Inland Empire

During a visit to the Camerimage festival in 2003, David Lynch fell in love with Łódź. He shot an étude called The Green Room there, but his infatuation didn’t end there. A few years later, he expanded the script to a full-length feature, Inland Empire. The film was shot not only in Łódź, but also in Warsaw, and the cast included several Polish actors: Krzysztof Majchrzak, Jan Hencz, and Karolina Gruszka. Shortly after its release, Inland Empire received a fairly mixed reception: it was referred to as the weakest film in the director’s oeuvre, and even the worst film of all time (according to Newsweek’s 2009 ranking). The passage of time has worked in favour of the title – not least because of its Polish accents. Laura Dern, as an actress who transcends the boundary between her own personality and the character she portrays, delivered one of the best performances of her career.

Katarzyna Kebernik

David Lynch (1946 – 2025) – an American director, screenwriter, producer and visual artist, born in Missoula, Montana. He studied painting in Philadelphia, before moving to Los Angeles to make films. He began production on his feature-length debut, Eraserhead, while still a student at the American Film Institute’s Centre for Advanced Film and Television Studies, which initially provided funding for the project. Lynch was one of the most original and influential cinema visionaries. His signature mix of surrealism, genre tropes and experimental narration found favour with a wide audience. Lynch’s films relied heavily on striking visual and soundtrack elements, which always function as integral parts of the complex structure of his works. In addition to directing, he has practised painting, photography, meditation and experimented with new media. A three-time Oscar nominee, Lynch was awarded the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for Wild at Heart (1990).