In the first issue of ”EC1 Arttraction Railway Journal” you read that Atlas was the first company to join the project of building the New Centre of Łódź. Fifteen people were asked by Atlas to choose ten women and ten men who will be given EC1 jeans. We have talked with one of the electors, a film producer – Piotr Dzięcioł.

Marek Lewoc: Do you wear jeans?

Piotr Dzięcioł, Opus Film: Of course. Black, blue, in the summer – light blue. Jeans are good when you go to work and even for more elegant occasions – nobody minds it now. And the EC1 jeans will surely become a part of my wardrobe. I've seen these trousers on a couple of people, everyone praises them for their quality and design.

Do you follow the progress of the project of building the New Centre of Łódź?

All the time. I'm a huge supporter of the idea. It's a very difficult undertaking, but the city can gain a lot from it. This place needs changes. I'd like to live in the city where you want to live, where you can go to the new square, see nice architecture around...

What did you feel when you were asked to choose twenty people who should be given the EC1 jeans?

I started thinking whom I should choose. Although I felt I know the Łódź circle, I still had problems with it. But I think I managed to choose the right people who will contribute to the promotion of Łódź.

Did you have any criteria for choice?

I actually limited my criteria to the circle of people I know best – filmmakers. They are people I work with, they are associated with film production, with things our studio deals with. I have also focused on artists and people who organise Łódź culture.

Let's talk about these people then...

The first name is Piotr Trzaskalski. He's a film director from Łódź, he works here. With him, Opus Film achieved the biggest success, which was the production of the film Edi. Another director is Anna Jadowska – a very talented person who decided to stay in Łódź, and Piotr Szczepański, who was born in Łódź. I was the co producer of his director's debut Absolute Beginner (Polish title: Aleja gówniarzy). I think he is a creative young person. Everything he has done and he will do will promote Łódź. Another pair are cameramen who have associated themselves with Łódź: Paweł Edelman and Krzysztof Ptak. Actually, Paweł now lives near Warsaw but he is one of the biggest names among Polish cameramen. He has been nominated to the Oscar Award for his pictures, he has made films with Roman Polański and Andrzej Wajda. Krzysztof Pawlak is a popular cameraman, he has won a number of awards. We have great stage designers, from whom I have chosen two: Wojciech Saloni-Marczewski and Wojciech Żogała, who is a graduate of the Łódź Film School and a famous stage designer. A creative and likeable person. He has won two awards at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia. On my list, Łódź animation will be represented by: Balbina Bruszewska – a director of the animated film about Łódź entitled Miasto płynie, and Marek Skrobecki, the co producer of the Oscar winning Peter and the Wolf. His films are artistic masterpieces. It's a pity he doesn't make them more often.

Trousers will be also given to the representatives of the Łódź art scene. First of all, Józef Robakowski – actually, there is no need to add anything here. He's a great artist and he deserves the trousers for everything he has done for Łódź, for the fact that he has decided to associate himself with Łódź, although, just like me, he was not born here. I would also like to honour Krystyna Jałkiewicz – a sculptor, a great individuality, and also Magda Moskwa – a painter, one of the best painters not only in Łódź but in the whole country. In my opinion, if she had a good manager, she could achieve a lot, but I still believe that even without one she can make a success. She also designs costumes and stages for the theatre.
I also suggested: Małgorzata Buczkowska, an actress of the Stefan Jaracz Theatre; Barbara Hanuszkiewicz, a professor of the Academy of Fine Arts, a representative of the fashion world who organises events promoting designers from Łódź, which have been included in the programme of the Fashion Week in Łódź; Iwona Łękawa, associated with Łódź culture and film, she has her TV programmes thanks to which viewers from around Poland can learn what's going on in the film Łódź; Małgorzata Ludwisiak, a vice-director of the Museum of Art in Łódź responsible for promotion; Ewa Pilawska – for the organisation of Festiwal Sztuk Przyjemnych i Nieprzyjemnych held in Łódź, thanks to which we can see in Łódź what is going on in the Polish theatre, Marzena Bomanowska – the chief of the culture section of Gazeta Wyborcza in Łódź, whose articles about events in Łódź are published on local and nationwide pages; Witold Krawczyk – the chairman of Toya, who turned the ruins of the former Łódź Film Company into a great place, where concerts of various music types are held and where theatres stage their plays; Jan Wilkocki – an architect, one of the biggest names among Polish designers. Now, we all can admire his masterpiece – the Marina apartment building. Such people like Jan Wilkocki make visible changes in Łódź. Our city needs good architecture.

How do you understand the statement that trousers build culture?

On the one hand, trousers refer to the tradition of textile industry in Łódź and to the person who created the Wrangler jeans – Ben Lichtenstein, born in Łódź. On the other hand, they're working clothes. Let's put on such trousers and get down to work. Let's change this city.


EC1 Jeans avaliable in Atlas Sztuki, Piotrkowska Street No. 114/116, Lodz, Poland
Opening hours: Tuesday – Friday 4 pm – 8 pm, Saturday and Sunday 11 am – 5 pm