The Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School in Łódź (), commonly known as the Łódź Film School (), is a Polish

film school A film school is an educational institution dedicated to teaching aspects of filmmaking, including such subjects as film production, film theory, digital media production, and screenwriting. Film history courses and hands-on technical training are ...

for future actors, directors, photographers, camera operators, and television staff. It was founded on 8 March 1948 in

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

(Lodz).

History

From 1945

Jerzy Toeplitz Jerzy Bonawentura Toeplitz (24 November 190924 July 1995) was a Polish film educator and theorist. He was a co-founder of the national film school in Łódź, Poland, now known as now known as Łódź Film School, which had a significant impact ...

initiated the founding of a national Polish film school, and in 1947, was one of the co-founders of the national film school in Poland, now known as Łódź Film School. It was officially founded on 8 March 1948 in

(Lodz). Other founding professors were Jerzy Bossak,

Wanda Jakubowska Wanda Jakubowska (10 November 1907 – 25 February 1998) was a Polish film director. Although she directed as many as 15 films over 50 years, Jakubowska is best known for her work on the Holocaust. Her 1948 film '' The Last Stage'' was an early a ...

, Stanislaw Wohl, and Antoni Bohdziewicz. Toeplitz was first a lecturer and director of the school from 1949 to 1952, and then rector from 1957 to 1968. Until 1958, the school existed as two separate schools: one for actors and the other for filmmakers. The schools and the Polish cinema industry were moved from Warsaw to the nearby city of Łódź after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. This move was initially seen as a temporary measure, thus the name of the actors' school was The National Higher School of Theatre in Warsaw with seat in Łódź. Its creator and the first rector was the Polish actor Leon Schiller, current namesake of the school. In 1949, it was divided into two branches; one actually moved to Warsaw and the other one remained in Łódź under the directorship of Kazimierz Dejmek (since 1950). The years leading up to the merger in 1958 were those in which notable artists of the Polish Film School created the reputation of the Łódź Film School as the most liberal and least Communist institution of higher education in Poland. Among the most notable alumni of that period were

Andrzej Munk Andrzej Munk (16 October 1921 – 20 September 1961) was a Polish film director, screen writer and documentalist. He was one of the most influential artists of the post-Stalinist period in the People's Republic of Poland. His feature films '' M ...

, Janusz Morgenstern,

Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the "P ...

, and Kazimierz Kutz. In 1954, they were joined by

Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański (; born 18 August 1933) is a Polish and French filmmaker and actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Roman Polanski, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Britis ...

. After 1958, the school became a cultural think-tank of Poland, with many outsiders and artists not supported by the Communist authorities joining it. Various discussion clubs and relative liberty of speech promoted by the new rector,

, added to its value. For instance, two of the students of the university ( Jerzy Matuszkiewicz and Witold Sobociński) became the first

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musicians in Poland after World War II to be allowed by the authorities to organize a concert.

Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in '' The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. ...

visited the school in 1966. His visit was documented in the self-titled documentary ''Kirk Douglas''. After the events of March 1968, the period of liberty came to an end. Toeplitz and most of the tutors were fired or left because of

political persecution Political repression is the act of a state entity controlling a citizenry by force for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing the citizenry's ability to take part in the political life of a society, thereby ...

, after supporting protesting students. Toeplitz and moved to Australia in 1970, where he was a founding director of the national film school now known as the Australian Film, Television and Radio School in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. However, with the advent of Edward Gierek and his regime, the school once again started to bloom.

Polish Internet Movie Database

The Polish Internet Movie Database () has been maintained by the school since 1998.

Notable alumni

The school has four

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-winning alumni:

Zbigniew Rybczyński Zbigniew Rybczyński (; born 27 January 1949) is a Polish filmmaker, director, cinematographer, screenwriter, creator of experimental animated films, and multimedia artist who has won numerous prestigious industry awards both in the United Stat ...

, and Hoyte van Hoytema. Alumnus

Krzysztof Kieślowski Krzysztof Kieślowski (, 27 June 1941 – 14 March 1996) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He is known internationally for ''Dekalog'' (1989), ''The Double Life of Veronique'' (1991), and the Three Colours trilogy, ''Three Colours'' ...

was nominated for an Oscar, but did not win. Both Polanski and Wajda won the

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

in 2002 IN, In or in may refer to: Dans * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independen ...

and

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

, respectively.

