The heart of the Gdynia Film Centre is the three-screening room Arthouse Cinema. Seven days a week, throughout the year, the audience can watch there the best films from Poland and abroad, and meet the filmmakers, writers, artists and other interesting people. Opened in September 2015, the Gdynia Film Centre soon became the most favourite cultural meeting place for many residents of Gdynia and the Tricity.
The Gdynia Film Centre is also host to film festivals, film education workshops, integration events addressed to different age groups. It gathers people interested in film, amateurs and film enthusiasts, as well as professionals associated, e.g. with the Gdynia Film School which is located in the same building. There is also an art gallery, a shop with vinyl records and books on film, a cafe and a restaurant.
Pomeranian Film Foundation in Gdynia was established in 2005. Since its beginnings, its efforts were focused on projects promoting Polish cinematography in Poland and abroad as a producer of, i.a. Polish Film Festival in Gdynia – the most important Polish film festival holding the status of a national film festival.
For years, the Foundation has been realising acclaimed projects, such as Pomeranian Film Workshops, Film Criticism Workshops, Film Music Composition Workshops, Review of Amateur Student Films “Albatrosy”, educational cycle European Film Masters, lessons of history of cinema and form of film organised by Gdynia Film School, Cinema Holidays, KINOferie, and an educational project for the youngest – Bajka w Centrum (Focus on Fairy Tale), which introduces children to the world of the art of filmmaking since the youngest age. Since 2020, the education offer of the Foundation has been extended to include virtual forms of the projects, which allows to educate the youth and the children at home and at schools.
Since 2010, the Foundation has extended its educational activities to include running Gdynia Film School, where at the Department of Film Directing young adepts of filmmaking can gain complex knowledge and practical skills crucial to the work of a film director.
On the 1st October 2010, the first film school in Northern Poland began intense classes, seminars and lectures on the 2.5 year course at the Department of Directing. One semester includes 650 hours of classes.
The mission and primary objective of GFS is a reliable, thorough and professional education of future directors of feature films and documentaries aware of their profession. Teaching major subjects is based on practical classes. Essential theoretical lectures constitute the starting point to a series of classes, workshop rehearsals and realisation of scenes and short films. Classes in small groups enable individual work and direct, essential contact with a lecturer.
GFS’s curriculum includes, i.a.:
The author of GFS’s curriculum is an internationally recognised director Robert Gliński.
Films of the school’s graduates have won prizes at numerous festivals both on Poland and around the world. Films produced by the school to date have won more than 100 prizes and 230 nominations at the most prestigious international and national festivals. “Olena” – a dissertation film of Gdynia Film School’s first year’s graduate Elżbieta Benkowska is the first short feature film in the Polish history of cinematography to be nominated for “Short Film Palme d'Or”. In 2017, we were invited to Cannes once more – this time with a film titled “Time to Go” directed by Grzegorz Mołda. Another similarly acknowledged film, “Grandma’s Day”, was directed by the second year’s graduate Miłosz Sakowski. It won the main prize for the Best International Short Film at the Oscar-qualifying FOYLE FILM FESTIVAL in Ireland.
Gdynia Film School is non-commercial education project. Students do not pay any fee.
The priority of Gdynia Film School is to maintain the highest, world-class level of education.
Dom Filmowy (Film House) was born out of love for the cinema and out of dreams of smart and conscious work with youth. Our mission is to help young people with finding their own voice, so they can tell their stories through film and be part of the positive change in their lives, societies, and the world. Dom Filmowy functions as a non-governmental organisation and executes cultural-educational projects, such as workshops, meetings, and discussions, whose main goal is to support youth by giving them space to meet with each other and to co-create. During classes, the film crew consisting of youth creates their own film production under the care of the lecturers: they write the screenplay, prepare the film set, shoot with professional gear, and edit the recorded material. Dom Filmowy also includes filmmakers with educational background and pedagogical practice, psychologists, and cultural animators. Over the last 9 years we have organised thousands (sic!) of hours of film courses with youth, which resulted in the creation of hundreds of short films.
It’s a film club which has been functioning in Gdynia for 16 years. It organises screenings, reviews and film discussions in the screening room of the Emigration Museum in Gdynia, with the seating capacity of 50 people. The club organises few hundred screenings a year as an arthouse cinema. The activities are organised by Gdynia’s Foundation “Ucho”, whose annual programme is funded by the city budget with PLN 150,000 (2021).
The association is an organiser of Kino Letnie in Orłowo (Summer Cinema), where every year, since 2012, prominent world-famous films are showcased from July to August near Scena Letnia (Summer Stage).
Another big film project of the Association is Film Critics Days in Gdynia, a review whose goal is to combine film screenings with lectures and discussions with cinema experts, while giving the audience a possibility to share views on the art of filmmaking.
KAZstudio SA (formerly Studio Trefl SA) was founded in 2013 in Gdynia. Studio specialises in traditional stop motion animation with the use of scenography and hand-made dolls (characters). Currently the studio has produced 77 episodes of a popular television series The Treflik Family and 26 episodes of the newest production Babies and the Bear. Both productions were directed by Marek Skrobecki, co-creator of such productions as the Oscar-winning Peter and the Wolf or Danny Boy.
