Wanda Lepionka
Before I ever wanted to make films, I loved watching them.
Film was where I wanted to escape, to learn about the world, its people, about lives like mine, and lives unfamiliar. Film also entertained, scared, and thrilled me and also gave me ideas around love. It time travelled me and took me to the other side of the world in a moment.
Growing up bridging two cultures, New Zealand and Polish, film was the one place that felt universal and belonged to everyone. At home I was told stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things to survive and to remember. Its these stories that I absorbed, in that ordinary people carry stories just as powerful as any one society decides to celebrate. In making my films, I’ve carried this through my work, and this belief sits at the centre of everything I make.
Whether it’s a story of memory and survival, or an artist working quietly on the edge of a city, what I try to do is to create an emotional connection between the person on screen and the person watching.
Film is my favourite medium to make art in.
I think universally, I work locally, and find stories worth telling everywhere, in every kind of community and in every kind of life.
Bio
Wanda Lepionka is a Wellington-based independent filmmaker, writer, director and producer with a body of work grounded in cultural heritage, history and community. The daughter of Polish child refugees who survived Siberian labour camps and refugee camps in WW2 and found sanctuary in New Zealand, Wanda makes films that are local in origin and universal in reach.
Her work includes the documentary Polish Children of Pahiatua (2015), which she wrote and directed; Maunga (Mountain) (2019), co-written and co-directed with David Strong; the short films Pacific Dreams (2011) and The Last Night (2014), which she produced; and directed and produced the South Coast Arts Trail documentary series (2025). Her films have screened at Cannes, Rhode Island, Austin, LA and film festivals internationally.
From 2016 to 2026 she founded and directed the very first New Zealand Polish Film Festival, developing cultural and film cooperation between Poland and New Zealand. In 2018 she received the Gold Cross of Merit of the Republic of Poland, the country’s highest civilian honour, for that work. She is the founder of WHL PR + Co., a Wellington communications practice, and is a co-founder of CraftInc. Films.
Wanda has a Master of Philosophy in Visual and Material Culture, an Honours and Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies.
Let’s talk!
hello@craftincfilms.com