Tips for trips: Lodz culturally
THE WALK OF FAME IN PIOTRKOWSKA STREET; THE FILM SCHOOL, WHICH HAS EDUCATED SUBSEQUENT GENERATIONS OF THE GREATEST CREATORS OF POLISH AND WORLD CINEMA SINCE OVER 60 YEARS; AND THE ONLY MUSEUM OF CINEMATOGRAPHY THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY... ARE JUST A FEW OF MANY REASONS TO DISCOVER THE FILM CAPITAL OF POLAND.
FILM SATURDAY
All this began in 1945, when the Feature Film Works (Wytwórnia Filmów Fabularnych) were established in 29 Łąkowa Street. During the following 50 years, the majority of Polish film productions was created here. Nowadays, the Film Works itself don’t exist, but their premises still serve for TV and filmmaking purposes and house such companies as Opus Film, National Film Archive (Filmoteka Narodowa) or Toya TV. A high point of each “Hollyłódź” sightseeing is the Museum of Cinematography, seated in the 19th century Karol Scheibler’s Palace. The photo-plasticon (a stereoscope viewer) operating here, will move you back in time - you will experience the magic of shows,
which amused our great-grandfathers. Just round the corner you will find the famous Film School (The Leon Schiller National High School of Film, TV and Theatre). Get photographed in its most famous part, that is... a staircase leading to the school cinema. Such great directors as Roman Polański, Krzysztof Kieślowski and Andrzej Wajda used to sit there in their student days.
Perhaps you prefer to explore the city, tracing Inspector Alex (“Komisarz Alex”)? Many shots for that TV series were filmed nearby, at Księży Młyn. For example, the
police station was arranged in the building at 30a Tymienieckiego St.
If you would like to discover the art of making animations (including “Peter and the Wolf”, winner of the Academy Award), or become a fairy-tale creator for a while,
visit the Se-ma-for Museum of Animation. No plans for the evening? Check the repertoire of Wytwórnia club housed in the former film studios, or Kinematograf cinema,
which promotes ambitious, little known films. Maybe you will have an opportunity to see “The Promised Land” – an excellent prelude to the next day.
Once planning your stay in Lodz in July, mark in your agenda Transatlantyk Festival, which gives you a chance to stay updated with film premiers from last months. In its
program you will find outstanding propositions from a world cinema.
FOUR CULTURE SUNDAY
The film by Andrzej Wajda, nominated for the Academy Award, tells about Poles, Jews and Germans creating together the „Promised Land”. However, one hundred years ago the city streets were filled with a multilingual crowd, whose traces have been covered with the time by now. The past is reminded by temples and cemeteries of different religions scattered troughout the city, and by Lodz of Four Cultures Festival.
Regardless of the season, it is a good idea to have a walk in Lodz’s cemeteries. The Jewish Cemetery covers over 100 acres, what makes it the second largest Jewish
necropolis in Europe. Poznański’s Mausoleum, situated there, is known as the World’s biggest Jewish tombstone. The Old Cemetery, half as large as the Jewish one, is a place of eternal rest for Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants. Here we can admire one of the biggest and, undoubtedly, the most beautiful tombstones in Europe – the neo-gothic Karol Scheibler’s Chapel.
Another part of the heritage of multinational Lodz is the cuisine. Make your Sunday dinner something extraordinary! Taste dishes of the four cuisines: German
schnitzel or ham hock, Russian pancakes (bliny) with caviar, Jewish tzimmes or goose pipkes, or maybe a traditional Polish broth (rosół) and pork chop
(schabowy)... For the dessert, take something spiritual, like a concert in the neo-romanesque St Matthew’s protestant church, renowned for its excellent
acoustics. Moreover, if you’ve found yourself in Lodz during the Lodz of Four Cultures Festival – you will surely find something for you in its programme!
Do you want to deepen your knowledge about cultures that contributed largely to the Lodz development? Come and listen to the lecture in the Dialogue Center that promotes multicultural and multiethnic heritage of our city.
