The 32nd International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Camerimage, also named EnergaCAMERIMAGE 2024 for its sponsorship from Polish power company Energa, took place from 16 to 23 November 2024 in Toruń, Poland, to recognize and reward the best in cinematography in film, television and music videos.
Steve McQueen's historical war drama Blitz will serve as the festival's opening film, while the first half of Jon M. Chu's two-part musical fantasy film Wicked will close the festival. Both films will be honoured with special awards for their director and production designer, respectively.
Background On 6 June 2024, Australian actress Cate Blanchett was announced as the jury president for the main competition. Later, on 19 September, Blitz was revealed as the opening film, while the following month, on 10 October, Wicked was announced as the closing film. The films competing in the main competition were revealed in groups of three, finally announcing the complete lineup on 30 October. The festival's poster was designer by Polish illustrator and graphic artist Marcin Wolski and was inspired by aurora borealis and Toruń's gothic architecture.
A special screening of Pablo Larraín's biographical film Maria, shot by Edward Lachman, will take place during the festival. Additionally, to celebrate the thirty year anniversary of American film studio Searchlight Pictures, six films from the studio will be screened. British filmmaker Steve McQueen is set to be awarded with the Outstanding Director Award. English production designer Nathan Crowley will receive the Special Award for Production Designer. Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada will receive the inaugural Best TV Series Performance award for his work in FX' historical drama series Shōgun, while Italian-American documentary filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi will be honoured with the Outstanding Achievements in Documentary Filmmaking award. American film editor and director William Goldenberg will receive the Film Editor award and will screen his directorial debut Unstoppable as a part of the special screenings.
Controversies Among the special screenings, the festival announced the world premiere of Joel Souza's western film Rust. The decision to include the film within the festival was met with controversy, due to the shooting incident that took place during the movie's filming, where cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot. Multiple cinematographers expressed their discontent with the film's premiere in the festival, with some deeming it "distasteful" and considering it not an appropriate way to honour Hutchins work.
In November 2024, the festival's director Marek Żydowicz wrote an op-ed for Cinematography World, where he expressed his thoughts on the changes in the industry, including the growing number of female directors and cinematographers. Some of Żydowicz comments were met with backlash from various cinematographers as well as the British Society of Cinematographers, who released an article where they expressed their disapproval, writing "we are disheartened and angered by your profoundly misogynistic comments and aggressive tone, which we view as symptomatic of a deep-rooted prejudice". Żydowicz issued an apology, describing the situation as a "misunderstanding", also writing "I assure you that we will prevent this kind of ambiguity from occurring in our communications in the future". Director Steve McQueen, who was a guest of honor for this year's festival and was set to receive a special award, announced he was no longer attending the festival. Similarly, director Coralie Fargeat and cinematographer Benjamin Kračun announced they were pulling their film The Substance out of the competition and were also not attending the festival.
Juries The jury members were as follows:
Main Competition Cate Blanchett, actress, producer, artistic director (jury president) Anthony Dod Mantle, cinematographer Jolanta Dylewska, cinematographer, documentary filmmaker Anna Higgs, producer, columnist Sandy Powell, costume designer Rodrigo Prieto, cinematographer Łukasz Żal, cinematographer
FIPRESCI Prize Victor López González, film critic Diana Martirosyan, film critic Paweł Mossakowski, film critic
Polish Films Competition Julie Huntsinger, manage, producer (jury president) César Charlone, cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister, cinematographer, director
Cinematographers' Debuts Competition Jarin Blaschke, cinematographer (jury president) Lawrence Grobel, writer, journalist, lecturer Michael Neubauer, cinematographer, manager
Directors' Debuts Competition Jan Roelfs, production designer (jury president) Amjad Al Rasheed, director, writer Johannes Kirklechner, cinematographer
TV Series Competition Salvatore Totino, cinematographer (jury president) Catherine Goldschmidt, cinematographer Larkin Seiple, cinematographer
Documentary Features Competition Lara Vilanova, cinematographer, colorist (jury president) Consuelo Althouse, cinematographer, artist, documentary filmmaker Jeff Gibbs, producer, director, writer, documentary filmmaker
Documentary Shorts Competition Maiti Gámez, director, cinematographer, documentary filmmaker (jury president) Kirstine Barfod, producer Stephen Lightbill, cinematographer
Music Videos Competition Alice Brooks, cinematographer (jury president) Greig Fraser, cinematographer Dawid Podsiadło, singer-songwriter, composer
Film and Art School Etudes Competition Shelly Johnson, cinematographer (jury president) Martin Gschlacht, cinematographer, producer Adam Habib, cinematographer, animation layout artist and camera lead
Official selection The films and projects selected for each announced section are as follows:
Highlighted title indicates section's Golden Frog winner. Highlighted title indicates section's Silver Frog winner. Highlighted title indicates section's Bronze Frog winner.
