Camerimage

The International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Camerimage

Camerimage 2019, Jordanki Cultural Centre, Toruń
Location	Poland 1993–1999 Toruń 2000–2009 Łódź 2010–2018 Bydgoszcz 2019–present Toruń
Founded	1993
Most recent	32nd International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Camerimage
Artistic director	Marek Żydowicz
Website	camerimage.pl/en/

The International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Camerimage (Polish: Międzynarodowy Festiwal Sztuki Autorów Zdjęć Filmowych Camerimage) is a festival that celebrates and awards cinematography and cinematographers. The festival is held in Toruń, Poland, at the end of November every year. It spans the course of one week, with multiple events at one time.^[1]

The first seven events (1993–1999) were held in Toruń, and the next ten events (2000–2009) were held in Łódź. From 2010 until 2018, the festival took place in Bydgoszcz, 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, Jon M. Chu, Alfonso Cuarón, Peter Greenaway, Agnieszka Holland, James Ivory, Jim Jarmusch, Aki Kaurismäki, Krzysztof Kieślowski, Andrei Konchalovsky, Emir Kusturica, Ang Lee, Ken Loach, David Lynch, Paweł Pawlikowski, Roman Polański, Robert Richardson, Gus Van Sant, Ridley Scott, Volker Schlöndorff, Oliver Stone, István Szabó, Quentin Tarantino, Tom Tykwer, Denis Villeneuve, Andrzej Wajda, Peter Weir, and Wim Wenders.^[2][3][4][5]

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. ^[6]