Łódź is a city of special and rare climate. Palace parlors, beautiful sacral interiors, concert and theatre halls, and also non-commonplace examples of industrial architecture provide an excellent environment for many interesting cultural events of international standing. The Łódź audience shows much enthusiasm for all initiatives promoting art and therefore is an active participant of numerous kinds of festivals exploring various themes, which are held in Łódź throughout the whole year.
Following the City's established film tradition events devoted to the 10th Muse are not scarce. Below you will find brief descriptions of most important film art festivals held in Łódź beginning from small-audience events presenting works going beyond the cinema mainstream to the largest ones that are held on a grand scale, accompanied by numerous fringe events during which world-famous movie stars make their appearance
PLUS CAMERIMAGE Międzynarodowy Festiwal Sztuki Autorów Zdjęć Filmowych
 (PLUS CAMERIMAGE International Festival of the Art of Cinematography)
Held: in November – December
Type of the event: cyclical
Organizer: Tumult Foundation
PLUS CAMERIMAGE International Festival of the Art of Cinematography is held every year in Łódź. The Festival focuses on the motion picture as the visual art created by a camera operator as well as by editor, set designer, director and actor, who all contribute to the film visual value. It is the only festival in the world featuring the motion picture-related issues exhaustively, and is certainly the largest international film festival in Poland.
Promotion of visual culture through the film requires that the festival organizers have to think about extending the Festival program by such aspects as technology and techniques used in modern cinematography (by offering workshops and presentations during the Plus Camerimage events), filmmaking legislation and laws (by offering a forum for panel discussions involving filmmakers, lawyers and copyright law specialists), and also such issues as the cooperation between particular members of the filmmaking crew (by offering meetings, seminars and press conferences) and their impact on the film final shape.
Among the Festival guests there are usually eminent directors as well as camera operators, actors and film producers from all over the world. The Festival celebrity guests were David Lynch, Oliver Stone, Ed Harris, Willem Dafoe and Roman Polański. Not only do movie stars come to Łódź but also filmmakers, students of film schools, journalists and other cinema fans to participate in an annual film festival.
Like the festival in Cannes, Venice or Berlin the Łódź Festival also has its own awards. Golden, Silver and Bronze Frogs awarded in the feature films competition, Golden, Silver and Bronze Tadpoles awarded in the student films competition, and also lifetime achievement award given every year.
In addition to the Main Competition the Festival comprises Student Films Competition, Polish Films Competition, Documentary Films Competition, film workshops, special screenings, premieres, various cinema reviews and retrospectives, meetings and fringe events such as exhibitions or concerts. The Festival screenings showcase both commercial productions as well as low-budget or independent ones that are made with use of various film techniques.
In 2007 Plus Camerimage was among most important 50 film festivals listed by the Hollywood VARIETY film industry journal.
www.pluscamerimage.pl
Explorers Festival
 Held: in November, a cyclical event
Organizer: Łódzki Klub Trekkingowy [The Łódź Trekking Club]
The Explorers Festival has been held in Łódź since 1999. The Festival features multimedia presentations of mountaineering, exploration, sport, film and adventure individuals from all over the world, contests, competitions and exhibitions. Among the Festival guests there were: Reinhold Messner, Bertrand Piccard, Sir Christian Bonington, Norman Kent, Borge Ousland, Erich von Däniken, and Krzysztof Zanussi.
The Festival's important part is its film section:
The Explorers Festival is one of the most important festivals worldwide. It attracts crowds of young people who occupy the festival facilities to see eminent guests and feel the Festival's special atmosphere.
www.explorersfestival.pl
Festiwal Kina Niezależnego „Off Jak Gorąco”
(Independent Movie Festival "Off How Hot")
Held: in MayType of the event: cyclical
Organizers: Charlie Movie Theater and the "Łódź Movie City" Association
The Independent Movie Festival "Off How Hot" is a national event with its participants representing independent cinema, debutants and fans of the cinema, which is in the background of the Polish cinema mainstream. The jury of the festival consists of those film artists who once represented the independent movie that proved a success at Polish Festivals.
