EnergaCAMERIMAGE announce the line-up of the Film and Art School Etudes Competition of the 31st edition of EnergaCAMERIMAGE International Film Festival.
First held in 1997, Film and Art School Etudes Competition (formerly Student Etudes Competition) supports the development of novice filmmakers and provides unique opportunity to confront cinematic achievements of students from various parts of the world. Each year, a growing number of film schools submit their best etudes for consideration of the EnergaCAMERIMAGE selection committee. The winners are chosen by an international jury of prominent filmmakers and industry professionals.
The author of the best cinematography wins the coveted László Kovács Student Award – The Golden Tadpole. Silver and Bronze Tadpoles are awarded for the second and third place respectively. Additionally, Polish Filmmakers Association will award the winner of the Student Etudes Competition a cheque for PLN 10 000.
ABOUT A PRIEST ON RAIN BOOTS
When the demented Jozias needs to get help for his wife, he ends up in an odyssey that only brings him further away from his home and from himself. Just as he is lost in the middle of a vast forest, he meets an armed young lady. Their encounter happens to be the start of an unexpected journey.
Original title: Over een Pastoor op Regenlaarzen
Director: Wessel van Wanrooij
Cinematographer: Pauline Skoreng
School: Netherlands Film Academy (AHK)
Country and year: Netherlands, 2022
BREATHING PAINTINGS
A little girl comes to a gallery with her parents, but she doesn’t just see ordinary characters in the paintings. Thanks to her childlike imagination, she invents interesting stories and connections. The images come alive before the little girl’s eyes and she is drawn into the action herself, and we come face-to-face with characters from the most famous works of art.
Original title: Dýchajúce obrazy
Director: Radovan Hradil
Cinematographer: Radovan Hradil
School: Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Faculty of Multimedia Communications
Country and year: Czech Republic, 2023
THE BULLFIGHTER
A farcical comedy about ex-bullfighter, Felipe Fernando de la Fernand, a once extraordinary figure now trapped in an ordinary world. Since his retirement, he has struggled to maintain the heroism he once felt as a matador and uses a job as a flag-waving parking attendant to stage one last redemptive bullfight… actively triggering a past he’s yet to reckon with.
Director: Giselle Bonilla
Cinematographer: Sharon Pulwer
School: American Film Institute Conservatory (AFI)
Country and year: USA, 2022
COWBOY
When Felix steals a leather jacket in a hotel, he bumps into Bianca. She confuses him for a callboy she booked. But instead of telling her, Felix decides to play along. Eventually the real callboy knocks at the hotel room door, and she realizes she took the wrong boy up to her room.
Director: Artur Althen
Cinematographer: Matthias Kofahl
School: University of Television and Film Munich (HFF Munich)
Country and year: Germany, 2023
CREMATION, OR THE QUARANTINE HOTEL
Young woman returned from overseas and had to see her critically ill father for the last time. In the quarantine hotel, her isolated life was like being stranded on a deserted island, and memories of her father from childhood were intertwined. She set fire to the room, but the memories could never be removed.
Original title: 第七天
Director: Ning Qian
Cinematographer: Wen Lau
School: National Taiwan University of Arts (NTUA)
Country and year: Taiwan, 2023
DIVE
Paul, an experienced deep sea ‘saturation’ diver, returns to the rigs following a personal tragedy.
Director: Will Peppercorn
Cinematographer: Toby Elwes
School: National Film and Television School (NFTS)
Country and year: UK, 2023
EISSPIN, THE OH SO TERRIBLE
The Alchemaster Eisspin offers the starving cat Echo to feed him the most delicious food for a month if he is allowed to slaughter him at the end of the month. After Echo agrees, he soon realizes that there is a deep trauma behind Eisspin’s cruelty. Can Echo’s love and affection pierce through the terrible mask of the Alchemaster?
Original title: Eisspin, der sehr Schreckliche
Director: Adrian Doll
Cinematographer: Franz Zimmermann
School: Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf
Country and year: Germany, 2023
INC.
A troubled office worker locks herself into their office late at night after running from an unseen personal conflict.
Director: Kazuo Chaed
Cinematographer: Luca Salvi
School: SAE Institute of Brussels
Country and year: Belgium, 2022
AN INTERIOR BODY
In the midst of political turmoil, a young woman undergoes a miscarriage in her Beirut apartment. As her despair and pain become overwhelming, she enters a surreal realm that allows her to accept what her body could not cope with and regain hope in nature’s cyclical ways.
