Forever Melomani

The film tells the story of the first Polish jazz band, Melomani, which was formed after the war while it was still in Stalinist times.”Forever Melomani”.

Jerzy “Duduś” Matuszkiewicz, Andrzej “Idon” Wojciechowski, Andrzej Trzaskowski, Witold “Dentox” Sobociński, Witold Kujawski, Krzysztof Komeda, Antoni Studziński and Alojzy Thomys – the Melomani. It is about them that this film tells.

We learn about the history of the jazz band, which was formed in late 1949 and early 1950 in Lodz, through archival footage, which is intertwined with the recollections of Polish jazz icons Andrzej “Idon” Wojciechowski, Jan “Ptaszyn” Wróblewski, Wojciech Karolak, Michał Urbaniak, Przemek Dyakowski and many others. Our guide is Marcin Bzyk – musician, rapper, independent artist, who began his adventure with jazz with the recording of “Story of Polish Jazz” with Jarosław Śmietana.

And it all started with a package with jazz records, which from the United States, via Switzerland, accidentally arrived at the Lodz branch of the YMCA, on Moniuszki Street. And it could have ended up somewhere else.

The story of the Melomani is inextricably linked to the history of Polish film and the Lodz Film School, whose graduates included “Duduś” Matuszkiewicz, “Idon” Wojciechowski and the outstanding cinematographer Witold “Dentox” Sobociński.

The film also tells the story of Lodz, Poland and culture during the Stalinist era and the phenomenon that was catacomb jazz in Poland.