Polański, Andrzej Wajda, Zbigniew Rybczyński, Janusz Kamiński, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Agnieszka Holland. World renowned actresses were Helena Modjeska and Pola Negri.
Poles have outstanding achievements in mountaineering in the Himalayas, especially in the winter gathering Eight-thousander. The most famous Polish climbers are Jerzy Kukuczka, Krzysztof Wielicki, Piotr Pustelnik, Andrzej Zawada and Wanda Rutkiewicz.
Society
Poland has a great, long standing tradition of tolerance towards minorities, as well as absence of discrimination on the grounds of religion, nationality or race. This is for historical reasons and that is ethnic minorities in Poland are very few. It has a high level of gender equality, promotes disability rights movement and promotes equality. Poland is the first country in the world where corporal punishment was prohibited. Poland has, throughout most of its long history, experienced only very limited immigration from abroad; this trend can largely be attributed to Poland's lack of slavery and overseas colonies as well as its lack of existence as a state during much of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Despite this, the country has for a long time been regarded as having a very tolerant society, which affords equal rights to all people no matter what their ethnic background. This can be said to stem largely from the reign of King Casimir III the Great and his acceptance for Poland's Jewish community, in a time when the most of Europe recessed antisemitic mood. The history of Jews in Poland shows peaceful co-existence of a nation and particular ethnic group.
As many as 96.7% of Polish citizens declare to be Poles, and 97.8% declare that they speak Polish at home (Census 2002). The population of Poland became one of the most ethnically homogeneous in the world as a result of the radically altered borders after World War II and the subsequent migrations. This homogeneity is a result of post World War II
