Tour Overview
Feel the air of Hollywood in Lodz - its Polish sister city and provider of outstandingly talented filmmakers since 1948. Sightsee Leon Schiller Lodz Film School, where only tops-of-the-tops stand a chance to enroll. Discover the fascinating collections of Museum of Cinematography and the Oscar-awarded Se-ma-for Film Studio, with a well-established brand in the world of animation. Walk down Piotrkowska street to check what famous names placed on the stars of "Lodz Walk of Fame" you recognise.
Lodz had long been perceived as
an industrial city, particularly with regard to the textile industry. However,
the establishment of one institution in 1948 changed it all. This is when
Leon Schiller National Higher School of Film was set up - in the reality of rigid communism, the place provided a haven for those sensitive artists who wanted to have no limits set to their imagination. Lodz itself, with its
abandoned factories of red brick,
once-impressive merchant and manufacturers' palaces that had become a bit run down by the time and countless cafes at the sides of
Piotrkowska street, provided highly inspiring for the students of Lodz Film School. As a result, the film industry started thriving all around the place,
transforming Lodz into a highly important place on the map of international cinema. Throughout your tour, you will be taken to the most remarkable places for the cinematic heritage of this second-largest city of Central Poland, located just within an 1,5-hour ride from
Warsaw. The tour will last about 5 hours, letting you sightsee the spots that are essential for the fame of "Holly Lodz" as
the real "cinema city" of Poland.
Lodz Film School has its headquarters in the cosy
Oskar Kon Palace. Three of its notable alumni had the honour of
being awarded with the American Academy Awards, all of them as directors –
Roman Polanski,
Andrzej Wajda and
Zbigniew Rybczynski, with
Krzysztof Kieslowski as a nominee to one. Andrzej Wajda
paid his tribute to the city that elevated his talent into genius by shooting
the best film about Lodz there is –
"The Promised Land", based on
a novel by Nobel Prize-Awarded Wladyslaw Reymont. Lodz Film School is currently associated with skilled cinematographers, with three more of its more recent alumni
having their Oscar nominations obtained. This is why Lodz used to host
the most important festival for the art of cinematography ("Camerimage") between 2000 and 2009. Throughout this part of the trip, you will be exposed to anecdotes of the vivid film-making cirlces and sightsee where the students of Lodz Film School used to discuss their future projects.
A visit to
the Museum of Cinematography will be a fun and inspiring part of the tour. The museum has been operating in
the sumptuously fitted Karol Scheibler's ("the Cotton King") Palace since 1986 and it provides
a jaw-dropping collection of over 50,000 items,
12,000 cinema posters included.
Se-ma-for Film Studio, now housing
the Museum of Fairly Tale and Animation, was founded in 1947. Up to now, it has managed to make 1,400 animated films and
receive the Academy Award twice (in 1980 and 2008), shaping the childhood of many children with such characters as
Mis Uszatek. During your trip, it will also prove worthwile to drop in to
"Toya Studios", taking advantage of the many cultural and film-related events they host. A stroll taken down Piotrkowska street, the most magical place of Lodz with a truly big-city feel, is where you will come across
a strip of sidewalk covered with star-shaped plaques. The names you will see there belong to
the foremost personalities of Polish cinematic art. Except the directors and cinematographers named above, you will see the stars devoted to iconic
Pola Negri,
Agnieszka Holland,
Andrzej Munk or
Allan Starski, among others.
Interested in experiencing the splendor of cinematic world in Holly Lodz? Contact us to have a tour to the capital of Polish cinema arranged!
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