Camerimage 2023

Peter Biziou, BSC, was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award for his entire body of work at the Camerimage festival this year. A retrospective enabled all festivalgoers to discover or rediscover some of his biggest hits, and a conference about his career was held before a packed audience. This conference highlighted four key films from his body of work, and then the audience was given an opportunity to ask questions.

This year, Camerimage celebrated the 550^th anniversary of the birth of astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus at Toruń. Besides the exceptional showing of the painting Astronomer Copernicus or Conversations with God for the length of the festival, and two conferences on the theme of the connection between science and cinematography, the organizers also concocted a special retrospective of films that portrayed some of the most revolutionary scientists of the past century. On Wednesday, the film Radioactive was screened for the second time since it was first selected at the festival’s special session in 2019. This was the occasion for cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, DFF, BSC, ASC, to present the film, whose theatrical release was interrupted by the quarantines of 2020.

In competition for the first time at Camerimage, Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona (The Impossible, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and the Amazon series "Lord of the Rings") and his Uruguayan cinematographer Pedro Luque answered the audience’s questions after the screening of his new film, The Society of the Snow. (FR)

While Killers of the Flower Moon was being presented in the main competition, Barbie won the FilmLight Colour Award for Feature Film at the beginning of the festival. Rodrigo Prieto, AMC, ASC was the cinematographer for both of these films. He is currently in post-production for his first film as director, -Pedro Páramo-, and took a few days off to come to Toruń to accompany his films amidst this dual celebration. Yesterday, Friday, he answered questions from festival attendees following the screening of Barbie.

During the 31^st festival EnergaCamerimage held in Toruń (Poland), from 11 to 18 November 2023, we have published more than 40 written or video interviews (12 are in English, others in French), in which directors of photography speak about their work on the selected movies. Here are the links allowing you to read each of them.

For his second film as a director, actor Viggo Mortensen tells a love story hindered by the Civil War. He stars alongside Vicky Krieps, in an atmosphere that blends classic and modern Western elements. Enhanced by intertwining editing of different time lines, and stunning cinematography by Marcel Zyskind, DFF, the film was shot on locations across Mexico & Canada. It’s presented out of competition during a special screening at Camerimage. (FR)

Christophe Honoré and Rémy Chevrin, AFC, are one of the most emblematic director/cinematographer couples in French "cinéma d’auteur". They have already shot nine films together and their faithful collaboration has been going strong since Seventeen Times Cécile Cassard, 24 years ago. Their next feature has already been wrapped and scheduled for release in spring 2024. Last year, they released Winter Boy, a film for which young actor Paul Kircher won the award for Best Actor at the San Sebastian Festival. A look back on the photographic challenges of this adolescent drama with the cinematographer who was selected out-of-competition at Camerimage 2023 in the Contemporary World Cinema section. (FR)

Produced for the new Paramount+ platform launched in December 2022, the series "The Offer" is a recreation of a mythical moment in cinema history: the adaptation and production of Mario Puzo’s bestseller "The Godfather". The writer, the main character of the series – who is eventually promoted to co-writer-, is surrounded by an array of protagonists who make up the amazing success of the project. Top of the list, the incredible Matthew Goode, who plays Bob Evans, head of the Paramount studio. He seems to come straight out of the legendary documentary "The Kid Stays in the Picture", originally devoted to him.
For the first time in his long career, Italian-American cinematographer Salvatore Totino (Davinci Code, Everest...) was in charge of this series, and photographed the first six episodes. Three directors follow one another around him (Dexter Fletcher, Adam Arkin and Collin Bucksey). "The Offer" is competing for the Golden Frog for Best Series at Camerimage 2023. (FR)

Dance First is Antonio Paladino’s first venture into feature films. This Berlin-based cinematographer had been, until now, accustomed to shooting commercials. He was fortunate to have been chosen by British director James Marsh, Oscar winner in the Documentary category in 2009 for "Man on a Wire". The film, competing for Best First Cinematography, portrays the life of Samuel Beckett, the renowned Irish playwright who spent most of his life in France. The black and white biopic’s cast features Gabriel Byrne, Sandrine Bonnaire and the excellent Irish actor Aidan Gillen (Littlefinger in "Game of Thrones"). (FR)

