Reinhart Wins Golden Frog

Winners of the 18th Plus Camerimage festival in Bydgoszcz. Photo by Piotr Szymański, Polish Film Institute

The 18th Plus Camerimage International Festival of the Art of Cinematography drew to a close in its new Bydgoszcz venue.

The festival Grand Prize – the Golden Frog – awarded in the festival’s international Main Competition, went to Arthur Reinhart for his work on Wenecja (Venice) by Jan Jakub Kolski. The Polish cinematographer received a huge ovation from the audience gathered at the closing ceremony. This is Reinhart’s second win; he previously received a Camerimage award for Wrony (Crows) by Dorota Kędzierzawska.

“I didn’t believe I could get a Golden Frog. Honestly. I am very glad that I didn’t win the Polish Competition this time,” Reinhart joked. “But I am as moved as I was the first time.”

The Silver Frog in Main Competition went to Mikhail Krichman for his work on the Russian feature Silent Souls by Alexei Fedorchenko. The Bronze Frog went to Eduard Grau for his work on Buried by Rodrigo Cortés.

The Australian film Animal Kingdom was a double winner. Jury awards in the Directors’ Debut Film Competition and Cinematographers’ Debut Film Competition went to director David Michod and DOP Adam Arkapaw respectively.

“It is wonderful to be here at this gala, in the same room as my role models,” said Arkapaw. “I hope that this inspiration will allow David and myself to continue making films.”

The winner of the Polish Film Competition was Różyczka (Little Rose), directed by Jan Kidawa-Błoński and with cinematography by Piotr Wojtowicz.

“Every cinematographer knows that there is no more prestigious place to receive an award than Plus Camerimage. Thank you,” said the award winner.

In the international Laszlo Kovacs Student Film Competition, the winner of the Golden Tadpole award was Jakub Giza for his work on Jutro mnie tu nie będzie (I Won’t Be Here Tomorrow) by Julia Kolberger. The Silver Tadpole award went to Phillip Haberlandt and Jens Hallman for St. Christophorus: Roadkill by Gregor Erler, while the Bronze Tadpola award went to Johan Holmquist for Bekas by Karzan Kader.

The jury awarded the Best Music Video award to Kora’s Zabawa w chowanego (Game of Hide-and-Seek), directed by Bartek Ignaciuk and with cinematography by Marek Sanak. The winner of the Best Cinematography in a Music Video award was Greig Fraser’s work on The Space Between video by How to Destroy Angels. The video was directed by Rupert Sanders.

Documentary films competed in two competitions: one for short films and one for feature-length documentaries.

The Golden Frog for a Short Documentary went to Piotr Stasik for his work on Ostatni dzień lata (The Last Day of Summer).

“When I learned about this, at first I cried, and now I think I might faint,” he said. “For me, shooting a film is being with another person. I would like to thank the movie camera for making this possible.”

The Discovery Networks award in the Short Documentary Competition went to Arsy Versy by Miro Remo, with cinematography by Jaro Valko. Honourable mention was given to Out of Love by Birgitte Stærmose, with cinematography by Mark Septimus Wieser.

In the Feature-Length Documentary Competition, the Golden Frog award went to Restrepo by cinematographers Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger, who also directed the film together. The Discover Networks award went to Mugabe and the White African by Lucy Bailey and Andrew Thompson, with cinematography by Andrew Thompson. Honourable mention was given to Letters from the Desert by Michela Occhipinti, with cinematography by Pau Mirabet.

Awards were also presented for European Funds advertising. In the low-budget production category, the winner was the Świętokrzyskie Voivodship, while the winning picture in the high-budget production category was a film produced by the Ministry for Regional Development.

At Plus Camerimage, the special awards are of equal importance to the competition awards. The lifetime achievement award went to Michael Ballhaus, who worked as director of photography on such films as The Last Temptation of Christ, Gangs of New York, and Dracula. Ballhaus is a longtime collaborator and friend of Martin Scorsese.

“We made seven films together. This was one of the best, if not the best film co-operation in my career,” said the director from the screen.

“I am proud to receive this award, as it places me among people I admire,” said Ballhaus. “I consider this festival to be one of the best events for cinematographers. I wish you the best of luck in the future.”

The Special Award for a Director for Lifetime Achievement went to Joel Schumacher, director of Bad Company, Batman and Robin, and Phantom of the Opera.

“As you have seen in the screened clips, it was the cinematographers and the actors who made my career happen,” he said in his acceptance speech. “It is an honour to be on stage here tonight, in the land of Kieślowski, Wajda, and Polański. You must know that to a boy like me, who came from a poor family, cinema was a dream come true.”

The Special Award for an Editor with Unique Visual Sensitivity went to Chris Lebenzon.

The Special Award for a Production Designer went to Stuart Craig, whose most recent works include production design of the Harry Potter movies.

This year’s Plus Camerimage festival also awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for a Polish Director with Unique Visual Sensitivity to Jerzy Skolimowski, the Cinematographer-Director Duo Award to Matthew Libatique and Darren Aronofsky, and the Krzysztof Kieślowski Acting Award to Liam Neeson.

Translated by Karolina Kołtun