A Forceful Debut! Star Wars Zone at Pyrkon 2024

Star Wars Zone’s Invited Guests

During this year’s Pyrkon, several actors affiliated with films and series from the Star Wars universe will visit. You will also be able to meet a YouTuber and a specialist in Star Wars movies, series and comics, as well as several people who professionally translate book productions from this universe into Polish.

Joonas Viljami Suotamo is a Finnish actor and basketball player known to Star Wars fans for his role as Chewbacca in the films: The Last Jedi, Skywalker Rebirth, and Han Solo: Star Wars Stories. He was also Peter Mayhew’s understudy in The Force Awakens.

As a basketball player, he managed to make it all the way to Finland’s top league, the Korisliiga. He played three games as a member of the Finnish national team and as many as 66 games for the junior national team.

In the upcoming TV series The Acolyte, our guest will play a Jedi Master from the wookie species – Kelnacca.
In addition to productions from the Star Wars universe, Joonas also played the role of The Scourge in the TV series Willow.

Jarosław Domin is a film, theater, television and dubbing actor. He will not shun from any format there is. He is also not only a graduate of the Acting Department of the Aleksander Zelwerowicz Theater Academy in Warsaw, but also a student of the masters of acting, Gustaw Holoubek, Tadeusz Łomnicki and Zbigniew Zapasiewicz.

He is one of the few actors in the country to have performed more than 2,200 times (“The Complete Works of Shakespeare”), he has also created several hundred dubbing roles in both cinema and television productions. And in the iconic Star Wars series, he was the voice of one of the main characters – Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Maximilian Bogumił is an actor, announcer and speaker. He has been involved with the Star Wars world for more than a decade – and that is professionally speaking, because privately it has been going on practically forever. He is the director of games such as Star Wars Jedi: The Fallen Order and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, the voice of Vice Admiral Rampart of the Bad Batch, Anakin Skywalker in Tales of the Droids, as well as several nameless rebels chopped up by Lord Vader in Rogue One. He has also been the official presenter of all Star Wars events in the area for many years, and is a contributor to dictionaries of official terms.

Anna Hikiert-Bereza is an unfulfilled cartoonist, whom the Force consistently pushed down the path of literary translation (and successfully so in the end). A quarter of a century ago, she found her way to the Galaxy Far, Far Away… and has stayed there ever since, having also been professionally active there for seventeen years.

She compulsively translates from English – not just Star Wars, although it’s mainly Star Wars that we’ll be focusing on during Pyrkon. For more than a decade, she has been a member of the Polish branches of the Star Wars costume organizations, the Polish Garrison (Legion 501) and Eagle Base (Rebel Legion).

Marta Duda-Gryc usually translates applied texts, fantasy and scientific literature from English, French and Italian. She is the translator of Rick Riordan, Marvel and Star Wars novels: books such as Master and Apprentice, Leia – Princess of Alderaan, Brothers and many more!

She also translates comic books – from English (Star Wars), from French (Lucas’ Wars,  Black Dahlia) and Italian (Sergio Toppi).

Jacek Drewnowski is an editor of literary and comic magazines, who for years has been associated with the translation of a variety of works – from Disney, to the works of Alan Moore, Will Eisner, Grant Morrison, Jon J. Muth, Tizian Sclavi, Gipi… The list could go on and on.

He was editor-in-chief of Gwiezdne Wojny Komiks (1999-2000) and Star Wars Komiks (2008-2018) magazines and their special editions.

He is currently the managing editor of the Star Wars comic series published by Egmont and a content consultant for books in the universe.

Magdalena Cathia Kozlowska – as she refers to herself, she is a convention animal, an admirer of villains and a Star Wars fanatic with a special focus on the Empire.

She loves to talk about all topics that interest her, and their name is Legion! What’s more, she also earns a living talking her head off as a Warsaw tour guide. She also edits translations of Star Wars novels, contributes to her blog Rozdroża Cathii and to Legion 501.

Exhibitions

The Star Wars zone will be bursting at the seams with items, costumes and characters taken straight from the screen and pages of comic books. Here are some of the exhibitions that you will be able to visit or take photos at:

Bohdan Sztafij’s model exhibition – will mainly consist of models made of cardboard, among other materials. You will be able to see classic Star Wars models, but also a model of the second Death Star with a diameter of one meter!

Queen Amidala’s costume exhibition – Aldona Talarczyk (known as ATAT Costumes) will present some of Queen Amidala’s costumes, which are known from the film prequels. They are amazing works sewn by the author of the exhibition herself.

Polish Garrison 501st Legion, Rebel Legion Eagle Base and Vu’traat Clan MMCCPoland – an exhibition organized by members of three official costume groups. You will see not only people in costumes, but also props or a 1:1 scale wall.

Star Wars Armory exhibition – an exhibition including items made based on the film replicas among other things. You will also be able to see props specially made for the “Lost Empire” larp.

Attractions with the participation of the attendees

Don’t you dream of really immersing yourself in your favorite universe, in the company of other fans? These attractions will allow you to really take the fun into your own hands and be transported, at least for a moment, to the world of Star Wars.

Star Wars Camp – The Star Wars Camp is a joint initiative of such Star Wars-related organizations as Manda’Yaim, Forgotten Battalion, Grand Army of the Republic, Brotherhood of the Sith, Jedi Order, Beskar Society and the Lodz Star Wars Fan Club. In the camp you will meet The Mandalorians, Sith, Jedi, clones and many other characters that will take care of the right atmosphere and your entertainment.

Mandalorian supporters will find a Mandalorian field canteen, where they will be able to view their trophies, listen to war stories and play pazaak and other games, while also getting a glimpse of the weapons, armor and loot. Fans of the Force will also find Jedi and Sith temples, who are making an exception and burying the hatchet to show you how to fight using a lightsaber and familiarize you with the artifacts of the light and dark sides, as well as to officiate a wedding straight from the galaxy far, far away to those who find Pyrkon’s atmosphere exceptionally romantic.

For fans of the clones, in turn, we have their post, where they will demonstrate to you their arsenal and holo table, where they will show how soldiers of the Grand Army of the Republic plan their battles. Additionally, the camp hold a shooting range full of blaster nerf guns, which you will be able to use to test your shooting skills on the bad guys from the Star Wars universe.

For lovers of activities that force you to wander around Pyrkon and interact with other Pyrkon-goers, we have prepared two field games – one Mandalorian-themed and one clone-themed. If you hear “This is the way!” shouted out loud somewhere in the crowd, know that the road leads directly to our camp!

March – the traditional march of cosplayers from the Star Wars universe. The outfit does not have to be professional, the important thing is that you are comfortable in it, surely everyone will like it.

All kids are especially welcome to join in the fun.

We start under Hall 3 (Camps) and end traditionally at the PCC hall. Order of the march: on Friday at 5 p.m. the march begins with the Sith and Empire, and on Saturday at 7 p.m. – with the Jedi and Rebels.

Take the opportunity to meet other Star Wars fans and spend special moments in this Zone created especially for you.
See you at Pyrkon and may the Force be with you!