Since its inception the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography CAMERIMAGE has always focused on distinguishing those brilliant filmmakers who stayed in the shade of actors, directors or screenwriters - the cinematographers. We have shown their exceptional skills and visual sensitivity. We have acknowledged their input in the art of cinema. Together with them we observed the upcoming digital revolution.

“Remembering the Masters" is on the one hand to accentuate the craft of all those brilliant cinematographers who passed away, and on the other to provoke a discussion about the cinematic possibilities given by the films which over the years set the standards for what we watch today. In the moment of the digital revolution, both mental and technological, it is crucial not to forget about the always-fascinating history of cinema without which such revolution wouldn't come. We therefore invite everyone to watch the work of true masters, and by this remember every lesson they wanted to teach us.

This year we will present the work of two extraordinary cinematographers. One of them is Mieczysława Jahoda.

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MIECZYSŁAW JAHODA

If we were to wake up any film buff in the middle of the night and ask him who Mieczysław Jahoda is, they would tell us that he was the Director of Photography for the first Polish movie produced with Eastman Colour Negative and the Cinemascope system - Aleksander Ford'sBlack Cross (1960). This unprecedented big-budget movie boasted a very broad colour palette (a year earlier, Jahoda had used the Kodak negative in Stanisław Jędryka's short, Stadion) and a well thought-out colour design.

But the introduction of ECN and the widescreen system to Polish cinema is not Jahoda's only merit. He was an exceptional cinematographer (and a wonderful person with a great sense of humour), as well as a professor of The Polish National Film, Television and Theatre School, a place he loved and thrived in. In his time there, he educated many future masters of the camera.

Mieczysław Jahoda
He was born on 12th February, 1924 in Krakow. Soon after the World War II, he enrolled for a Course in Film and Film Craft for Youths, a vanguard of the Łódź Film School, which he graduated from in 1953. While studying in Krakow he worked as an assistant on documentary films, and during (as well as after) his Łódź studies he moved up the cinematographic career ladder working on such features as Jerzy Kawalerowicz's and Kazimierz Sumerski'sThe Village Mill (1951, assistant cinematographer) and Kawalerowicz's diptych Cellulose - Under the Phrygian Star (1953-1954, second cinematographer). At the same time, as an independent cinematographer, Jahoda cooperated with the Educational Film Studio in Łódź, including on Wojciech Jerzy Has' short films.

Jahoda's poetic camerawork in Stanisław Lenartowicz'sWinter Twilight (1956) marks his debut in a feature-length movie. He presented himself in this film as a supporter of a creative approach to cinema. It is evident especially in Has' films - The Noose (1957), Farewells (1958), The Saragossa Manuscript (1964) - which masterfully use black and white cinematography to create an adequate mood. The same can be said of Jahoda's colour opus magnum, Tadeusz Konwicki'sHow Far, How Near (1971).

Still from "The Noose"
Still from "Farewells"
Jahoda achieved great results even when the film demanded a less sophisticated, more realistic cinematography, such as in Ewa and Czesław Petelski'sSergeant Kalen (1961), Jan Rybkowski'sCafe from the Past (1962), Has'The Codes (1966), Tadeusz Chmielewski's comedy I hate Mondays (1971), popular TV series Turning Forty (1974-1977) or Stanisław Jędryka'sI Died to Live (TV, 1984), one of the last films he worked on as Director of Photography.

Mieczysław Jahoda died on 15th May, 2009 in Warsaw. He was buried in his hometown, Krakow.

We sincerely invite all Camerimage participants to join the retrospective of Mieczysław Jahoda's films. Click HERE to see which ones will be screened.

All screenings will be held in Multikino in Bydgoszcz (Marszałka Focha 48). Booking is available on-line, and cost of the ticket is 8PLN (8.50 PLN if via Multikino website). The same prices concern all films screened in Multikino. It does not concern the holders of Festival Passes.


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We also invite you to a virtual exhibition devoted to Mieczysław Jahoda. It will be available on the Camerimage Festival TV.

Mieczyslaw Jahoda.
The cinematographer/the pioneer/the artist

Mieczyslaw Jahoda was considered a strict cinematographer, difficult to work with. He was even called a demon by one of the directors. However since the very beginning, his sensitivity and ability to create film images has placed him among the most talented cinematographers. Even though he is remembered by his work, little is known about him as a person and about his working methodology. The exhibition called “Mieczyslaw Jahoda. The cinematographer/the pioneer/the artist" is therefore a presentation of his lifework from various perspectives: from the most emblematic shots of his films and photographs from his film sets, to his co-workers' reminiscences and his own words.

The exhibition consists of iconographic materials from Filmoteka Narodowa, presented in the form of digital collections on the websites of Fototeka (www.fototeka.fn.org.pl) and Gapla: film poster gallery (www.galpla.fn.org.pl).