“Starting point” directed by Michał Szcześniak is one of the winners of the 22nd edition of International Film Festival Camerimage, which ended on Saturday, 22nd November. The Golden Frog in the Short Documentary Film Competition was given to Przemysław Niczyporuk – the cinematographer of the film. The jury, composed of Jay Rosenblatt (chairman), Kate Amend, Lawrence Grobel, Christian Frei and Nancy Schreiber, stated in its verdict that “in challenging institutional environments, the engaging cinematography helped to bring out the emotions and poignancy of the main characters and their relationships to one another”.
Aneta, the main character of the film, rebelled at the age of 19. She went to prison for murder. Nine year later, while serving her sentence, she takes up a job of a carer. Every day she leaves the prison to go to the nursing home to look after Helena who suffers from rheumatism. By talking to the old lady Aneta realises how much she has in life and starts to believe in herself before the hard test which is ahead of her.
The Silver Tadpole in the Student Etudes Competition was given to Andrzej Cichocki for the cinematography of his film “The shadow forest”. The film was awarded by the jury, composed of Rob Epstein (chairman), Andreas Dresen, Steven Poster, Irena Strzałkowska, Martin Walsh, Marcin Wrona, Aaron Young and Phedon Papamichael. Twenty two films competed for awards in this section.
“The shadow forest” starts with a scene in which a man, while hunting a wolf in a primordial forest, is startled by the sound of guns firing. Suddenly, in an explosion of movement there are people running, one of whom, a small boy, gets lost in the sinister forest. Even the wolves are overwhelmed by a sense of the impending danger.
For over 20 years now Camerimage has been showing the best world films representing the outstanding level of cinematography. The films are shown and evaluated by international jury in as many as nine competition sections while the greatest names of cinematography visit Bydgoszcz during the festival.
The full list of the films awarded at 22nd International Film Festival Camerimage can be found here.