Wanda Lepionka

Wanda Lepionka is a Wellington-based independent filmmaker, writer, director and producer, the daughter of two of the 733 Polish children of Pahiatua, who survived Siberian labour camps before finding sanctuary in New Zealand in 1944. Wanda grew up with a dual cultural identity, Polish at home and New Zealand beyond it, a background that shapes her recurring focus on memory, place and belonging.

Her work includes the documentary Polish Children of Pahiatua (2015), which she directed; the short films Pacific Dreams (2011) and The Last Night (2014), which she produced; Maunga (Mountain) (2019), co-written and co-directed with David Strong; and Art of Making, a programme of short documentaries on artists and creatives of Wellington’s South Coast, which she directed and produced, screening as part of the South Coast Arts Trail. Her films have screened at Cannes Short Film Corner, Rhode Island, Austin, Shanghai, LA and film festivals internationally.

Wanda founded and directed the New Zealand Polish Film Festival from 2016 to 2026, developing cultural and film cooperation between Poland and New Zealand. In 2018 she received the Gold Cross of Merit (Złoty Krzyż Zasługi) of the Republic of Poland, a state decoration conferred by the President of Poland, for that work. She is the founder of her own Wellington PR 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.