SECOND HALF OF THE MAIN COMPETITION LINE-UP ANNOUNCED!

Thursday November 7th, 2013

The Main Competition with the Golden Frog Award has been the most important part of the Festival since the first edition of the Festival in 1993. From the very beginning the idea behind the competition has been to present feature films with image that significantly contributes to the way a story is told. The visual value of these films results from cooperation between a director and a cinematographer. The Main Competition emphasizes the enormous contribution of the cinematographer to the art of film.

Here is the second part of Camerimage 2013 Main Competition line-up:
    Concrete Night (Betoniyö), cin. Peter Flinckenberg, dir. Pirjo Honkasalo

    Concrete Night is a dream-like odyssey through beautiful Helsinki over the course of one night. The protagonist of the film is a 14-year-old boy named Simo who is still searching for a sense of self and the ability to protect himself from his surroundings. He lacks his own identity. Simo and his big brother Ilkka are the sons of a helpless and unpredictable single mother. Their chaotic home is located deep in the heart of a concrete jungle in Helsinki. Ilkka has one day of freedom left before starting his prison sentence. The mother persuades Simo to spend the last night with his brother.

    ***
    Ida, cin. Łukasz Żal, Ryszard Lenczewski, dir. Paweł Pawlikowski; Polish distributor: Solopan

    Poland 1962. Anna is a novice, an orphan brought up by nuns in the convent. She has to see Wanda, the only living relative, before she takes her vows. Wanda tells Anna that Anna is Jewish. Both women start a journey not only to find their family tragic story, but who they really are and where they belong. They question their religions and ideas they believed in. Both are trying to go on living but only one of them can.

    ***
    Lee Daniels' The Butler, cin. Andrew Dunn, dir. Lee Daniels; Polish distributor: KINO ŚWIAT Sp. z o.o.

    Lee Daniels' The Butler tells the story of a White House butler who served seven American presidents over the course of three decades, starting in the 1950s. The film traces the dramatic changes that swept American society during this time, from the civil rights movement to Vietnam and beyond, and how those changes affected this man's life and family.

    ***
    Life Feels Good (Chce się żyć), cin. Paweł Dyllus, dir. Maciej Pieprzyca; Polish distributor: KINO ŚWIAT Sp. z o.o.

    Mateusz is born with severe cerebral palsy. He doesn't speak, while partial paralysis hinders his movement to a great extent. The doctors state that he is “a vegetable". Mateusz's parents do not accept the “diagnosis" and show deep love for their son, arousing his sister's jealousy. The boy's inner monologue proves that, on a mental level, he is perfectly normal - it is the communication barrier that separates him from people in the external world. Trying to breech this wall, Mateusz meets hearty people eager to help. Among them is a teacher of Blissa (a language in which speech is substituted for typographic symbols). In spite of the harsh subject matter and the grave situation of the protagonist, Life Feels Good is far from being depressive. It deals with the problem of the disabled with vivid optimism and often lewd humour, combined with a serious topic.

    ***
    Nebraska, cin. Phedon Papamichael, dir. Alexander Payne

    Woody Grant, a poor old man living in Montana repeatedly escapes from his house to go to Nebraska to collect a sweepstakes prize he thinks he has won. Frustrated by his increasing dementia, his family debates putting him into a nursing home - until one of his two sons finally offers to take his father by car, even as he realizes the futility. En route, the father is injured, and the two must rest a few days in the small decaying Nebraska town where the father was born and where, closely observed by the son, he re-encounters his past.

    ***
    Shirley - Visions of Reality, cin. Jerzy Palacz, dir. Gustav Deutsch; Polish distributor: New Horizons Association

    Over a dozen pictures by the American hyperrealist painter Edward Hopper are brought to life - this enters us into a dialogue between the fine arts and the art of cinema, while the fictional female protagonist guides the audience through the history of 20th century United States, starting from the Great Depression, through the times of McCarthyism and racism, to the rights movements of the 60s. Shirley is an impressive, emancipated actress. Although her trade has made her familiar with the mechanisms of reflecting reality, it has also taught her to question and shape history by herself.

    ***
    Twelve Years a Slave, cin. Sean Bobbitt, dir. Steve McQueen; Polish distributor: Monolith Films Sp. z o.o.

    12 Years A Slave is based on the incredible true story of one man's fight for survival and freedom. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty (personified by a malevolent slave owner, portrayed by Michael Fassbender), as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon's chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life.


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 2024

CO-FINANCED BY: THE CITY OF TORUŃ AND KUJAWSKO-POMORSKIE REGION

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