Tag: cinematography

Just weeks before the 31st edition of Poland’s EnergaCamerimage gets underway, there was a groundbreaking for the planned European Film Center Camerimage, a PLN 600 million (roughly ($144 million) cultural center that will be built in host city Toruń and used in future years as the international cinematography film festival’s main venue. Plans call for the center to include a main screening room with seating for roughly 1,500, as well as three 200-300-seat screening rooms, a soundstage for production and postproduction facilities.

The new center underscores the growth of the festival, which has become a bellwether for what’s to come in the cinematography Oscar race. In three of the past four years, the winner of Camerimage’s Golden Frog has gone on to earn an Oscar nomination in cinematography, including 2019’s Joker and 2020’s Nomadland and 2022’s Tár.

According to festival director Marek Żydowicz, more than 1,000 films were viewed during this year’s lineup selection process. “We start working on selections in March because there are so many titles we have to go through,” he said.

This year’s program includes the main competition lineup: Killers of the Flower Moon, All of Us Strangers, Black Flies, El Condo, Ferrari, Filip, Lee, Maestro, The New Boy, Poor Things, Napoleon, Society of the Snow and The Zone of Interest. Cinematographer Mandy Walker (Elvis) is the main competition’s jury chair.

Also during this year’s festival, which runs through Nov. 18, honorees include cinematographer Peter Biziou, who will accept the Lifetime Achievement Award; Krzysztof Zanussi, the Lifetime Achievement Award for a director; Adam Driver, the special award for an actor; Jon Kilik, the award for a producer with unique visual sensitivity; the Brothers Quay, the award for directors with unique visual sensitivity; cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger and director Werner Herzog, the cinematographer/director duo award; Jenny Beavan, a special award for achievements in costume design; and Floria Sigismondi, the award for directing achievements in music videos.

The program also includes a celebration of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ centennial, with screenings of classics such as Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King.

Sean Penn will personally present the Ukraine war doc Superpower, which he directed with Aaron Kaufman. Producer Billy Smith will also be on hand at Camerimage.

Meanwhile, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ CEO Bill Kramer will visit Camerimage for the first time this year. He’s expected to speak about new constructions to support culture, from the Academy Museum in Los Angeles to the planned Camerimage Center.

A dedication of the new Camerimage center is scheduled in conjunction with this year’s festival, with expected guests including three-time Oscar-winning cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, who was among those who have been involved in the event since its 1993 debut.

There was an emotional start to the 31st EnergaCamerimage cinematography film festival as news spread that John Bailey — the cinematographer behind films such as Ordinary People, The Big Chill and As Good As It Gets, and former president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — died Friday at the age of 81.

During Saturday’s opening ceremony, festival director Marek Żydowicz gave a heartfelt tribute to the DP as he opened the festival, which is held annually in Toruń, Poland. “It is very difficult for me to talk about it,” he said, introducing a black-and-while clip featuring portions of Bailey’s 2019 speech when he accepted the Camerimage Lifetime Achievement Award. Bailey and his wife, Oscar-nominated editor Carol Littleton, had attended the festival on multiple occasions. Żydowicz also emphasized the bond between Camerimage and the Motion Picture Academy that Bailey helped to strengthen. He said, “John, you will forever be in our hearts.”

Oscar-nominated cinematographer Lawrence Sher also paid tribute to Bailey when he took the stage, adding, “as we all know, life is precious, hug each other.”

During the ceremony, Adam Driver accepted the special award for an actor. He called Camerimage a “cool” festival that “really highlights cinematographers.” He recognized some of those that he has worked with that will be in attendance this week, among them Mandy Walker, Rodrigo Prieto, Salvatore Totino, Robbie Ryan, and Erik Messerschimidt — the DP of his latest film, Ferrari, which will unspool this week as part of the main competition.

British cinematographer Peter Biziou received a standing ovation as he accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award. The DP — who lensed films including Mississippi Burning, for which he was Oscar- and BAFTA-nominated, The Truman Show and In The Name of the Father — remembered learning at an early age that “we can make magic” with film, and he stated that he shares the award with his dedicated crews.

Jon Kilik — whose string of producing credits includes Babel, for which he earned a best picture Oscar nom, The Hunger Games and Malcolm X — said he was grateful for the collaborations he has shared with cinematographers, as he accepted the award for a producer with unique visual sensitivity. He admitted, “It’s a time now where I think the producer credit has gotten a bit monetized; it’s transactional. … [But] it’s something I really have a lot of pride in.”

The Brothers Quay received the award for directors with unique visual sensitivity.

Saturday is Poland’s National Independence Day, which was recognized during the ceremony. Toruń Mayor Michał Zaleski also expressed his hopes for peace amid world events.

Following the ceremony, the festival screened Poor Things as its opening night film, which is also in this week’s main competition. With the SAG-AFTRA strike over, Willem Defoe was on hand to join cinematographer Robbie Ryan for a Q&A following the screening.