VIEW FROM THE TOP•MAREK ŻYDOWICZ

PEARL IN THE SHELL

We are organising the International Film Festival EnergaCAMERIMAGE for the 30th time. Our festival has grown to become the largest and most prestigious event dedicated to the art of cinematography in the world. Thousands of filmmakers, art school students, film equipment and technology producers, journalists, and film lovers come to us every year, attracted to the unique idea and atmosphere it provides. At EnergaCAMERIMAGE, the participants can converse about moving pictures without commercial pressure, without ideological or political tensions, which seem to be quite rare in today’s world.

In 1993 when I worked on the very first edition of Camerimage, I truly believed that cinema artists could save a person, an individual whose importance was increasingly diminishing in a degenerating civilisation. Today, I feel that this belief is even more essential. Cinema has degenerated, and film festivals have become a field of ideological struggle. We seem to forget that film is a form of art, a creation rather than a recording, a means of spiritual communication rather than journalistic photography, a natural stimulant for dormant beauty and sensitivity, or a soothing balm for shattered nerves. Too often, though, it is a depressant, releases negative energy, and favours propaganda over dialogue and kindness.

The origins of the festival date back to the time when communism collapsed in Poland. The universal enthusiasm at that time was like a drug. We were so eager to make up for lost time. Unfortunately, the joy of freedom quickly turned into the madness of arbitrariness. Rejecting everything, we lost ground and reached absurdities.

As an art historian, I felt that film was closer to the people than all other arts. Under communism, we were isolated from Western art. I was a lecturer at university. There was no possibility of going abroad and to earn decent money. I organised the first exhibition of European art of the 1980s in 1991. With private funds from the first sponsorship, I managed to bring to Toruń the collections of Professor Ludwig from Cologne and Achen, from the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Museum of Art in Vienna, works by independent artists from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Russia and Poland.

Then, the renowned German filmmaker, Volker Schlöndorff, came to visit Toruń. I realised that I could do something more. I came up with the idea of a festival where cinematographers, usually underestimated in the film world, would not only be noticed, but would also have plenty of opportunities to talk to each other and exchange ideas.

Directors Krzysztof Kieślowski and David Lynch supported me in that idea. Cinematographers such as Sven Nykvist and Vittorio Storaro also came, as well as Conrad Hall, Vilmos Zsigmond, László Kovács, Haskel Wexler. Not long after, I had the support of Andrzej Zulawski, John Schlesinger, Peter Weir, Roland Joffé, Alan Parker, Jeremy Irons, Sophie Marceau, Charlize Theron, Keanu Reeves, Quentin Tarantino, Danny de Vito and Richard Gere, and thousands of cinematographers have attended the festival between then and now. All of our guests come out of respect for the work and achievements of cinematographers.

From 1993 to this day the festival continues to grow. During the communist era and, unfortunately, during 30 years of freedom, no dedicated festival and film centre was established In Poland. Finally, in 2019, the Polish Government and the City of Toruń supported the creation of the European Film Center (EFC) Camerimage. The first cinema in Poland that meets the screening requirements in all internationally-recognised standards will be created here, in Toruń, where the Camerimage idea was born.

We are happy and proud to play our part in this. We will be able to carry out a programme of film, exhibition, educational and artistic projects related to visual arts, science and entertainment here 365 days a year.

I am extremely concerned about the war in Ukraine, inflation and the Covid pandemic. However, I believe that we will find help worldwide to restore the balance and eliminate evil from our lives and work.

I want to invite you all to the 30th anniversary edition of the festival in Toruń on November 1219. You will not only have the chance to watch great films, get to know the latest film technologies, attend workshops and seminars with outstanding filmmakers from around the world and masters of cinema, but you will also be able to talk about what kind of place ECF Camerimage should become for artists and audiences, people like you.

Join the conversation. Come to Toruń, the new promised land of European cinema.

Come to Toruń, the new promised land of European cinema

Marek Żydowicz Founder & Festival Director EnergaCAMERIMAGE