Hanna Polak was born in Katowice, Poland (1967) and has an international reputation as a socially engaged documentary filmmaker.  Her films address global issues with a focus on homelessness and poverty.  In 1997 Polak founded Active Child Aid to serve the underprivileged children of Russia.  In 2002, Polak began her professional training in the Cinematography division of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) Moscow.  Her first short film “Al”, about legendary filmmaker Albert Maysles, opened at the 2004 Documentary Film Festival in Cracow, Poland.  In 2005 “The Children of Leningradsky” (2004) received the IDA Distinguished Documentary Achievement Award for Short Documentary from the International Documentary Association  Polak’s most notable work to date, “Something Better to Come” (2014) was featured in a Los Angeles Times review, June 5, 2015, that places in context, a film that was fourteen (14) years in the making.  The film was also included in a Newsweek review of Best Documentaries of 2015.  Polak as a consultant and producer, director, and cinematographer has contributed to major television networks worldwide including HBO, ABC, Canal+, France 2, Fuji Television, ITN, TVP (Poland), TVN (Poland), Belgian Radio and TV, and many other TV stations. Her films have been screened in hundreds film festivals around the world, including Sundance Film Festival, IDFA, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, True/False Film Festival, and FIPA.