Gianfranco Rosi to receive award for Outstanding Achievements in Documentary Filmmaking at Camerimage

EnergaCAMERIMAGE announce that this year’s Award for Outstanding Achievements in Documentary Filmmaking will be presented to the visionary director Gianfranco Rosi.

Known for his deeply humanistic and visually striking films, Rosi has consistently pushed the boundaries of documentary filmmaking, crafting works that not only illuminate pressing global issues but also offer profound insights into the lives of those often overlooked by mainstream media. We can’t wait to welcome Gianfranco Rosi in Toruń, Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region.

Gianfranco Rosi moves to New York and graduates from the New York University Film School in 1985. Following a journey to India in 1993, he produces and directs Boatman, about a boatman on the banks of the Ganges, which he shows with success at various international festivals including the Sundance Film Festival, the Locarno Film Festival, and the Toronto International Film Festival.

After the short film Afterwords, that was shown at the 57th Venice International film Festival, in 2008 in Slab City, California, he shoots the documentary Below Sea Level about community of homeless people who live on a desert plain 40 meters below sea level: the film wins Best Film in the Horizons section of the Venice International Festival and at Doc/It. It also takes the Grand Prix, the Prix des Jeunes al Cinéma du Réel, the prize for best film at the One World Film Festival in Prague, the Vittorio De Seta Prize at Bif&st 2009 and is nominated for Best Documentary at the European Film Awards 2009.

In 2010 he shoots El Sicario – Room 164, a film interview from a story by Charles Bowden about a hitman on the run from Mexican drug cartels. The film wins the Fipresci Award at the Venezia Film International Festival, the Doc/It prize for Best Documentary of the Year, Best Film at DocLisboa in 2010 and at Doc Aviv in 2011.

In 2013 he wins the Golden Lion at Venice with Sacro GRA, the film where he tells the story of hitherto unseen humanity that lives around the Grande Raccordo Anulare (the ring road highway) that circles Rome. It is the first time a documentary is awarded the Golden Lion.

In 2016, Rosi wins the Golden Bear for Best Film at the Berlin International Festival with Fuocoammare, stories from the island of Lampedusa, about its inhabitants, fishermen and migrants. While in Italy it wins the Italian Golden Globe, receives two nominations for the David of Donatello Awards and wins a Nastro d’Argento, Fire at Sea (its international title) will bring Lampedusa, an island that is a symbol of migration, to the whole world at festivals and in movie theaters, gaining further recognition with a win at the European Film Awards and a nomination for the Oscar for Best Documentary.

Presented at the Venice Film Festival in 2020, his feature-length documentary, Notturno, has been shortlisted for the Academy Awards 2021, for « Best International Feature Film ». Notturno was shot over three years along the borders of Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria, and Lebanon. A region where tyranny, invasions and terrorism have fed off each other in a vicious circle, to the detriment of the civilian populations. All around signs of violence and destruction: but in the foreground is the humanity that reawakens every day from a nocturne that seems Infinite.

In 2022, with In Viaggio Gianfranco Rosi retraced the journeys taken by the Pope over the ten years of his pontificate. In Viaggio was screened at many of the world’s most prestigious film festivals and programmed in countries including Japan, Spain and the US, where it was distributed by Magnolia. In Italy, where it was distributed by 01 Distribution, it was shown on the national RAI channels, obtaining very high audience figures.

To celebrate Gianfranco Rosi’s remarkable contributions to documentary cinema, EnergaCAMERIMAGE will host a special retrospective of his work, featuring five of his most influential films: Below Sea Level, El Sicario – Room 164, Sacro GRA, Fuocoammare, and Notturno. This carefully curated selection will provide audiences with a unique opportunity to experience the breadth and depth of Rosi’s cinematic vision, offering insights into the themes and techniques that have made his films both critically acclaimed and profoundly impactful.

The Award for Outstanding Achievements in Documentary Filmmaking will be presented to Rosi during the festival’s closing gala, where he will join an illustrious list of past recipients who have shaped the landscape of documentary filmmaking. This honor recognises not only Rosi’s exceptional body of work but also his unwavering commitment to using the power of film to shed light on some of the most pressing issues of our time.

We invite audiences and cinephiles from around the world to join us in Toruń, Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region for this special celebration of Gianfranco Rosi’s extraordinary career. His films challenge us to see the world through a different lens, to engage with the stories of those who might otherwise remain unheard, and to reflect on the complex, often uncomfortable truths that define our shared humanity. EnergaCAMERIMAGE is truly honored to welcome Gianfranco Rosi and to celebrate his unparalleled contributions to the art of documentary filmmaking.