Carte blanche to Poland’s National Film School of Łódź

Roman Polanski on the steps of the school in 1981

The remarkable history of Poland’s National Film School of Łódź, in Polish PWSFTViT *, founded just after World War 2, began 70 years ago, on March 8, 1948. The fifth oldest film school in the world, it trains directors, producers, cinematographers, screenwriters, editors, and actors. It is considered one of the top 10 film schools in the world.

Łódź, an industrial city known for manufacturing cotton and mechanical things, grew exponentially in population in the 19th century, moving from the size of a village to the 3rd largest city in Poland. Less bombarded than Warsaw, it was made the temporary capital of Poland during the first ten years of rebuilding that took place after World War 2.

For this retrospective, two programmes will alternate: one will be the film school works of the great Polish filmmakers, Andrzej Wajda (1953), Roman Polański (1958), Jerzy Skolimowski (1961), Krzysztof Kieślowski (1966-67), Zbigniew Rybczyński (1972); each was a rebel from the start of their schooling, and all of them experimented with narrative and aesthetic form. Each made films under extreme financial constraints. The other programme will feature more recent works, like those of Magnus von Horn (2008) and Klara Kochańska (2015). Their works contain a social element while bringing a meticulous care for aesthetics and image quality. The Łódź School is the last remaining school where learning begins by mastering work on celluloid. It is, after all, the roots of cinema, and such a great choice to teach this – it has become the school’s signature.

The two programs dive into more than 60 years of cinema (1953-2016), through 15 films: documentaries, experimental films, narratives, and animation. 13 of them will be Clermont-Ferrand premiers.  The programs were selected especially for audiences, and are meant to be enjoyed once or many times…

A presentation of the  Łódź School will be led by Marcin Malatyński, the director of the school’s international relations, on Monday, February 5, 2018 at 10am at the Ecole supérieure d’art Clermont Métropole.

* Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Filmowa, Telewizyjna i Teatralna im. Leona Schillera w Łodzi