A successful week of in-person screenings, seminars and networking gatherings at the 29th ENERGACamerimage Festival in Torun, Poland, culminated in a celebratory Closing Gala at CKK Jordakni where the winners were crowned victorious.
Huge congratulations to Robbie Ryan BSC ISC who won the Golden Frog in the Main Competition for his lensing of C’Mon, C’Mon, directed by Mike Mills, as well as scooping the Audience Award.
Bruno Delbonnel ASC AFC won the Silver Frog in the Main Competition at Camerimage for The Tragedy of Macbeth, directed by Joel Coen. The stunning black-and-white film based on the Shakespeare play opened the festival.
The Bronze Frog in the Main Competition at Camerimage was awarded to Greig Fraser ASC ACS for his lensing of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune. The filmmakers took to the stage to accept the award from ARRI’s Stephan Schenk. You can read the behind-the-scenes story about the creation of the sci-fi epic in the latest issue.
In the TV Series Competition, Andreas Johannessen was crowned the winner for Welcome to Utmark: Eye for an Eye, directed by Dagur Kári.
The talent and creativity of up-and-coming cinematographers was celebrated as the winners in the Film and Art School Competition were revealed. The Golden Tadpole was presented by Linus Sandgren ASC FSF to cinematographer Max Bugajak for The Howling, directed by Bartosz Brzeziński (Warsaw Film School).
The Silver Tadpole – presented by director Cary Joji Fukunaga – went to Tala’vision, lensed by Philip Henze and directed by Murad Abu Eisheh (School: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg). The Bronze Tadpole went to Christopher Behrman for Cold Blow Lane, directed by Luca Homolka (School: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg).
In the Cinematographers’ Debut Competition Yuming Ke won for Bipolar, directed by Queena Li. The Director’s Debut Competition winner was Julia Ducournau for Titane, lensed by Ruben Impens.
Cinematographer Kacper Fertacz and director Zuzanna Plisz who were crowned the winners of the Music Videos Competition by judges director Colin Tilley, Greig Fraser ASC ACS and singer Daria Zawialow for their incredible work on Kuba Kawalec & Ana Andrzejewska “Zdechłam”. Check out the winning video below…
Multi-award-winning filmmaker, music video, and commercial director Colin Tilley received the award for Achievement in Music Videos. Having directed more than 200 videos, the list of artists Tilley has worked with includes Kendrick Lamar, Cardi B, Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake, and Mary J. Blige. He was also a member of this year’s Camerimage Music Video Competition jury.
Cinematographer extraordinaire Jost Vacano ASC BVK accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding work, camera inventions and fight for better recognition and fair remuneration of cinematographers everywhere. “I dedicated my life to the films and cinematography and I gave half of my life to become a politician, fighting for the authors’ rights for all of you here,” Vacano said in his acceptance speech.
Denis Villeneuve took to the Camerimage stage to accept the award for Best Director from the Mayor of Torun, Michał Zaleski. Villeneuve’s Dune (Cin: Greig Fraser ASC ACS) also scooped the Bronze Tadpole in the Main Competition. In the director’s acceptance speech he paid tribute to the filmmakers who have inspired him and the cinematographers he has enjoyed successful collaborations with.
The winner of the Polish Films Competition was Operation Hyacinth (Cin. Piotr Sobociński Jr. Dir: Piotr Domalewski). The International Critics Prize went to Animals, lensed by Frank van den Eeden and directed by Nabil Ben Yadir.
The Golden Frog Best Feature Documentary was My Voice Will Be With You (Cin. Tristan Galand. Dir. Bruno Tracq). And the Golden Frog for Best Short Documentary was awarded to Survive (Cin. Jacob Friedrich Maria Kohl. Dir. Lara Milena Brose, Kilian Armando Friedrich).
Members of the jury, IMAGO Co-President Elen Lotman ESC and director Joe Wright, delivered an important statement from the jury as the ceremony drew to a close. “We commit to collaborating with Camerimage so the festival can move towards a policy of affirmative action that represents the diversity of cinematographers everywhere,” said Lotman.
Camerimage’s Closing Gala ended in style with a sneak peek of the European Film Centre which will open in Torun in 2025. The centre will be home to the festival as well as a location for other events to be held relating to film and cinema. It will feature a 600 square metre film studio, a film market demonstrating recent developments in film technology, an educational building, large screening room and a variety of smaller spaces to stage exhibitions.
Kazik Suwala, Marek Zydowicz, and the Mayor of Torun were joined by the Camerimage team and all the volunteers who helped make this year’s in-person event a reality before the winners took to the stage.
Roll on 2022 and the special 30th anniversary edition of the much-loved festival of film!
The full list of winners is as follows…
MAIN COMPETITION
Golden Frog: C’mon C’mon
cin. Robbie Ryan BSC ISC
dir. Mike Mills
Silver Frog: The Tragedy of Macbeth
cin. Bruno Delbonnel ASC AFC
dir. Joel Coen
Bronze Frog: Dune
cin. Greig Fraser ASC ACS
dir. Denis Villeneuve
*** *** ***
FIPRESCI AWARD
The International Critics Prize to the director of the best film in the Main Competition – under specific consideration of its cinematography: Animals
cin. Frank van den Eeden
dir. Nabil Ben Yadir
*** *** ***
POLISH FILMS COMPETITION
Best Polish Film: Operation Hyacinth
cin. Piotr Sobociński Jr.
dir. Piotr Domalewski
*** *** ***
FILM AND ART SCHOOL ETUDES COMPETITION
Laszlo Kovacs Student Award – Golden Tadpole – The Howling
cin. Max Bugajak
dir. Bartosz Brzeziński
school: Warsaw Film School
Silver Tadpole: Tala’vision
cin. Philip Henze
dir. Murad Abu Eisheh
school: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg
Bronze Tadpole: Cold Blow Lane
cin. Christopher Behrman
dir. Luca Homolka
school: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg
*** *** ***
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES COMPETITION
Golden Frog — best feature documentary: My Voice Will Be With You
cin. Tristan Galand
dir. Bruno Tracq
*** *** ***
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS COMPETITION
Golden Frog — best short documentary: Survive
cin. Jacob Friedrich Maria Kohl
dir. Lara Milena Brose, Kilian Armando Friedrich
*** *** ***
DIRECTORS’ DEBUTS COMPETITION
under the patronage of the Polish Filmmakers Association (SFP)
Best Director’s Debut: Titane
cin. Ruben Impens
dir. Julia Ducournau
*** *** ***
CINEMATOGRAPHERS’ DEBUTS COMPETITION
under the patronage of the Polish Filmmakers Association (SFP)
Best Cinematographer’s Debut: Bipolar
cin. Yuming Ke
dir. Queena Li
*** *** ***
MUSIC VIDEOS COMPETITION
Best Music Video: Kuba Kawalec & Ana Andrzejewska “Zdechłam”
cin. Kacper Fertacz
dir. Zuzanna Plisz
*** *** ***
TV SERIES COMPETITION
Best Episode: Welcome to Utmark: Eye for an Eye
cin. Andreas Johannessen
dir. Dagur Kári
*** *** ***
AUDIENCE AWARD
C’mon C’mon
cin. Robbie Ryan
dir. Mike Mills
*** *** ***
LIFETIME ACHIVEMENT
Jost Vacano ASC BVK
*** *** ***
AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR
Denis Villeneuve
*** *** ***
ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE FIELD OF MUSIC VIDEOS
Collin Tilley, director
Here are a more images from the Closing Gala, incuding many of the wonderful winners. (Photo credits: Maria Kowalkska / Witek Szydowski / Pawal Scraba)…
