The International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Camerimage () is a

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

that celebrates and awards

cinematography Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens (optics), lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sen ...

and

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

s. The festival is held in

Toruń Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a World Heritage Sites of Poland, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–199 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, at the end of November every year. It spans the course of one week, with multiple events at one time. The first seven events (1993–1999) were held in Toruń, and the next ten events (2000–2009) were held in

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

. From 2010 until 2018, the festival took place in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

, before returning to Toruń in 2019, where it currently remains. In 2007, the name of the festival was changed from Camerimage to Plus Camerimage, but it was changed back in 2013 after the sponsorship deal with Plus ended. The festival has hosted many prominent filmmakers including

Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker. His films are noted for their surreal, dramatic, and often disturbing elements, frequently in the form of psychological realism. His accolades include a Golden Lion ...

, Jon M. Chu,

Alfonso Cuarón Alfonso Cuarón Orozco ( ; ; born 28 November 1961) is a Mexican filmmaker. List of awards and nominations received by Alfonso Cuarón, His accolades include four Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and seven BAFTA Awards. Cuarón made h ...

Peter Greenaway Peter Greenaway, (born 5 April 1942) is a British film director, screenwriter and artist. His films are noted for the distinct influence of Renaissance and Baroque painting, and Mannerist painting in particular. Common traits in his films a ...

, Agnieszka Holland, James Ivory,

Jim Jarmusch James Robert Jarmusch ( ; born January 22, 1953) is an American film director, screenwriter and musician. He has been a major proponent of independent film, independent cinema since the 1980s, directing films such as ''Stranger Than Paradise'' ...

, Aki Kaurismäki,

Krzysztof Kieślowski Krzysztof Kieślowski (, 27 June 1941 – 14 March 1996) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He is known internationally for ''Dekalog'' (1989), ''The Double Life of Veronique'' (1991), and the Three Colours trilogy, ''Three Colours'' ...

Andrei Konchalovsky Andrei Sergeyevich Konchalovsky (; né Mikhalkov; born 20 August 1937) is a Russian film and theatre director, screenwriter, and producer. His filmmaking career spans over 60 years in Cinema of the Soviet Union, Soviet, Cinema of the United St ...

, Emir Kusturica,

Ang Lee Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. His films are known for their emotional charge and exploration of repressed, hidden emotions. During his career, he has received international critical and popular acclaim and List o ...

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a retiredhttps://variety.com/2024/film/global/ken-loach-retirement-the-old-oak-jonathan-glazer-oscars-speech-1235956589/ English filmmaker. His socially critical directing style and socialist views ar ...

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

Paweł Pawlikowski Paweł Aleksander Pawlikowski (; born 15 September 1957) is a Polish filmmaker. He garnered early praise for a string of documentaries in the 1990s and for his award-winning feature films of the 2000s, '' Last Resort'' (2000) and '' My Summer of ...

, Roman Polański, Robert Richardson,

Gus Van Sant Gus Green Van Sant Jr. (born July 24, 1952) is an American filmmaker, photographer, painter, and musician. He has earned acclaim as an independent film, independent auteur. His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultures. His ...

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...

Volker Schlöndorff Volker Schlöndorff (; born 31 March 1939) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer who has worked in Germany, France and the United States. He was a prominent member of the New German Cinema of the late 1960s and early 1970s. He ha ...

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born ) is an American filmmaker. Stone is an acclaimed director, tackling subjects ranging from the Vietnam War and American politics to musical film, musical Biographical film, biopics and Crime film, crime dramas. He has ...

István Szabó István Szabó (; born 18 February 1938) is a Hungarian film director, screenwriter, and opera director. Szabó is one of the most notable Hungary, Hungarian filmmakers and one who has been best known outside the Hungarian language, Hungarian- ...

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...

, Tom Tykwer,

Denis Villeneuve Denis Villeneuve Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, OAL (; ; born October 3, 1967) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. He has received seven Canadian Screen Awards as well as nominations for four Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, and two ...

Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the "P ...

, Peter Weir, and

Wim Wenders Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker and photographer, who is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among the honors he has received are prizes from the Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, Venice International Film ...

. A controversy erupted shortly before the festival’s 32nd edition, which took place from November 16 to 23, 2024, and stemmed from an editorial Żydowicz published in Cinematography World magazine. In the editorial, Żydowicz appeared to argue that increasing the representation of female cinematographers and directors in the festival’s programming could compromise artistic quality, potentially leading to the inclusion of “mediocre film productions” at the expense of “works and artists with outstanding artistic achievements.” He questioned whether festivals should “sacrifice” high-quality works to accommodate social changes, suggesting that Camerimage’s commitment to artistic merit set it apart from other festivals like Cannes or Berlin, which he implied had bowed to ideological pressures. These comments triggered a swift and widespread backlash from the film industry. Many interpreted them as misogynistic, arguing that they dismissed the talent and contributions of women in cinematography and perpetuated gender biases in an already male-dominated field. The British Society of Cinematographers (BSC) issued an open letter condemning Żydowicz’s “profoundly misogynistic comments and aggressive tone,” calling them indicative of deep-rooted prejudice. The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) and the International Cinematographers Guild (IATSE Local 600) echoed this sentiment, expressing disappointment and support for the BSC’s stance. Women in Cinematography, an advocacy group, highlighted the festival’s historical underrepresentation of women—noting that only 3.1% of films in the main competition over 30 years were shot by female cinematographers—and criticized Camerimage for sidelining acclaimed works by women, such as Mudbound and The Power of the Dog, from its top competitions.

Awards

* Main Competition ** Golden Frog () ** Silver Frog () ** Bronze Frog () * Student Études Competition () ** Golden Tadpole () ** Silver Tadpole () ** Bronze Tadpole () * Documentary Films Competition ** Documentary Shorts Competition ** Documentary Features Competition * Feature Debuts Competition ** Directors' Debuts Competition ** Cinematographers' Debuts Competition * Music Videos Competition ** Best Music Video ** Best Cinematography in Music Video * 3D Films Competition * Polish Films Competition * Camerimage Lifetime Achievement Award * Cinematographer - Director Duo Award * Special Krzysztof Kieślowski Award for Director * Production Designer Award

Main competition

Golden Frog winners

"†" indicates a nominee for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography.

Additional festival events

* Camerimage Market * Equipment showcases * Various exhibitions and live music performances * Student Panorama (screenings of student films which did not make it into the main competition) * Camerimage Forum (a seminar devoted to authorship rights and working conditions of cinematographers) * Special screenings and premieres, reviews, retrospectives, meetings, seminars, and workshops led by well known filmmakers

Academy Awards

Since 2013, short documentary films awarded the Golden Frog during Camerimage festival are granted consideration in the Documentary Short Subject category of the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

without having to meet the standard theatrical run requirement. To meet all requirements, the running time limit of selected short documentary was decreased from 60 to 40 minutes. This way requirements for short documentary films selected at both Camerimage festival and the Academy Awards are the same.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.camerimage.pl/en/ Polish film awards Film festivals in Poland Culture in Toruń Events in Łódź Culture in Łódź Culture in Bydgoszcz Film festivals established in 1993