Directors

* Feliks Falk * Dariusz Gajewski * Wojciech Has * Kazimierz Karabasz * Dorota Kędzierzawska * Jan Kidawa-Błoński *

, nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

Golden Lion The Golden Lion () is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguished prizes. In 1970, a ...

winner * Jan Komasa, nominated for an

* Grzegorz Królikiewicz * Kazimierz Kutz *

Jan Łomnicki Jan Łomnicki (30 June 1929 – 18 December 2002) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. A graduate of the National Film School in Łódź. He directed more than thirty films between 1954 and 2000. His 1976 film ''To Save the City'' () ...

* Jan Machulski * Juliusz Machulski *

* Janusz Nasfeter *

Władysław Pasikowski Władysław Pasikowski (; born 14 June 1959 in Łódź, Poland) is a Polish film director and screenwriter. He made his debut film, Kroll, in 1991, which was honored with the Polish Film Festival prize for his debut and the Special Jury Prize. P ...

* Radosław Piwowarski *

Marek Piwowski Marek Andrzej Piwowski (; born 24 October 1935 in Warsaw) is a Polish film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his cult film ''Rejs (film), Rejs'' (1970). Filmography * ''Rejs (film), Rejs'' – 1970 * ''Psychodrama (film), Psychodram ...

, Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe and

winner *

Wojciech Kasperski Wojciech Kasperski (born April 25, 1981) is a Polish screenwriter, film director and film producer, producer. In 2006 he received the Grand Prix for ''The Seeds (film), The Seeds'' for Best Documentary at Kraków Film Festival, and went on to w ...

* Barbara Sass *

Jerzy Skolimowski Jerzy Skolimowski (; born 5 May 1938) is a Polish film director, screenwriter, dramatist, actor and painter. Beginning as a screenwriter for Andrzej Wajda's ''Innocent Sorcerers'' (1960), Skolimowski has made more than twenty films since his dire ...

winner and

Golden Bear The Golden Bear () is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival and is, along with the Palme d'Or and the Golden Lion, the most important international film festival award. The bear is the heraldic an ...

winner * Piotr Szulkin * Piotr Trzaskalski *

, Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Bear and

winner * Maciej Wojtyszko * Krzysztof Zanussi,

winner * Emily Young, BAFTA Award winner * Maria Sadowska * Urszula Urbaniak * Mostafa Derkaoui * Abdelkarim Derkaoui

Cinematographers

* Wit Dąbal * Paweł Edelman, nominated for an Academy Award and BAFTA Award *

Sławomir Idziak Sławomir Idziak (; born 25 January 1945) is a Polish cinematographer and director who has worked on over forty Polish and foreign films. He is especially known for his collaboration with director Krzysztof Kieślowski. In 2019, the American Soci ...

, nominated for an Academy Award * Edward Kłosiński * Jan Jakub Kolski * Krzysztof Ptak *

, Academy Award winner * Przemysław Skwirczyński * Piotr Sobociński, nominated for an Academy Award * Witold Sobociński *

Dariusz Wolski Dariusz Adam Wolski (born 7 May 1956 in Warsaw) is a Polish film and music video cinematographer. He is known for his work as the cinematographer on the Pirates of the Caribbean (film series), ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' film series, Alex Proya ...

, nominated for an Academy Award 2021 * Hubert Taczanowski *

Andrzej Bartkowiak Andrzej Bartkowiak, (born 6 March 1950) is a Polish people, Polish cinematographer and film director based in the United States. He became known in the 1980s for his partnership with director Sidney Lumet, shooting 11 of his films between 1981 ...

* Hoyte van Hoytema, Academy Award and BAFTA Award winner * Piotr Lenar * Łukasz Żal, nominated for two Academy Awards, winner of the ASC award

Actors

* Artur Barciś * Szymon Bobrowski * Barbara Brylska * Ireneusz Czop * Małgorzata Foremniak *

Janusz Gajos Janusz Gajos (; born 23 September 1939) is a Polish film, television and theatre actor as well as pedagogue and photographer. Professor of Theatre Arts and an Honorary Doctor of the National Film School in Łódź, he is considered one of the ...

* Tomasz Konieczny * Weronika Książkiewicz * Jerzy Matuszkiewicz (jazz musician) * Cezary Pazura * Beata Pozniak * Pola Raksa * Zbigniew Zamachowski

References

External links

*
Official website of the Film Production Department

Polish Internet Movie Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Film School In Lodz Educational institutions established in 1948 Drama schools in Poland 1948 establishments in Poland Culture in Łódź