Press kit

Materials for conference organisers, editors and researchers — copy freely.

One line

Bart Staszewski — Polish documentary filmmaker, photographer and LGBT+ activist, author of the “LGBT-free zones” photo project, Obama Foundation European Leader and TIME 100 Next honoree.

Short biography (~70 words)

Bart Staszewski is a Polish documentary filmmaker, photographer and LGBT+ activist. He directed Article 18 (2017), a documentary on the struggle for LGBT+ equality in Poland, and created the photo project Zones, placing yellow “LGBT-FREE ZONE” signs beside the welcome signs of municipalities that had adopted anti-LGBT declarations. He co-founded the Basta Foundation, which monitors homophobic and transphobic hate speech in Polish media. Based in Warsaw.

Full biography

Bart Staszewski (b. 1990) is a Polish documentary filmmaker, photographer and LGBTI+ activist. He grew up in Lublin and lives in Warsaw.

Filmography

• 2017 — Article 18 (Artykuł osiemnasty), documentary. Director and editor; cinematography with Inga Pawłowska; written by Hubert Sobecki and Sławomir Wodzyński.
• 2015/2016 — Kopciuszek, dir. Magdalena Sienicka. Cinematography.
• 2014 — Tableciarze, documentary. Director, writer, cinematographer.

Recognition

• 2021 — TIME100 Next, TIME magazine’s list of emerging leaders
• 2020 — Bloomberg Businessweek “Ones to Watch”
• 2020 — Obama Foundation Leaders: Europe (one of 35 participants)
• 2020 — LGBT+ Diamonds Awards, Initiative of the Year supporting LGBT+ people
• 2019 — European Tolerance Award (Tolerantia)
• 2015 — documentary debut award, Emigra Film Festival

Exhibitions

• 2025 — “LGBT+ Zones. Queer Art in the Time of the Good Change”, Arsenał Municipal Gallery, Poznań
• 2021 — “Zones”, solo exhibition, Bydgoszcz Art Centre
• 2020 — “We Are People”, group exhibition, Labirynt Gallery, Lublin

Selected press

CNN, Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, TIME, Balkan Insight, Vogue Polska. Texts and coverage: Writing & press.

Photographs

Portraits for publication are available on request — write with the name of the event or the publication. The photographer credit to be published with the image is supplied together with the file.

Speaking & collaborations

Available for conference talks, panels, lectures and workshops on documenting human rights violations through photography and film, SLAPP lawsuits against activists, media watchdog work, and LGBT+ rights in Central and Eastern Europe. Open to editorial collaborations, co-productions and research interviews.

Contact

bart@fundacjabasta.pl — interview, speaking and research enquiries are answered personally.