Smoke Sauna Sisterhood is a surprising film. Winner of several prizes at international festivals such as Sundance, filmmaker Anna Hints’ invitation to share the intimate confessions of Estonian women is a real success. Set in an extremely simple decor -traditional saunas heated by wood fires-, the documentary is a dance between of words, bodies, steam and light. Cinematographer Ants Tammik spent twenty days with the women of his country, in the heart of this magical place, a Unesco World Heritage Site. The humidity levels were close to 100%, with a temperature fluctuating between 60 and 80°. Welcome to the Smoke Sauna! (FR)

Among the films selected in the "Directors’ Debuts Competition" category at Camerimage 2023, The Song of the Auricanturi (El canto del Auricanturi), by Colombian director Camila Rodriguez Triana, tells the story of a silent mother and her daughter. This contemporary artist, a graduate of the Fresnoy School (2019), directed her first feature film alongside argentinian cinematographer Constanza Sandoval, ADF. She talks to us about this film, whose directorial choices and screenplay are quite radical, inspired by the work of Alexander Sokourov and Bela Tarr... (FR)

American cinematographer Curren Sheldon brings to Camerimage his latest documentary film, "King Coal." Rooted in both reality and fable, this work presents the Appalachian region, exploring the economic and societal upheaval caused by the rise and fall of coal mines. Curren shares insights into how this project slowly developed and was crafted in collaboration with his wife, Elaine, who directed the film. (FR)

The superstar Metal band Metallica asked director Tim Saccenti and American cinematographer Joshua Zucker Pluda to create a visually intricate yet classically structured music video, featuring various black and white blurs and textures. With slow-motion, image overlays, and sweeping flares, "Screaming Suicide" is competing for the Golden Frog for Best Music Video Cinematography at Camerimage 2023. (FR)

When I proposed this seminar to the AFC, I realized it was very ambitious. The idea was to give a two-and-a-half-hour overview of the anamorphic format, with a dozen clips ranging from 1959 to 2022. I was first joined by Thomas Favel, AFC, and we worked and discussed the themes and “playlist” in meetings over the course of six weeks. We were then joined two weeks ago by Pascale Marin, AFC, and Steeven Petitteville, AFC, who helped us finetune the presentation, adding a couple of other clips. Our meetings were the occasion for spirited discussions about anamorphic, cinematography, cinema … (BB)

Kristoffer Engholm Aabo is a cinematographer based in Copenhagen. He divides his time between Denmark and Norway, where he studied cinematography. He has worked on the visuals of over 80 music videos and has also worked on a number of advertising films (Porsche, Redbull, Carlsberg, etc.) as well as short fiction films. Selected for the first time in competition at Camerimage for the music video "Crooks - Heart of Vengeance" by the band Farveblind, we meet to talk about this strange fake trailer, created for a revenge film that could almost be real... (FR)

After the highly acclaimed The Favorite (Audience Award at Camerimage 2018), Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos has teamed up once again with Irish cinematographer Robbie Ryan, ISC, BSC, on Poor Things. This project was largely shared in its making with actress Emma Stone - Oscar winner for Best Actress in 2017 -. Stone was the centrepiece of this project, giving her a probable chance of receiving a second statuette in 2024. This resolutely feminist fable tells the story of the journey and liberation of a dead young woman, brought back to life by a mad scientist, who implants in her a little girl’s brain... (FR)

Visit us at 31^st edition of EnergaCamerimage at our stand in the Market in CKK Jordanki, and, for the second year running, in a historic Hotel 1231, where we will showcase the versatility of our cutting-edge lenses by bridging the gap between virtual and physical spaces.

On Sunday 12 November at 4pm, FilmLight is hosting the 2023 Colour Awards Ceremony in Toruń, Poland. Join us to hear from the talent behind the looks before this year’s winners are revealed by the jury president, DoP Lawrence Sher, ASC.