Summer Doc Camp @ Lodz Film School
Concept:
A short, intensive documentary filmmaking workshop focused on methods derived from the Polish School of Documentary, including observation, condensation and intervention. Aimed at non-Polish-speaking students, for whom this will most likely be a first encounter with this form and genre. The workshop will follow a concept-to-completion approach, working on several short documentary miniatures (maximum length: 5 minutes) based on a previously assigned theme.
The concept assumes the participation of students from the Lodz Film School as local guides / fixers / translators / co-creators, with filming taking place in and around Lodz.
The workshop will culminate in a screening of the finished films at the School Cinema, with invited guests (the protagonists of the films, crews, etc.).
Shared theme:
Before arriving in Poland, participants will receive statistical data about Lodz and its inhabitants, obtained by the instructors from the Lodz branch of the Central Statistical Office. These may be seemingly random statistics, such as: average consumption of fruit and vegetables (in grams), average age at marriage, divorce rate, number of registered pets per capita, etc. These simple numbers would serve as a trigger for searching for topics for the documentary miniatures.
Dry statistics will become a pretext for finding documentary stories about people. They will lead workshop participants toward very concrete narratives: a 70 yo woman who has to say goodbye to her dog before euthanasia at a veterinary clinic; an observational portrait of a grandson spending the summer with his grandfather at a vegetable market in one of Lodz’s districts; or a speed-dating event for young Christians or premarital church classes.
The listed scenes are only examples of how dry statistical data can be interpreted and translated into cinematic storytelling, which we will be seeking during the workshop.
At the editing stage, the resulting documentary miniatures could be treated as chapters of a longer mosaic film, thus creating a Documentary Statistical Yearbook of Lodz 2026, which will be screened at the end of the workshop in the School Cinema.
Participation of Lodz Film School students:
A group of students from the Directing and Production Department will join the two-person production teams. They will act as local guides, translators, and co-creators of the documentary miniatures.
Involved faculty and staff:
Sound specialist
A supervisor from the Directing Department (two tutors).
An editing supervisor involved from development, through shooting, to final cut.
A supervisor from Cinematography Department
Production coordination.
Schedule:
Prep (online):
Distribution of statistical data before arrival, students have time to reflect on it and look for associations.
Workshops in Lodz:
7th July (TUESDAY) – Day 1
- Introductions (Polaroid exercise)
- Warm-up exercises in groups with cameras: video charades
- Mind map (rhizome exercise) around the statistical data
- Group screenings of completed exercises and selected documentary films
8th July (WEDNESDAY) – Day 2
- Guided tour of Lodz: unusual places, local lunch, photographic exercise, team formation
9th July (Thursday) – Day 3
- Cinematography workshop
- Sound on set and sound design workshop
10th July (FRIDAY) – Day 4
- Camera-based documentation,
- Individual review of footage,
- In the evening- joint screening and discussion
11th – 13th July (SATURDAY – MONDAY) – Days 5–7 (three shooting days)
- Morning group briefings;
- Evening wrap-ups with screenings of selected footage and selected documentary films
- Three shooting days in total
14th – 15th July (TUEASDAY – WEDNESDAY) – Days 8–9
- Two editing days, with the possibility of additional shooting
- Evening reviews of work-in-progress edits
16th July (FRIDAY) – Day 10
Closing barbecue to wrap up the workshop
Post-production work
Final screening with invited protagonists and film crews
About the Tutor
Jakub Piątek is a graduate of the Łódź Film School. His short film debut, Mother (2009), was screened at more than 50 film festivals worldwide. His first feature film, Prime Time (2021), premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in the United States and is available on Netflix globally.
In 2023, he returned to the Sundance Film Festival with his feature documentary Pianoforte. The film received theatrical distribution in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, China, and Poland. Among numerous accolades, it won the 2024 Polish Film Award (Eagle) and the International Emmy Award in the Arts Programming category.
He also directs television drama series, including Once Upon a Time on National Road No. 1 and Aniela for Netflix.
He is a lecturer at the Directing Department of the Łódź Film School, where he teaches fiction film directing, and regularly teaches documentary film workshops at the Faculty of “Artes Liberales” / Institute of Polish Culture of the University of Warsaw.
