancers connected to this festival. The project was realized in Poland, Japan, and Israel. Her projects were supported by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. In 2016 she was cast for the title role in Andreas Horvath's feature film Lillian (film), produced by Austrian filmmaker Ulrich Seidl. The film is inspired by the true story of Lillian Alling, a Russian woman who attempted to walk from New York back to her home country in the 1920s. As a first-time actress Patrycja Planik received numerous awards for her portrayal of Lillian. Variety wrote: "What eerie charge "Lillian" does possess comes largely courtesy of its lead, Polish visual artist Patrycja Planik, who utters not one word in the film's two-hour-plus running time, but does hold the camera with a fixed, blank-slate gaze - making her updated Lillian Alling a kind of stoic proxy for anyone who has felt isolated and voiceless in the great American vastness." The Hollywood Reporter stated: "modern-day Lillian is played with true grit by newcomer Patrycja Planik, who says not a word during the whole film. It's a role that would test the mettle of much more experienced actresses, but Planik handles the challenge with a kind of stubborn naivete that is intriguing to watch." The Upcoming opined: "Even with virtually no dialogue, Planik plays the part with a steely determinism that paints her as an unstoppable force."