A professional crew of nearly 50 members works on the production, which allows to carry out the whole process of animation creation, from screenplay to post-production, in one place.
Every year, the Studio’s productions win nominations and prizes at prestigious animated film festivals, such as San Diego International Kids Film Festival or Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
Gdynia Animation Centre is run by Trefl Education Development Foundation. It’s an initiative, whose goal is to be incorporated into the cultural, artistic and educational offer of Gdynia and become a part of the city’s film atmosphere. Gdynia Animation Centre was created to promote Polish animation. It’s also a place where you can not only see how animated films are created, but also try out different art forms.
Upon entering GAC we enter the enchanting world of Polish stop motion animation. It is here, in the Trefl Film Studio, where The Treflik Family is create – a series which has been aired for years by TVP ABC and successfully distributed abroad.
We are the biggest independent film studio in Northern Poland. Our 300m2 shooting hall, equipped with a suspended lighting frame with a lift capacity of 1,000 kg allows us to create impressive sceneries and shooting conditions which meet the requirements of top European studios. A large greenbox, our own equipment, extended back rooms for post-production and a team of animators, editors and special effects specialists are a guarantee of the high standard of our films.
The Studio has been contributing to the Pomeranian film market for nearly 10 years. This time has allowed them to gather experience with very diverse client groups, such as: agencies, public institutions, small and medium-sized enterprises, corporations, artists and NGOs. The film studio produces audio-visual materials adjusted to the needs of cinema, television, and the Internet, such as commercial spots, product films, and music videos. It offers underwater, air, tropical exterior locations, and virtual sceneries shooting.
Maj Film Film Production exists since August 2010. Knowledge, experience, connections and equipment capabilities allow the execution of a variety of film productions. Currently, the company is focused on the production of documentaries, though it also executes feature films, animated films, and commercial films. It works solely with the professionals: camera operators, directors, editors, screenwriters, and other specialists in their respective fields. It actively supports the production of films by Gdynia Film School’s graduates and students.
Since the beginning of 2012, Maj Film Film Production has been a member of KIPA Polish Producers Alliance, as well as a member of the Young Entrepreneurs of the AV Section KIPA.
Helios Cinema is located in the biggest shopping and entertainment centre of the third generation in Pomerania and Northern Poland – Centrum Riviera. It has 6 air-conditioned screening rooms equipped with high quality sound equipment, as well as Harkness screens. It’s a modern building, which is a part of the biggest Polish cinema network. It showcases the newest film productions both in 2D and 3D technology. Apart from scheduled film listings, Helios offers viewers Special Projects dedicated to the selected groups: Women’s Cinema, Night Film Marathons, Connoisseurs’ Cinema, Thematic Cinema, and Accessible Culture.
In its screening rooms, Helios also holds screenings that are a part of the Polish Film Festival.
The Pomeranian Science and Technology Park Gdynia is a hub of business and science organisations. It is not only the seat of park companies but also a thriving business centre. The mission of the Park is to actively support business activities and create conditions for the development of initiatives and projects based on high technologies. It is also a place where entrepreneurs, designers, scientists, enthusiasts meet and exchange their thoughts. In such an open and inspiring space sharing business and technological knowledge is pure pleasure.
Currently, PPNT Gdynia is home to ca. 250 companies working primarily in the areas of ICT, environmental protection, automation, robotics, graphics, and design. The Park is not only offices. First of all, it is the people – companies and teams of specialists that help in business development. Being a Park member, you belong to an inspiring park community driving itself dynamically. The Startup Zone supports young entrepreneurs and students. The Bio Laboratory conducts research and development projects, educates, and offers commercial services. The Patent Information provides education in the field of intellectual property protection and the Design Centre supports creative sectors.
The annual top Baltic design festival Gdynia Design Days is the major event organised by the PPNT. Each edition serves as a pretext to discuss topics related to broadly-understood design in the context of changes, which emerge in our environment. The exhibitions, workshops, lectures, and discussions organised as a part of the festival touch upon topics such as: technology, process design, ecology, design, fashion, architecture, city development or craft. Gdynia Design Days combines design branch with business.
Experyment Science Centre has interactive exhibitions and space for creative experimentation. It is here that the passion for science is born. This place welcomes anyone and encourages them to discover and experience the world. The Institution’s motto is reflected in its mission: Our shows, workshops, and events are engaging, educational, and fun. We like all questions. We like science!
Experyment Science Centre realises its mission through programmes aimed at all group ages, interactive exhibitions, science events, educational and cultural activities. It creates a friendly environment for gaining knowledge and the improvement of an individual and the society. It inspires to work together on creating a good future, based on science and respecting the environment. It’s a call card of the modern city and it develops along with it.
Social Innovation Lab searches for, realizes and introduces innovatory solutions, which respond to new social challenges. Its activities include:
Social Innovation Lab develops five citywide Programmes, integrating resources of Gdynia’s citizens, and local institutions and organisations:
