Cinematographers’ Debuts Competition was initiated in 2010 due to the Festival’s increasing openness to the noteworthy artists and the new film phenomena they create.
The selection committee nominates first or second non-documentary feature films made by young directors and cinematographers. The idea of creating additional competition sections was a natural consequence of our previous activities. For years we have been promoting innovative projects that combine intellectual freedom, remarkable insight into world affairs and a desire to inspire other artists of the screen.
Cinematographers’ Debuts Competition brings new discoveries: great movies of high artistic value and great filmmakers whose new ventures surprise not only the Jury members but all audiences around the world as well.
Competition is under the patronage of Polish Filmmakers Association.
–
BANZO
1907. Afonso starts life anew on a tropical island off the African coast, as a plantation physician. He is tasked with treating servants “infected” by Banzo, a profound homesickness fatal to many enslaved people who succumb to starvation or take their own lives. To prevent spreading, the group is sent to a secluded hill encircled by a forest. Afonso tries to heal them, but understanding their spirits is a challenge stronger than any medical intervention.
Director: Margarida Cardoso
Cinematographer: Leandro Ferrão
Produced by: Uma Pedra no Sapato
Country and year: Portugal, France, Netherlands, 2024
BRIEF HISTORY OF A FAMILY
After an incident at their high school, Wei, an outgoing only son from a middle-class family, and Shuo, his quiet, perceptive classmate, find themselves connected through some mysterious energy that draws them intimately into each other’s lives. Wei soon introduces his friend to his father, a cell biologist, and his mother, a former flight attendant. Learning that Shuo comes from a troubled background, Wei’s parents welcome this boy with an enigmatic charm to spend more time in their home. Slowly integrating himself into Wei’s family life, Shuo discovers that their comfortable existence is shadowed by unspoken secrets, unmet expectations, and untended emotions. A tragic incident further complicates their lives, putting past wounds and present anxieties under the microscope.
Original title: Jia ting jian shi
Director: Jianjie Lin
Cinematographer: Jiahao Zhang
Produced by: First Light Films
Country and year: China, France, Denmark, Qatar, 2024
EDGE OF SUMMER
11-year-old Evie arrives in Cornwall expecting a girls’ holiday with her mum. But when she meets local boy Adam, a mysterious discovery down an old tin mine changes everything. As they begin to question what is real and imagined in their lives above ground, childhood narratives unravel and a darker, more complex picture of the adult world takes shape.
Director: Lucy Cohen
Cinematographer: Rachel Clark
Produced by: Dorothy St Pictures
Country and year: UK, 2024
LOS FRIKIS
Inspired by true events, Los Frikis is a powerful coming-of-age story set in early 90s Cuba, centring around 18-year-old Gustavo who idolises his older brother Paco and his punk, “Frikis” bandmates. When word reaches the Frikis of a potential reprieve from the effects of the economic crisis, they do the now unthinkable: deliberately inject themselves with HIV to live at a government-run treatment home. It’s there that these teenagers create their own utopia full of joy, rock’n’roll, and freedom.
Directors: Tyler Nilson, Michael Schwartz
Cinematographer: Santiago Gonzalez
Produced by: Lord Miller
Country and year: USA, Dominican Republic, Cuba, 2024
MY PLACE IS HERE
Marta, a single mother promised to an older farmer in the aftermath of WWII, forges an unlikely friendship with Lorenzo, the village’s openly gay “wedding planner.” In the conservative backdrop of rural Southern Italy, Lorenzo introduces her to a hidden community of gays, sparking Marta’s journey to challenge societal prejudices. Against the historical backdrop of the first year of women’s suffrage in Italy, Marta navigates her evolving role as a woman, breaking barriers and finding her place in a changing world.
Cinematographer: Emilio Maria Costa
Produced by: Goldkind Filmproduktion, Orisa Produzioni
Country and year: Italy, Germany, 2024
THE QUEEN’S ORPHANS
Raised as Catholics by the Queen of Portugal, the orphans Leonor, Brites, and Mécia are sent to the Brazilian colony with the order to get married. The harsh adaptation to the precariousness of the New World is felt differently by each of them. Leonor is the one who resists the new reality the most and writes letters to the queen, requesting permission to return. However, the response never arrives. As time passes, she falls in love with her husband, Escobar, has children with him, and comes to admire the Jewish religion. Brites, on the other hand, does everything to win over her violent husband, Tales, and give him a child. Meanwhile, Mécia, rejected due to a physical disability, falls in love with one of the indigenous people. The sisterhood is put to the test when the Inquisitor arrives in the colony in 1591, spreading fear and suspicion among the inhabitants.
Director: Elza Cataldo
Cinematographer: Fernanda Tanaka
Produced by: Persona Filmes
Country and year: Brazil, 2023
TATAMI
Iranian female judokas Leila and her coach Maryam travel to the World Judo Championships, intent on bringing home Iran’s first gold medal. Midway through the World Judo Championships, they receive an ultimatum from the Islamic Republic ordering Leila to fake an injury and lose, or she will be branded a traitor of the state. With her own and her family’s freedom at stake, Leila is faced with an impossible choice: comply with the Iranian regime as her coach Maryam implores her to do, or fight on, for the gold.
Directors: Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Guy Nattiv
Cinematographer: Todd Martin
Produced by: Keshet Studios
Country and year: USA, Georgia, 2023
WHO DO I BELONG TO
Aicha lives in the isolated north of Tunisia with her husband and youngest son. The family lives in anguish after the departure of the eldest sons Mehdi and Amine into the violent embrace of war. When Mehdi unexpectedly returns home with a mysterious pregnant wife, a darkness emerges, threatening to consume the entire village. Aicha is caught between her maternal love and her search for the truth.
Original title: Mé el Aïn
Director: Meryam Joobeur
Cinematographer: Vincent Gonneville
Produced by: Instinct Bleu, Midi La Nuit, Tanit Films
Country and year: Tunisia, France, Canada, 2024
