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First impressions of the film school in Łódź

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Łódź
Andrzej Wajda Film-maker
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Łódź była odrażającym dla mnie miastem, nie do przyjęcia zupełnie. Co prawda my nie mieliśmy nic wspólnego z Łodzią, dlatego że budynek Szkoły Filmowej był rezydencją dawnego... jednego z przemysłowców łódzkich, ogrodzony murem. Myśmy tam mieszkali, stołowaliśmy się i uczyliśmy. Tak że wychodzenie stamtąd nie było potrzebne. No i też mało żeśmy wychodzili rzeczywiście. I moje zetknięcie z Łodzią prawdziwe dopiero nastapiło w dobrych 20 albo więcej lat później, kiedy robiłem Ziemię obiecaną. To było moje spotkanie pierwsze z Łodzią. A tutaj po Krakowie, w Łodzi nic nie było. W Łodzi było tylko muzeum. To muzeum było ciekawe, dlatego że mogliśmy zobaczyć tam jeszcze wtedy nie wyniesione prace Strzemińskiego i tę galerię, którą on jeszcze przed wojną zmontował, kilka dawnych obrazów. No, ale to już było wszystko, no może jeszcze teatr Dejmka.

I found Łódź to be a horrible city, totally unappealing. Although actually, we didn't really have anything to do with Łódź because the building in which the film school was housed was the former residence of one of Łódź's industrialists and was walled off. We lived there, ate there and had our classes there, so there was no need to leave that building and rarely did so. My contact with the real Łódź took place a good 20 years or more later when I made The Promised Land. That was my first real meeting with Łódź. Here, after Kraków, there was nothing. There was only a museum in Łódź which was interesting because we were able to see works there by Strzemiński before they were removed and the gallery which he'd set up there before the war, and a few old paintings. And that was it, except perhaps for Dejmek's theatre.

Polish film director Andrzej Wajda (1926-2016) was a towering presence in Polish cinema for six decades. His films, showing the horror of the German occupation of Poland, won awards at Cannes and established his reputation as both story-teller and commentator on Poland's turbulent history. As well as his impressive career in TV and film, he also served on the national Senate from 1989-91.

Listeners: Jacek Petrycki

Cinematographer Jacek Petrycki was born in Poznań, Poland in 1948. He has worked extensively in Poland and throughout the world. His credits include, for Agniezka Holland, Provincial Actors (1979), Europe, Europe (1990), Shot in the Heart (2001) and Julie Walking Home (2002), for Krysztof Kieslowski numerous short films including Camera Buff (1980) and No End (1985). Other credits include Journey to the Sun (1998), directed by Jesim Ustaoglu, which won the Golden Camera 300 award at the International Film Camera Festival, Shooters (2000) and The Valley (1999), both directed by Dan Reed, Unforgiving (1993) and Betrayed (1995) by Clive Gordon both of which won the BAFTA for best factual photography. Jacek Petrycki is also a teacher and a filmmaker.

Tags: The Promised Land, Kraków, Łódź

Duration: 1 minute, 16 seconds

Date story recorded: August 2003

Date story went live: 24 January 2008