The Festival features a competition for the best independent film with retrospectives, feature film reviews, meetings with filmmakers and film workshops.
Young artists compete for an award in two categories:
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Best independent film (film and artistic school students and graduates, amateurs, independent film groups, etc.)
- Best school film (junior, senior high-school and high-school students)
Also the festival audience gives its own award.
Festiwal Mediów w Łodzi „Człowiek w Zagrożeniu”
 (Media Festival in Łódź "Man Under Threat")
Held: in November
Type of the event: cyclical
Organizer: Museum of Cinematography
The nationwide Media Festival "Man Under Threat" features a review of nationwide documentary productions speaking about all widely understood individual and social threats to the man's well-being.
The Festival features movies, television films, video films– both professional and amateur productions– as well as radio programs. Materials of any lengths can be submitted.In addition to the main award, i.e. "White Cobra" statuette together with its accompanying Award of the Łódź City Mayor, several other awards are given to the Festival participants.
Each review is accompanied by off-screenings (these are most often works by foreign filmmakers from the neighboring countries), photography or art exhibitions, sessions, meetings with authors and film panel discussions.
www.festiwalmediow.art.pl
Festiwal Muzyki Filmowej
 (Film Music Festival)
Held: at the turn of May and June
Type of the event: cyclical
Organizer: Stowarzyszenie Miłośników off Kultury „SMoK” and Muzeum Kinematografii ["SMok" Off-Culture Lovers Association and Museum of Cinematography]
The idea for the festival promoting Polish composers of film music originated in Łódź in 1996. An intention to focus on and present the greatest film music composers in one single place was the underlying assumption of the festival program. Each festival edition is dedicated to one composer. Previous editions of the Film Music Festival were dedicated to the following composers: Wojciech Kilar, Krzysztof Komeda Trzciński, Michał Lorenc, Zygmunt Konieczny, Krzesimir Dębski, Andrzej Korzyński, Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz, Henryk Wars, Henryk Kuźniak, Andrzej Kurylewicz and Jerzy „Duduś” Matuszkiewicz.12th Film Music Festival will be dedicated to Jerzy Satanowski.
The Festival also draws on great film traditions of Łódź and promotes Łódź as a movie city.
In commemoration of the Festival idea originator, who died tragically, the Prize named after Tomasz Gaduła-Zawratyński is given to a journalist promoting the film and film music. Among the laureates of the prize are: Grażyna Torbicka, Alicja Helman, Maria Szabłowska, Stanisław Janicki, Paweł Sztompke, Marek Karewicz.
www.kinomuzeum.pl/index.php?action=fe2
Festiwal Twórców POWIĘKSZENIE
(Festival of Artists MAGNIFICATION)
Held: in October
Type of the event: cyclical
Organizer: Charlie Movie Theater and the "Łódź Movie City" Association
MAGNIFICATION is the event showcasing the Artist of unique personality with the work of art playing a certain social role. MAGNIFICATION Festival is the Meeting with an Artistic Personality, a return to the Renaissance roots of the role adopted by the master, and is to present contemporary artists who are consistent in following their authorship programs. It is also supposed to show young artists and promote debutants. Therefore the Festival is the event "magnifying" important events in Art to present them to a wider public.
Its previous editions featured Zdzisław Beksiński, Zbigniew Rybczyński, Ryszard Horowitz, Kazik Staszewski, Lech Majewski, Cezary Bodzianowski, Piotr Dumała, Andrzej Czeczot, Mariusz Wilczyński, Zbigniew Libera, Leszek Mądzik, Artistic Group "Łódź Kaliska". Since 2002 the Festival has had its own award of GOLDEN STEEL CAP SHOE. It is the Charlie Cinema's award given to independent filmmakers who persistently oppose fashions and trends dominating in popular culture, artists opting for freedom, artists mocking and challenging myths and stereotypes established in the mass imagination of Polish people.
