CEEA Talks: The Łódź Film Commission: “This Place Still Breathes Animation History”
When you say Łódź, you say animation; the region is steeped in cinema history and precious memories of the heyday of Polish animation. The Łódź Film Commission strives to keep this legacy alive, for example, by hosting the CEEA Workshop. As a partner in CEEA’s flagship project, they shed light on this collaboration, on their efforts to stimulate the local animation industry, and on the role of regional film commissions in creating a vibrant film landscape.
Paulina Pajor (Head of the Łódź Film Commission): Poland currently has 11 regional film funds. In 2007, the Łódź Film Fund was established; two years later, the Łódź Film Commission was created – the first of its kind – to implement the city’s film policy. The operational modus is more or less the same in every region; we all work from the same philosophy. However, the budget composition can vary. In Łódź, the money (approx. €350,000 in 2025) comes from the city council, but can be spent in the entire region.
Besides managing the funds, you also facilitate production.
Oliwia Nadarzycka: For the Film Commission, I maintain a database of locations and companies. I assist producers in their search for locations in and around Łódź, and the Commission helps them obtain permits, negotiate with property owners, and make contact with the municipality, police, road department, local media, etc. We offer professional support to all types of audiovisual production, and we have a designated person for animated films.
Paulina Szewczyk: That’s me. As a former professional puppet animator, within the Commission, I represent the voice of the animation industry.
How is the production support organised?
Pajor: Every year, we announce a call for applications for the Łódź Film Fund. Since 2007, the fund has supported 50 animations, one more than live-action films and slightly more than documentaries. That large number of co-financed animations is thanks to the significant presence of animation studios, visual artists, and post-production companies in our region. Among those films were titles such as KILL IT AND LEAVE THIS TOWN (by Mariusz Wilczyński), POTATOES (by Marcin Podolec), LOLA AND THE SOUND OF PIANO (by Augusto Zanovello), or THE POOL OR DEATH OF A GOLDFISH (by Daria Kopiec).
The Commission has the budget and the expertise… and a spectacular venue!
Nadarzycka: EC1 – City of Culture is a former power station that has been operational for almost 100 years. Seventeen years ago, the renovation started; a huge project with a huge budget. The result is impressive; this site has received numerous national and European renovation awards. It includes centers for science and technology, for comics and interactive narration, and for film culture with a film theatre, exhibitions about Polish cinema, an educational department, and then there’s us, the Łódź Film Commission.
You have something else that many envy: an impressive history, with Łódź proudly bearing the reputation as the capital of Polish cinema.
Szewczyk: And of Polish animation! Our special attention to animation is part of the Łódź Film Commission’s profile, and makes us stand out. Our animation heritage still runs through our policy, more than in any other regional fund. Next to this wonderful building, the Se-Ma-For Studio used to be located, the most famous Polish studio from the 60s on. This place still breathes ‘animation history’.
Isn’t that the studio where you worked?
Szewczyk: I did, almost 15 years ago. I worked there for three years on a children’s series, FLAPPER AND FRIENDS, about a hare who lives with his friends in the forest. The first episodes were broadcast in 2013.
Nadarzycka: In 1983, Se-Ma-For made the first animated Polish short to win an Oscar. TANGO (by Zbigniew Rybczyński) is still considered a masterpiece of experimental animation. Years later, in 2008, Poland won another Oscar, for PETER AND THE WOLF by Suzie Templeton, produced in a new studio, again under the name Semafor.
It is not only thanks to Se-Ma-For that the city still rings a bell with everyone involved in animation. The name ‘Łódź’ is almost a brand in itself.
Nadarzycka: After WW II, when all the infrastructure in Warsaw was destroyed, we in Łódź were the first ones to reopen the animation studios. We had the only puppet animation studios in the country, which became our benchmark.
Szewczyk: In the sixties, there was a special course dedicated to puppet animation in the
High School for Fine Arts. Everyone who graduated from this class found a job at Se-Ma-For, as the studio was growing fast. It was all about handicraft: making puppets and costumes, animating them, creating the scenography, or drawing cartoons.
It’s not just about animation. Łódź has a reputation as a film city tout court. How do you try to spread that reputation?
Szewczyk: One of our projects is the Łódź UNESCO City of Film Trail, which includes three city tours that take you to the most representative locations featured in Polish cinema.
Nevertheless, among the Polish studios presenting their work during the CEEA meeting, not a single one was located in Łódź. What is the current situation with studios in the city?
Szewczyk: We have a few, not the biggest, but the five or six companies located here, like Yellow Tapir Films and Likaon, deliver fantastic work. Not only do they produce great films, but as co-producers, they offer their services to other studios. Yellow Tapir Films, for example, produced animated sequences for feature films and documentaries, for producers with whom a strong partnership is maintained.
I was surprised to see how many of these animation projects were still addressing a children’s audience.
Nadarzycka: That approach is rooted in Polish history. During the socialist period, around 30% of our productions were targeting adults; all the others were for children. We’re still producing more commercial products for children, and we have a particularly strong tradition of animated series. Of course, there is a production for adult audiences at the animation schools. Those fantastic graduation films, unfortunately, can only be seen in festivals or on specialised channels. Schools have their YouTube channel, and we have platforms like 35 MM, where you can watch archive material from the world of animation.
Why did CEEA come to Łódź with their workshop?
Pajor: The commission is a member of the SPPA – Polish Animation Producers Association. We know people like Wojciech Leszczyński and Marcin Kotyla, and we supported their work. Since we have the space available, it feels only natural to connect with the broader industry.
More than through the studios, the city gained its reputation as ‘number one in Polish animation (and beyond)’ primarily through the film schools. As a Film Commission, how are you connected with these institutions?
Szewczyk: There are a few events, like hosting this CEEA Workshop, that bring us closer together, but in general, the contact is limited.
Nadarzycka: We have two institutions, the Łódź Film School and the Academy of Fine Arts, and the Commission organises its own training, for instance, the Academy of Sustainable Audiovisual Production, which includes workshops, podcasts, and panel discussions.
Greek animators complain that there is no place in Greece where you can study animation. Artists from Georgia complain that there is no place in Georgia where you can study animation. You have two excellent schools, and you’re still not satisfied!
Pajor: We should strive for better cooperation! Our schools have a prestigious reputation, the education is fantastic, but before we can speak of a vibrant animation landscape, those students would need to be able to move on to the local industry, and there is still too little of that. It’s among our ambitions to create more opportunities for them.
The CEEA Workshop could be one of such opportunities!
Pajor: I wouldn’t say no to a long-term cooperation. We hosted the event in 2020, and we are open to renewing this partnership. What CEEA does is super useful. It was encouraging to see such a wide range of projects being pitched here.
But it wasn’t about puppet animation!
Szewczyk: Every type of animation is expensive, but for puppet animation, huge budgets are required. Creating the puppets is already extremely costly. But attending this pitch was very inspiring. I love to sit back and listen to the authors; it feels like a personal encounter. Being invited to someone’s memories creates a moment of intimacy.
Interview conducted by Gert Hermans for CEE Animation.
