The Leon Schiller National Higher School of Film, Television and Theatre in Lodz was founded just after the WWII. From the very beginning, it was the fulfilment of the filmmakers' dream of an institution that would perform educational functions and at the same time be the centre of film life in Poland.
The school's most famous graduates include some of Poland's greatest film directors: Roman Polański, Andrzej Wajda and Krzysztof Kieślowski. The school - one of an elite group of 15 top film schools from around the world - is based in the former palace of Oskar Kon, a Lodz industrialist and self-made man. The historic building, which now houses the school's rectorate, features the famous staircase, captured in thousands of photographs, where future stars of directing, camerawork and acting used to sit. The former owner of the palace was Oskar Kon, one of Lodz's most colourful and clever industrialists. It is surprising that the story of his fortune, his brilliant financial moves and the turbulent fate of the Kon family has never been filmed.
