| National Film School in Łódź | |
| Native Name: | Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Filmowa, Telewizyjna i Teatralna im. Leona Schillera |
| Established: | 8 March 1948 |
| Students: | ca. 1000 |
| Campus: | Urban |
| Address: | ul.Targowa 61, 90-323 |
The Leon Schiller Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School in Łódź (Polish: Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Filmowa, Telewizyjna i Teatralna im. Leona Schillera w Łodzi), commonly known as Łódź Film School is a Polish academy for future actors, directors, photographers, camera operators and television staff. It was founded on 8 March 1948 in Łódź (Lodz).
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. 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).[1]
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, Janusz Morgenstern, Andrzej Wajda, and Kazimierz Kutz. In 1954, they were joined by Roman Polanski.[2]
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, Jerzy Toeplitz, added to its value. For instance, two of the students of the university (Jerzy Matuszkiewicz and Witold Sobociński) became the first jazz musicians in Poland after World War II to be allowed by the authorities to organize a concert. Kirk Douglas visited the school in 1966. His visit was documented in the self-titled documentary Kirk Douglasy.[3]
After the events of March 1968, the period of liberty came to an end. Toeplitz was fired, as were most of the tutors.[4] However, with the advent of Edward Gierek and his regime, the school once again started to bloom.
The School has four Oscar-winning alumni: Roman Polanski, Andrzej Wajda, Zbigniew Rybczyński, and Hoyte van Hoytema. Additionally, alumnus Krzysztof Kieślowski was nominated for an Oscar, but did not win. Both Polanski and Wajda won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2002 and 1981, respectively.
The Polish Internet Movie Database (Polish: Internetowa Baza Filmu Polskiego) has been maintained by the school since 1998.[5]