Actors who attended the world-famous Polish film school in Łódź – which has produced three Oscar-winning directors, including Roman Polański – have been coming forward to accuse the institution of abuse during their time as students, following a letter published by a recent graduate.
In response to the accusations, the school’s management has apologised and promised to investigate the problem as well as to take action against the perpetrators.
Anna Paliga, who graduated from the Łódź school last year, last week published an open letter saying that it had a culture of harassment. She listed by name lecturers who she claimed had resorted to bullying and even physical violence.
“In the acting department, there is an absurd and destructive notion that young people should be ‘broken’…and that experiencing violence will help them become better actors,” said Paliga in her letter.
The graduate went on to describe violent incidents, such as a student being hit in the face by one of the lecturers. She also detailed instances that she perceived as psychological abuse, such as an exercise in which students had to stand opposite each other in underwear and criticise each others’ bodies.
She noted that these practices have resulted in injuries, eating disorders and nervous breakdowns among students. Among the lecturers whom she accused by name of harassing students was the former head of the university, who she said “humiliated her” with “unstoppable verbal aggression”.
Since the publication of the letter, the school’s management has promised to investigate the offences and take action against the perpetrators. The recently appointed rector, Milenia Fiedler, has also apologised to students and said “harassment or violent behaviour will not be tolerated”.
Other actors have also this week come forward to relate their traumatic experiences from their time at the school, including Maria Dębska, Zuzanna Lit and Weronika Rosati. Further actors – Tamara Arciuch, Dawid Ogrodnik, Zofia Wichłacz – also talked about similar issues at other acting schools.
Lit, who is known for her role in the Polish television series Na dobre i na złe (“For better and for worse”), said she would hear inappropriate comments from her teachers during exercises. She also recalled one professor telling her, “if it weren’t for my wife, I would take you”.
This week, Weronika Rosati, a Polish actress best known for appearing in soap opera M Jak Miłość (“L for Love”), said the school had “violated all possible human rights”.
Rosati said she experienced bullying after she joined the school in 2003, which she described as “the first nightmare” of her life. After a year and a half she went on leave and never returned, which she has now cast as having been an “escape”.
The actress noted that she had never publicly revealed her negative experiences at the school. “Speaking up in Poland about any kind of violence is akin to an act of suicide,” she told Onet. “Not only do the influential perpetrators go unpunished, but unfortunately there is also absurd and harmful disbelief in the victims.”
In her interview, Rosati mentions professor Ewa Mirowska, a long-time actress and lecturer at the school, claiming she had “humiliated her” with hurtful comments.
The National Film School in Łódź has produced some of Poland’s – and the world’s – greatest filmmakers. Along with Polański, its alumni include fellow Oscar winners Andrzej Wajda and Krzysztof Kieślowski.
In 2019, students and staff at the school protested against a planned visit by Roman Polański, due to the accusations of sexual assault against him and his escape from justice in the US after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor.
In 2016, Poland’s Supreme Court rejected a request by the Polish justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, for Polański to be extradited to the United States to face justice for the statutory rape of 13-year-old Samantha Geimer, which he pleaded guilty to in 1978 before fleeing the country ahead of sentencing.
Ziobro, who remains justice minister, condemned the “double standards” applied to Polański. “If he was a teacher, doctor or plumber, I’m sure any country would deport him to the US,” said Ziobro. “But here we’re dealing with a man who’s defended by the glitterati and some liberal media.”
Main image credit: Szkoła Filmowa w Łodzi / PWSFTviT/Facebook
Correction: A previous version of the article suggested that Tamara Arciuch, Dawid Ogrodnik and Zofia Wichłacz had made complaints about the film school in Łódź, whereas these actors talked about their experiences at other institutions. The article has now been updated to reflect this.
Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.