MEDIATRAVEL Festiwal Cywilizacji i Twórczości Audiowizualnej
 (Festival of Civilisation and Audiovisual Creativity)
Held: at the beginning of April
Type of the event: cyclical
Organizer: ARKADIA Foundation, PROCINEMA Association
MEDIATRAVEL Festival is mainly addressed to people related to media and audiovisual arts (Film, Radio, Photography, and Internet) for the presentation of their works involving social, travelling, and ethnic and vice themes.
MEDIATRAVEL CINEMA (Lodz Cinema Document), which is a separate event within the Festival, is a competition of documentary films made by both professional and amateur filmmakers who extensively explore themes of Discovering the World in their productions. Numerous exhibitions of photography, presentations, concerts as well as radio, photography and film (direction) workshops are the Festival fringe events.
www.mediatravel.pl
Międzynarodowy Festiwal Filmów Przyrodniczych im. Włodzimierza Puchalskiego
(The Włodzimierz Puchalski International Festival of Nature Films)
Held: in September every 2 years (its 13th edition will be held on 16-19/09/2009)
Type of the event: cyclical
Organizer: Educational Film and Program Production, the Łódź Community Center, "Film – Nature – Culture" Association, the "Łódź Movie City" Association, The Wł. Puchalski Group of High Schools No 7 in Łódź.
The Festival's objective is to popularize national and international achievements of nature films, make an assessment of the nature film condition and discuss prospects of its development, also to discuss how to make use of nature films in education of young people as well as to distinguish most valuable examples of films and TV programs on nature.
Short and medium-length films participate in the Festival and compete for the following awards:
1) Main Grand Prix Award named after Wł. Puchalski for the best film of the Festival, which is a statuette and prize money.
2) Special Awards (including photographs by Janusz Czecz, among other) for the film of special educational values, also for a journalistic-reporting type of nature film and for the film best complying with the Festival's themes.
The Festival is a multi-stream event with such fringe events as exhibitions of photographs and art, also ecologic education workshops for children and young people.
www.wfo.com.pl/start.php
Międzynarodowy Festiwal Szkół Filmowych i Telewizyjnych "Mediaschool"
("Mediaschool" International Festival of Film and Television Schools)
Held: in October
Type of the event: cyclical
Organizer: Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Filmowa, Telewizyjna i Teatralna im. L. Schillera [The L. Schiller National Higher School of Film, Television and Theatre]
Grand Prix is the Festival's main award. However, students may compete for being awarded the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Award as well Discovery Network Award in the competition of short documentaries. Every year applications from students representing 30 film schools in various countries are submitted to participate in the festival. The films admitted to screenings have high humanistic values.
The Festival features screenings of films made by the members of Independent Filmmaker Federation. The Festival also presents retrospective short films made by the students of the State Higher School of Film, Television and Theatre in Łódź.
www.filmschool.lodz.pl/pages/view/269-festiwal-mediaschool
Międzynarodowy Festiwal Animacji ReAnimacja
(International Animated Film Festival ReAnimacja)
Held: in April
Type of the event: cyclical
Organizer: KinoForma Foundation, Charlie Cinema is its coorganizer.
The Festival's objective is to feature both amateur and professional filmmaking in one place and at the same time, also to describe the interested viewers a variety of animation genres and forms, and provide filmmakers and professional film artists with an opportunity for meeting and exchanging experiences.
International Animated Film Festival ReAnimacja is addressed to both professionals and students of film schools as well as to all movie fans and those who have not had any knowledge about the variety of this artistic form. The Festival has become quite well-known in the world. Since putting itself forward as a candidate for the member of prestigious International Animated Film Society ASIFA, the Festival has attracted attention of many filmmakers and producers worldwide.
The Festival comprises a competition for the best animated film with its invitation extended to students of Polish and foreign schools as well as amateurs. The Festival fringe events stage off-competition screenings and workshops for students of art schools.
www.reanimacjafestival.com
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