Directors: Liz Charky, Gus Reed
Cinematographer: Liz Charky
School: American Film Institute Conservatory (AFI)
Country and year: USA, 2022
LAMENT NO. 1
Crying is commonly considered an indispensable part of mourning. It brings solace and helps to accept the loss. Suppressing emotions is often frowned upon, especially among the closest relatives…
Original title: Lament nr 1
Director: Jakub Jakubik
Cinematographer: Bartosz Błędowski
School: Lodz Film School
Country and year: Poland, 2023
METALLIC TASTE
A teenager leaves the basement where he hides with his sick mother to find water and food. Saving his closest loved one means an encounter with his greatest fear – the very thing they are hiding from.
Polish title: Metaliczny posmak
Director: Ivan Krupenikov
Cinematographer: Dmitro Zinych
School: Warsaw Film School
Country and year: Poland, 2023
PLASTIC TOUCH
A sex doll called Lucy wakes up in the bedroom of a doll brothel. She lives with Mina, another doll. Together they watch TV: their window to the real world. They imagine themselves living far away. After a while, Lucy wants to escape. But Mina doesn’t want to leave. Lucy has to choose between freedom and the doll she is in love with.
Director: Aitana Ahrens
Cinematographer: Celia Morales
School: The Madrid Film School (ECAM)
Country and year: Spain, 2022
POLAR BEARS
A young wrestler has to lose four kilograms in one day in order to participate in a competition. The exhausting and difficult process is interrupted by an unannounced visit from his older brother, who makes an unusual proposal to the athlete.
Original title: Misie polarne
Director: Bartosz Stankiewicz
Cinematographer: Szczepan Lewandowski
School: Lodz Film School
Country and year: Poland, 2023
POOR BOY LONG WAY FROM HOME
A cowboy ends up in a local pub after a fight with his ex gets out of hand. In search for his identity, he is soon immersed into the phantasmatic jungle of drunkenness, loneliness and sadness.
Original title: Arme Jongen Zo Ver Van Huis
Director: Jonas Hollevoet
Cinematographer: Tuur Oosterlinck
School: Sint-Lucas School of Arts, Brussel (LUCA)
Country and year: Belgium, 2022
PRELUDE
Helena is spending an evening with her family when someone knocks on the door. Unknown man confronts her with accusations towards her perfect family. Helena drives the man and the accusations away. But the seed of doubt has been planted.
Original title: Murtuma
Director: Arman Zafari
Cinematographer: Mikael Ahtikari
School: ELO Film School of Aalto University
Country and year: Finland, 2023
SCENES OF SOUL AND BODY
Max goes on a date with a stranger, where he experiences new sensations beyond the limit of reality. Will he leave as the same person he arrived?
Original title: Obrazy duše a těla
Director: Ondřej Hošek
Cinematographer: Marcela Mencelová
School: Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU)
Country and year: Czech Republic, 2022
SPLIT SECOND
Sometimes a fraction of a second is all it takes to change the world forever. The film Split Second tells the backstories of three of the most influential photographs in human history. In three intercut episodes, we follow the photographers who captured these historic moments in iconic pictures and made them visible to the world.
Director: Sinan Sevinc
Cinematographer: Christopher Behrmann
School: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg
Country and year: Germany, 2023
THE TASTER
Near future. Europe has changed due to the extreme outcome of climate change. But the Danube delta is still a fertile place and therefore occupied. Here the young woman Ozana gets chosen by the occupiers to taste the food they suspect might be poisoned. But on her first day she gets into a conflict with their leader about who should live and who should die.
Director: Sophia Bierend
Cinematographer: Adam Graf
School: Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf
Country and year: Germany, 2022
THOSE WHO FOLLOW
Since joining the special forces, Mirko’s life has been torn between his family and his unit. When the suspicion suddenly arises that his girlfriend Rabea might have reported a radical right-wing chat message from the unit to Internal Affairs, Mirko is in danger of losing both.
Original title: Mitlaeufer
Director: Frederic Kau
Cinematographer: Alexander Gruber
School: Hamburg Media School (HMS)
Country and year: Germany, 2022
VALVE
Red lights flood the gas station as Mike and his girlfriend Toni screw on their motorcycles. Their relationship is worn out and the pressure is on for Mike to prove himself. One thing leads to another, and Mike misses his shot. The asphalt passes under him as he decides to fight back.
Original title: Ventil
Director: Leve Kühl
Cinematographer: Sebastian Ganschow
School: Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg
Country and year: Germany, 2023
WAFT
Lena returns to the place where she spent her childhood with her now-deceased brother.
Original title: Korzenie
Director: Paula Wilczyńska
Cinematographer: Paula Wilczyńska
School: Lodz Film School
Country and year: Poland, 2023
