Among the guests welcomed by the Rector at the beginning of the inauguration were, among others: MP Iwona Śledzińska-Katarasińska, MP Małgorzata Niemczyk, Vice President of the City of Łódź Krzysztof Piątkowski, Director of EC1 "Lodz City of Culture" Błażej Moder, Director of the Music Theatre, Grażyna Posmykiewicz, Rectors of Lodz universities and Rector of Warsaw Theatre Academy, Wojciech Malajkat.

The Rector recalled and paid respects to those who left us last year: Prof. Jerzy Wójcik, Prof. Witold Sobociński, Kazimierz Kutz, Prof. Wiesław Zdort, Prof. Loretta Cichowicz, Prof. Zygmunt Machwitz, Prof. Ireneusz Pierzgalski and Prof. Wiktor Jędrzejec. He emphasized how painful a loss it has been for our entire community. A gap that cannot be replaced by anyone or anything.

It was the 8th and the last inaugural speech of the current Rector of the Lodz Film School, Prof. Mariusz Grzegorzek, which is why we are presenting below extensive fragments from it.

The Rector's full speech is available as a video on the YouTube channel of the Lodz Film School.  

‘This is my eighth and last inauguration as Rector and my last inaugural speech. On the one hand, this is relief, and on the other, a cause of great anxiety. Today, I would like to address my words especially to students who are about to start their studies. Each year, I have the same thoughts: What’s happening in your hearts and minds? What are you running away from? What are you running after? What are your expectations? Do I, as your teacher, have access to your world, to your beliefs, ambitions and fears? I am not sure either what it means for you today to "get to the Lodz Film School". This is how the Rector, Prof. Mariusz Grzegorzek began his speech.

Then, he recalled his time at the school, his expectations, dreams, emotions, euphoria and fears.

‘This place has always been an extremely important element of my life, which is why I stand here today in this very strange outfit in which I feel awkward. I am not sure if this youthful state of being inspired which I described is even possible now; what "young people wanting to create" means today, what price is to be paid for it today and what can be got in return? Fear. I can't answer this question. The world of the film is confused and tormented’, continued the Rector.

‘Filmmakers fight, lose, win, fight again - most often they fight for money. Someone said that the film is the most unfortunate field of art, abandoned by the gods, because it is associated with spending large sums of money. When a painter or poet, who can hardly make a living, finds out how much a simple, contemporary film costs - today it is about PLN 3 million - disgusted by it he stops going to the cinema. Access to the treasury is guarded by many demons: pitchings, committees, experts, festivals, individual, ingratiating begging attempts in important offices, where nothing important happens anyway, thousands of bravado hints on the side, “Good Advice” Uncles and Aunts feverishly buzz around us, and on top of that producers, casting directors, chairmen, culture magnates, politicians who often don't go to the cinema or the theatre, and finally older colleagues who succeeded or failed, but always know better how to do it.’

‘We sit at home and obsessively expose sore brains to alpha, beta, and gamma rays from phones and tablets. Everyone who tries to shoot something in this country, after a year of effort looks as if he has left a lunatic asylum. Gray-faced, with dead or burning eyes, wanting to go somewhere, or having just returned, is unable to concentrate on the “here and now”. Making films and practicing art is difficult and debilitating, and yet we are flooded by an ocean of moving pictures. Premieres in cinemas compete with one another like barbaric tribes. Hardly anything lasts on the screen for more than a week, it has not yet been born and has already died quietly. Netflix, Amazon, HBOgo, Canal plus, Polsat, TVP, galactic piracy. TV serials, serials, serials. A new serial, an amazing serial, the best serial, a breakthrough serial, a relaxing serial, a silly serial, no wonder - when you come back home from a corporation torment, you need an easy entertainment.’

‘The condition of the national film is mediocre, and usually even worse. Tepid-warm, boring, unfresh. You are neither happy nor fearful. Still the same trends: high artistry upon the Vistula, or soppy stories for retired women, or pseudo-hardcore for a football hooligan who snort washing powder in a court-yard, and also "Poland gets up from its knees". On the screen, the same faces, still the same faces, because people like the same faces.’

Hope? Yes!

‘Why these tragic tones, why did I dribble like that, why scare children separated from mothers and fathers? Because in my opinion, there is hope. Something is slowly breaking through and a new generation is appearing on the horizon. The spiritual transformation wipes sleepy eyes, a generation emerges not as demanding as their ten year older colleagues, who were totally arrogant, lost, abandoned by the Gods. A more focused generation, smarter about the socio-political experience of recent years.’

‘We must be able to be together, talk wisely, be able to communicate, and at the beginning of the path there are always difficult and delicate messages. We must be able to take responsibility for ourselves, eliminate weaknesses and cultivate strengths. You must become a small harmonious micro model of the world and society to create a good film, a better life, a better Poland, a better world. Just like in a microscopic image of the smallest cells or the structure of the atom, which is a faithful reflection and contains in itself the same organizational code as the planets and galaxies seen from a space station. Be strong, believe in yourselves firmly but wisely. This is the only compass that will lead you through the world.

Remember that it is only art that flows from the real self that will be bread for the tormented spirit, it will feed me, you and the world. The rest are chewing gum, artificially coloured, sweetened, and emulsified. Finally, it causes depression, apathy, obesity and anaemia.’ ‘Remember that this school is a school of life. The meaning of your stay here depends equally on us and you. This School has many advantages and even more disadvantages, but it is undoubtedly a place where you can develop and change, first yourself, then us, more and more widely.’

‘Who says you can't make a film without money? A film that has great impact? You need talent, audacity, self-confidence, love for others and leadership skills, the real ones, heroic, not the shady and sad ones that politicians and capitalists serve us up on a daily basis, squeezing us into a cage of humiliated vegetation, taking away the will to live and faith in basic values. It is your time! Change the world! You are the last generation that can heal something, restore faith in the power of spirituality, including art and find a path towards freedom, not only a spiritual one, but a material one which follows, or maybe precede it.’

The Rector ended his speech with a quote from the Orthodox prophet, Seraphim of Sarov, found, as he joked, on Facebook.

‘Drink where the horse is drinking. A horse will not drink bad water. Make your bed where the cat is lying down. Eat the fruit that the worm eats. Pick the mushrooms on which flies sit. Plant a tree where the mole makes his tunnels. Build your home where a viper basks. Dig wells where birds nest in the heat. Go to bed and get up with the chickens, and the golden grain of the day will be yours. Eat more greens and you will have strong legs and a persistent heart, like an animal. Swim more often and you'll feel on land like a fish in the water. Look at the sky more often than at your feet and your thoughts will be clear and light. Be silent more often than talk and your soul will be silent and your spirit will be peaceful and calm.’

‘These instructions apply to all of us, we need to redo them to get a badge of a normal person which is very difficult to get. Get to work, let good spirits lead you!’

The inauguration ended with the screening of the documentary film, "FAMILY²" directed by a student of the Film and Television Directing Department, Yifan Sun. This year, the film received the student Oscar® in the "Documentary (International Film Schools)" category.