EnergaCAMERIMAGE announces Documentary Features Competition

EnergaCAMERIMAGE announce the line-up of the Documentary Features Competition of the 32^nd edition of the EnergaCAMERIMAGE International Film Festival.

The aim of the competition is to recognize the art of documentary filmmaking as creative interpretation of reality. Putting emphasis on the visual and aesthetic aspects of the selected nonfiction entries, the jury awards the best cinematographers in the competition.

CYBORG GENERATION

An eighteen-year-old musician decides to design a cybernetic organ and illegally implant it into his own body, thus acquiring a new sense that would allow him to perceive, while on Earth, sounds coming from outer space.

Director: Miguel Morillo Vega
Cinematographer: Martí Herrera
Produced by: Landia Films Slu
Country and year: Spain, 2024

I AM THE CREATION OF FICTION

An observational documentary about Andrzej Seweryn portrays an artist living in a constant creative hurry. The camera follows the actor, showing and describing his life over a period of one year. We see him as a great artist working tirelessly but also as a human. The film shows us an acclaimed actor but also a man of flesh and blood. We try to understand what emotions tug at him and where he gets his inexhaustible inner energy from. But everything has its price. So does a successful career. The longer the spectators observe the protagonist, the more explicitly they ask themselves: what is the real price of greatness? How much must be sacrificed for it?

Original title: Jestem postacią fikcyjną
Director: Arkadiusz Bartosiak
Cinematographer: Kacper Wójcicki
Produced by: Katarzyna Kubacka-Seweryn
Country and year: Poland, 2024

KOKA

The story of the relationship between a father and son on the edge of Bering Sea brings up questions of generational patterns of upbringing. Is it possible to raise a brave human not with force, even if the circumstances demand it, but through the gentle power of love? Can love create an even more powerful inner strength by breaking patterns?

Director: Aliaksandr Tsymbaliuk
Cinematographer: Aliaksandr Tsymbaliuk
Produced by: Studio Munka SFP
Country and year: Poland, 2024

MISTRESS DISPELLER

In China, a new industry has emerged devoted to helping couples stay married in the face of infidelity. Wang Zhenxi is part of this growing profession, a “mistress dispeller” who is hired to maintain the bounds of marriage — and break up affairs — by any means necessary. Mistress Dispeller follows a real, unfolding case of infidelity as Teacher Wang attempts to bring a couple back from the edge of crisis, offering strikingly intimate access to private lives usually hidden behind closed doors. Their story shifts our sympathies between husband, wife and mistress to explore the ways emotion, pragmatism and cultural norms collide to shape romantic relationships in contemporary China.

Director: Elizabeth Lo
Cinematographer: Elizabeth Lo
Produced by: After Argos Films, Marcona Media
Country and year: China, USA, 2024

MOTHER VERA

From the deep snow of the Belarusian forest to the heat of the reeds in the French Camargue, Mother Vera is the story of a young Orthodox nun; her turbulent past, and fragile future. Revealed through spellbinding visual language echoing the rigid discipline of monastic life, we enter the enclosed, shadowy spaces of a convent outside Minsk. Sound and silence submerge us in the rhythm of the place. At the monastery farm, two hundred men live in rehabilitation. They are a mirror to Vera’s old life. Faced with a life-changing decision, Vera must confront her past to find the freedom she desires.

DirectorS: Cécile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson
Cinematographers: Cécile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson
Produced by: She Makes Productions
Country and year: UK, 2024

VIKTOR

Viktor, a deaf man living with his mother in Ukraine, yearns to be a professional photographer but faces discrimination due to his deafness. In his imaginative world, he believes he’s the reincarnation of the samurai Miyamoto Musashi. When Russia invades his homeland, Viktor aspires to contribute to the war effort, only to face rejection due to his deafness. Fuelled by his insecurity, he surpasses every obstacle stereotypically faced by a deaf person. He volunteers as a photographer, merging with the soldiers on the frontlines. Viktor returns home, no longer romanticizing the life of a soldier. While he may not have abandoned his fantasies, he finds the purpose he so desperately craved.

Director: Olivier Sarbil
Cinematographer: Olivier Sarbil
Produced by: Protozoa Pictures, Real Lava
Country and year: Ukraine, USA, Denmark, 2024

WHEN HARMATTAN BLOWS

Barbara is 25 and lives in Accra, the capital of Ghana. She is charismatic, straight-forward and self-confident. However, when harmattan blows, that suffocating wind from the Sahara makes Barbara’s courage disappear. Along with the wind, unwanted images from the past return, taking away her peace of mind. As an eight-year-old girl, Barbara shared the fate of thousands of Ghanaian children who were put to slave labour by their own parents. For years, Barbara functioned in a world full of abuse, violence and fear, but she survived. Although full of anger, she has been supporting her parents and paying for the education of her younger brothers. But their expectations keep rising. One day, together with her eldest brother, she returns to her hometown to solve family problems. Before that can happen, Barbara has to finally confront her parents.

Director: Edyta Wróblewska
Cinematographer: Marcin Sauter
Produced by: SK Film Studio
Country and year: Poland, 2024