The centre is to be part of a New Downtown to be developed on a prime 90 hectare plot formerly occupied by EC1 power station in a major urban revival scheme right in the heart of the city next to the main Łódź Fabryczna railway station, which is also facing a major overhaul. The funding is to be partly covered from EU sources. The idea of the centre was born in 2005. Apart from a film studio it will also include a festival and conference centre, where the Plus Camerimage Festival will be held. Office areas, a shopping area and a restaurant are also part of the project. David Lynch is a frequent visitor to Łódź, where he has shot his latest movie ‘Inland Empire’. The director says he is fascinated by the quality of light in this industrial city, its low hanging skies and its people.

“Dark Eyes” by Tomasz Stańko is the latest release by the Polish jazz legend. Critics extol the beauty and subtlety of its music recorded for the Munich-based ECM label. Stańko is now regarded as one of top world jazz artists. This time the accomplished Polish trumpeter has invited Scandinavian musicians pianist Alexi Toumarila,m guitarist Jakub Bro, bassoonist Andres Christensen and drummer Olavi Louhivuori. Stańko’s quintet has been on tour across Poland in December promoting the album.

In the run-up to Christmas the Moscow City Ballet is touring Poland again to transport audiences into a world of positive emotions, fantasy and beauty. The company, which Polish audiences have long admired, has appeared in front of 60,000 people in this country in the past three years. The ballet favours a classical technique. Its performers are some of the most talented and graceful Russian dancers who under the watchful eye of founder and artistic director Victor Smirnov-Golovanov achieve true perfection. This year’s tour features “The Nutcracker” and “Swan Lake”, starting at the Sala Kongresowa in Warsaw on December 17 and 18, going on to Teatr Muzyczny in Gdynia on Dec. 20 and 21 and the Grand Theatre in Łódź on Dec. 23.

For the 67th time an annual Christmas crèche competition is held in the Krakow Old Town Market Square. Entrants present their works in front of the Adam Mickiewicz statue. On the sound of a bugle call sounded from the tower of the Church of Our Lady, a colourful procession of crèche makers starts ending at the city’s Historical Museum where the competition jury sits.

Another box set in the Polish Cinema Hits series released by Kino Polska is devoted to films by Radosław Piwowarski made between 1985 and 1989. It includes “My Mum’s Lovers” featuring the unforgettable role by Krystyna Janda as a chavy drunk who absolutely adores her son , “Train to Hollywood” starring Katarzyna Figura as a small town girl who dreams of success and “March Almonds” which focuses on the political upheaval of 1968 followed by an exodus of Polish Jews. All the films are subtitled into English. Piwowarski is known for his touching and revealing portrayals of human foibles and eccentricities. His movies, which often bring out the grotesque, at the same time ask important questions about human existence. The director made his debut in the late 1970s with a string of award-winning documentaries and TV film productions. Between 1972 and 1981 he was part of the X film unit under the renowned Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda. “While showing his characters’ problems and dreams, exploring the reality of human relations Piwowarski does so with intimacy which helps viewers identify themselves with the characters and offers them a ray of hope” one critic says.

An exhibition is on until January 10 at the Theatre Museum in Warsaw devoted to Helena Modrzejewska (Modjeski), the famous Polish actress who was propelled to stardom in the US at the turn of the 19th century. The show was put together by the Theatre Museum, which is part of the National Opera house, the Historical Museum in Krakow and Bowers Musem in Santa Ana in California. Two years in the making, the exhibition is the widest presentation of Modjeska’s memorabilias, documents and art works to date. Of note is a collection of the artist’s stage costumes, jewellery, posters to her plays. “She was possibly the greatest Polish artist who has ever appeared at the Grand Theatre in Warsaw. Her American and English triumphs had their roots in her work in Poland. She loved and appreciated art in all its dimensions and genres. She was ready to make all kinds of sacrifices for the sake of art” says Waldemar Dąbrowski, Director of the National Opera in Warsaw.

“My Life” is the title of an exhibition featuring works by leading symbolist painter Jacek Malczewski taken from the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw. The show, which amrks the artist’s 80th death anniversary, lasts until February 7. The National Museum collection features 120 paintings and oil sketches as well as 200 drawings and water colours grouped in three sections: “Memories of Youth” spotlighting his early works, “In Tribute to Art and Muse” focusing on symbolic works and “Empty Court” devoted to the artist’s late metaphysical works. Many of the latter have never been shown publicly before. A Polish-English catalogue is available.

Don’t miss Poland’s first retrospective of works by Zbigniew Libera, one of the most important contemporary Polish artists which is held at the Zachęta National Art Gallery until February 7. Libera is known for his controversial work “Lego. Concentration Camp” which shows the Auschwitz Nazi death camp built out of Lego blocks. Made in 1982, the work marked his debut on the alternative Polish cultural circuit. In the 1990s the artist came to be known for his works devoted to the Holocaust which provoked heated debates in Poland and abroad. Of late Libera has scored a number of successes in the US, where his work provided the inspiration for the “Mirroring Evil” exhibition at the Jewish Museum in New York. Ann Arbor University organised a retrospective of the artist’s works and invited him to deliver the prestigious Copernicus lecture. The Warsaw exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue available in Polish and English versions.