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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Hollywood star Jesse Eisenberg, whose ancestors were Jews from Poland, has been handed Polish citizenship by President Andrzej Duda at a ceremony in New York.
“I want to express my happiness, and the happiness of my compatriots, that we have a new citizen,” said Duda. “I am pleased that people from around the world remember their origins, that their ancestors came from Poland, and want to connect with our country.”
Speaking after the president, Eisenberg said that receiving Polish citizenship was the “honour of a lifetime”. He revealed that he had decided to apply while filming his most recent movie, A Real Pain, which was set almost entirely in Poland.
Aktor Jesse Eisenberg – twórca filmu oskarowego “Prawdziwy Ból” – otrzymał właśnie w Nowym Jorku obywatelstwo polskie z rąk @prezydentpl @AndrzejDuda . Aktor powiedział, że jest zaszczycony i że czuje głęboką więź z Polską – podkreślił, że jego rodzina ma dłuższe więzi z Polską… pic.twitter.com/cpzRdDnKZj
— Radio RAMPA (@RadioRAMPA) March 5, 2025
A Real Pain tells the fictional story of two American-Jewish cousins who, after the death of their grandmother, join a Holocaust tour in Poland to explore their roots. Eisenberg wrote, directed and starred in the film, and many of the locations it was shot in were connected to his family history.
Earlier this week, Kieran Culkin won the Oscar for best supporting actor for his role in the film, playing one of the two cousins alongside Eisenberg. A Real Pain was also nominated for best original screenplay at the Academy Awards but lost out to Anora.
Eisenberg has described the movie as his “love letter” to Poland. Last year, when he revealed that he had applied for Polish citizenship, he said that he “feels a strong connection with this country” and wants to help improve Polish-Jewish relations.
Under Polish law, people who had a Polish parent, grandparent or great-grandparent who was born in or lived in Poland after January 1920 and was never stripped of their Polish citizenship are themselves regarded as holding Polish citizenship and simply have to go through a process of officially confirming it.
Eisenberg has previously revealed that his great-grandmother was from the Polish town of Krasnystaw. He first visited there in 2007 while exploring his family roots. In 2023, Krasnystaw awarded the filmmaker honorary citizenship of the town. Another part of his family came from the city of Lublin.
“My family lived here [in Poland] for hundreds of years, and in New York for only 80,” Eisenberg told Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza last year. “I feel that this bond has been broken and I really want to reconnect with Poland.”
He said that he had been “largely raised by my aunt Doris, who was born and raised in Krasnystaw. She always told me how good her relations were with the Poles… I heard only positive stories about Poland”.
A Real Pain, a new movie by Jesse Eisenberg filmed entirely in Poland, has had its premiere in Warsaw.
The director says that the film, which is being tipped as an Oscar contender, is a “love letter to Poland”, the country from which his ancestors hailed https://t.co/JjX2yJkprG
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) November 5, 2024
Speaking to Polish broadcaster TVN, Eisenberg said that his father, like many second-generation immigrants, was not interested in delving into his roots. “His generation wanted to be Americans. For them, the most important thing was to assimilate into America.”
“I feel like my generation is very curious and has started to wonder where our families come from,” explained Eisenberg. “I am 40 years old and, like many of our third generation, I have decided to return to Polishness in some way.”
The filmmaker described Poland as “a delightful country…[that] combines an almost unbelievable past with a wonderful, modern culture”. He says he wants to do more work in the country.
“When I am in Warsaw – a place that is vibrant, flourishing and one of the most important cities in the world – I feel the same as if I were in New York or Los Angeles,” said Eisenberg. “At the same time, I am full of admiration for the numerous towns and villages, like Krasnystaw, which are hundreds of years old.”
Congratulations to Kieran Culkin on his Oscar-winning role in *A Real Pain*! A universal story of grief, memory, and self-discovery—set in Poland, based on our history and our Jewish heritage.
Filmed in Poland and co-financed by the Polish Film Institute.— Radosław Sikorski 🇵🇱🇪🇺 (@sikorskiradek) March 3, 2025
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Marek Borawski/KPRP
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
