Cinematographers’ Debuts Competition 2022 Line-up!

Sunday October 16th, 2022

Cinematographers’ Debuts Competition was initiated in 2010 due to the Festival’s increasing openness to the noteworthy artists and the new film phenomena they create. The selection committee nominates first or second non-documentary feature films made by young directors and cinematographers. The idea of creating additional competition sections was a natural consequence of our previous activities. For years we have been promoting innovative projects that combine intellectual freedom, remarkable insight into world affairs and a desire to inspire other artists of the screen.

Cinematographers’ Debuts Competition brings new discoveries: great movies of high artistic value and great filmmakers whose new ventures surprise not only the Jury members but all audiences around the world as well.
 
Competition is under the patronage of Polish Filmmakers Association.
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A CROSS IN THE DESERT

Pious girl Paraskeva leaves her life in Constantinople and spends 40 years in the Jordan desert, fighting sin, temptation and inner demons. We follow her path from an ordinary girl to one of the most beloved female Saints in Christianity. Beside the main story, we see relations between Christians and Muslims in the 10th century. A side story shows us how two women (a Bedouin Arab girl Zaineb and Paraskeva) from different cultural, social and religious backgrounds share the same human emotions, values, love and friendship with their pure hearts. It is also a story about how people can overcome their own weaknesses. The themes of the film are universal moral questions of mankind, and that makes it relevant today anywhere in the world.

Original title: Sveta Petka - Krst u pustisnji
Director: Hadzi-Aleksandar Djurovic
Cinematographer: Hadzi-Aleksandar Djurovic
Produced by: Aleksandrija Film, Jordan Pioneers
Country and year: Serbia, Jordan, 2021
  
 

GOLD

A suspenseful thriller about how far people are ready to go to protect their wealth. When two men crossing the desert discover the largest nugget of gold ever found, they are overcome by greed and visions of an unlimited fortune. They quickly devise a plan to get the lump of gold out and protect it. One of them sets out to get the necessary equipment. The other stays to fight against nature’s adversity, wild dogs and mysterious intruders. And also with the growing conviction that he has been abandoned to his fate.

Polish title: Złoto
Director: Anthony Hayes
Cinematographer: Ross Giardina
Produced by: Deeperwater Films, Rouge Star Productions
Country and year: Australia, USA, 2021
 
 

ILLUSION

The sudden disappearance of their daughter is an event that leaves a very strong mark on the lives of Hanna (played by Agata Buzek) and her husband (Marcin Czarnik). Each of them experiences the situation in their own way. Hanna especially, refuses to accept the worst possible scenario, believing that she will eventually find her beloved child. When all methods fail, the main character decides to conduct her own investigation and search for her daughter until the end. Illusion is not about unravelling the mystery, but rather about conveying the emotional dilemmas of the main character in the face of the extreme situation she finds herself in.

Original title: Iluzja
Director: Marta Minorowicz
Cinematographer: Paweł Chorzępa
Produced by: IKH Pictures Production & Promotion
Polish distributor: Aurora Films
Country and year: Poland, 2022
 
 

LOVE ACCORDING TO DALVA

Dalva, 12, lives only with her father. One evening, the police storms into their home and takes her into foster care. As Dalva befriends her new roommate Samia and social worker Jayden, she gradually comes to understand the love she shared with her father was not what she thought. With their help, Dalva will learn to become a child again.
 
Original title: Dalva
Director: Emmanuelle Nicot
Cinematographer: Caroline Guimbal
Produced by: Hélicotronc SPRL
Country and year: France, Belgium, 2022
 
 

TWO FRIENDS

The aftermath of Babri Mosque demolition and the Bombay blasts in India, 1992-1993, found its violent echoes even in a remote village of West Bengal adjacent to the India-Bangladesh border where the story begins to unfold. A story of friendship between two little boys belonging to two warring religious communities. Palash (8) is the son of a Hindu Brahmin, while Safikul (8) is the son of a Muslim weaver. The innocence of Palash and Safikul receives its sustenance from nature. The greenery of the village, the river and the vast stretch of paddy fields playfully rebound the echoes of the voices and the laughter of the boys. However, relentless fate arrives quietly, when separation becomes the destiny of their friendship. How the boys face the farewell and spread wings to fly again.
 
Original title: Dostojee
Director: Prasun Chatterjee
Cinematographer: Tuhin Biswas
Produced by: Kathak Talkies
Country and year: India, 2021
 
 

 

HONORARY PATRONAGE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND ANDRZEJ DUDA

FINANCED BY THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND NATIONAL HERITAGE OF THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND AS PART OF THE TASK: CO-ORGANIZATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL OF THE ART OF CINEMATOGRAPHY EnergaCAMERIMAGE 2023

CO-FINANCED BY: THE CITY OF TORUŃ, KUJAWSKO-POMORSKIE REGION AND POLISH FILM INSTITUT

PROJECT IS CO-FINANCED BY THE EUROPEAN REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND WITHIN THE REGIONAL OPERATIONAL PROGRAMME FOR KUJAWSKO-POMORSKIE REGION FOR THE YEARS 2014-2020

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