Main Competition English Title Original Title Cinematographer(s) Director(s) Production countrie(s) Blitz Yorick Le Saux Steve McQueen United Kingdom, United States The Brutalist Lol Crawley Brady Corbet United Kingdom Cabrini Gorka Gómez Andreu Alejandro Monteverde United States Conclave Stéphane Fontaine Edward Berger United Kingdom, United States The Devil's Bath Des Teufels Bad Martin Gschlacht Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala Austria, Germany Dune: Part Two Greig Fraser Denis Villeneuve United States, Canada Emilia Pérez Paul Guilhaume Jacques Audiard France, United States The Fire Inside Rina Yang Rachel Morrison United States The Girl with the Needle Pigen med nålen Michał Dymek Magnus von Horn Denmark, Poland, Sweden Gladiator II John Mathieson Ridley Scott United Kingdom, United States Small Things like These Frank van den Eeden Tim Mielants Ireland, Belgium, United States Vermiglio Mikhail Krichman Maura Delpero Italy, France, Belgium
Special Screenings English Title Original Title Cinematographer(s) Director(s) Production countrie(s) Special Screenings The Battle of Monte Cassino Czerwone maki Arkadiusz Tomiak Krzysztof Łukaszewicz Poland The Girl from the Wardrobe Dziewczyna z szafy Arkadiusz Tomiak Bodo Kox Here Don Burgess Robert Zemeckis United States Inside Out 2 Adam Habib, Jonathan Pytko Kelsey Mann Maria Edward Lachman Pablo Larraín Italy, Germany, United States Rust Halyna Hutchins, Bianca Cline Joel Souza United States The Seasons Sezony Edgar de Poray Michał Grzybowski Poland The Seed of the Sacred Fig دانهی انجیر معابد / Les Graines du figuier sauvage / Die Saat des heiligen Feigenbaums Pooyan Aghababaei Mohammad Rasoulof Iran, France, Germany September 5 Markus Förderer Tim Fehlbaum Germany Unstoppable Salvatore Totino William Goldenberg United States Wicked Alice Brooks Jon M. Chu Young Woman and the Sea Óscar Faura Joachim Rønning United States, Hungary, Italy, United Kingdom, France 30 Years of Searchlight Pictures Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) Emmanuel Lubezki Alejandro González Iñárritu United States The Favourite Robbie Ryan Yorgos Lanthimos United Kingdom, Ireland, United States The Grand Budapest Hotel Robert Yeoman Wes Anderson United States, Germany Nomadland Joshua James Richards Chloé Zhao United States Sideways Phedon Papamichael Alexander Payne United States Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Ben Davis Martin McDonagh United States, United Kingdom
Documentary Features Competition English Title Original Title Cinematographer(s) Director(s) Production countrie(s) Cyborg Generation Martí Herrera Miguel Morillo Vega Spain I Am the Creation of Fiction Jestem postacią fikcyjną Kacper Wójcicki Arkadiusz Bartosiak Poland Koka Aliaksandr Tsymbaliuk Aliaksandr Tsymbaliuk When Harmattan Blows Marcin Sauter Edyta Wróblewska Mistress Dispeller Elizabeth Lo Elizabeth Lo China, United States Mother Vera Cécile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson Cécile Embleton, Alys Tomlinson United Kingdom Viktor Olivier Sarbil Olivier Sarbil Ukraine, United States, Denmark
Director's Debuts Competition English Title Original Title Cinematographer(s) Director(s) Production countrie(s) Brief History of a Family 家庭简史 Jiahao Zhang Jianjie Lin China, France, Denmark, Qatar Daddio Phedon Papamichael Christy Hall United States In the Land of Brothers در سرزمین برادر Farshad Mohammadi Alireza Ghasemi, Raha Amirfazli Iran, France, Netherlands Los Frikis Santiago Gonzalez Tyler Nilson, Michael Schwartz United States, Dominican Republic, Cuba Nickel Boys Jomo Fray RaMell Ross United States Pedro Páramo Rodrigo Prieto, Nico Aguilar Rodrigo Prieto Mexico Red Path Les enfants rouges Wojciech Staroń Lotfi Achour Tunisia, France, Belgium, Poland Santosh Lennert Hillege Sandhya Suri United Kingdom, France, Germany The Substance Benjamin Kračun Coralie Fargeat United Kingdom, United States, France Valentina or the Serenity Valentina o la serenidad Carlos Correa Ángeles Cruz Mexico White Courage Biała Odwaga Marcin Koszałka Marcin Koszałka Poland Who Do I Belong To ماء العين / Là d'où l'on vient Vincent Gonneville Meryam Joobeur Tunisia, France, Canada
Cinematographer's Debuts Competition English Title Original Title Cinematographer(s) Director(s) Production countrie(s) Banzo Leandro Ferrão Margarida Cardoso Portugal, France, Netherlands Brief History of a Family 家庭简史 Jiahao Zhang Jianjie Lin China, France, Denmark, Qatar Edge of Summer Rachel Clark Lucy Cohen United Kingdom Los Frikis Santiago Gonzalez Tyler Nilson, Michael Schwartz United States, Dominican Republic, Cuba My Place Is Here Il mio posto è qui Emilio Maria Costa Cristiano Bortone, Daniela Porto Italy, Germany The Queen's Orphans As Órfãs da Rainha Fernanda Tanaka Elza Cataldo Brazil Tatami Todd Martin Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Guy Nattiv United States, Georgia Who Do I Belong To ماء العين / Là d'où l'on vient Vincent Gonneville Meryam Joobeur Tunisia, France, Canada
Music Videos Competition