Just like Hollywood in the United States, Lodz in Poland has been the destination of all those who wish to find their career in the cinema. The Lodz Film School has honed the talents of the most outstanding artists of Polish and world cinema, whereas their greatest works have been created at the Feature Films Studio, Educational Films Studio, and Small Forms Studio Se-ma-for. Most prominent actors and world-class cameramen have worked on film sets here. Lodz is also where the first cinema in Poland was opened. And it was also here where the Museum of Cinematography was created, boasting a vast collection of film exhibits. Today Lodz witnesses the emergence of the National Center for Film Culture which is an exceptional institution the purpose of which is to popularize audiovisual culture, knowledge of film technologies, and the history of film. The city also has dedicated Łódź Film Fund, whereas dozens of bigger and smaller film postproduction studios release feature films, documentaries, animations, and commercials. Lodz has also become the set for over 250 films and TV series, starring not only as itself, but as various other cities of the world, for example, Warsaw, Gdańsk, Munich, or Istanbul.
On 31 October 2017 the General Director of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, announced the list of the cities that were added to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Lodz was on it obtaining the title of the UNESCO City of Film. Lodz made attempts to be admitted to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network since 2016. The National Center for Film Culture was responsible for coordinating the efforts related to the application. Lodz’s application was supported by the City Council, Polish Committee for UNESCO, film and artistic circles in the country and outside its borders, as well as the representatives of other creative cities. Currently, there are 13 Cities of Film in the world.
