CAMERIMAGE 2016 EUROPEAN PANORAMA

Friday October 14th, 2016

We announce the line-up of the European Panorama section of this year's Camerimage.

Cézanne and I

History knows many great friendships between distinguished artists who found inspiration and support in their creative discussions and valued the thoughts exchanged during them. It was no different in the case of the relationship between writer and playwright Émile Zola and Post-Impressionist painter Paul Cézanne, both of whom introduced French art and culture (and more) into the twentieth century, with its radical movements and transformations. They were born only one year apart, both grew up in the town of Aix-en-Provence, and even died of accidental causes within only a few years of each other. Cézanne and I is a story about their long-standing friendship, which was held in high esteem by both of them until it was irreversibly broken by one of Zola’s novels. The film, which goes back and forth between two times, is full of spellbinding images and interesting dialogues that captivate the intellect and the imagination alike.

Original title: Cézanne et moi
Director: Danièle Thompson
Cinematographer: Jean-Marie Dreujou

Produced by: G Films
France, 2016

Conspiracy of Faith, A

The third film about two Danish homicide detectives who work in the famous Department Q, a unit that handles cold criminal cases. This time, Carl Mørck and Assad will have to find the answer to the mysterious kidnappings and murders of children, and face a ruthless serial killer whose modus operandi involves not only killing, but also making the victims’ relatives lose their faith in God. Additionally, the more the atheist Mørck tries to crack the case, the more he realises that he has much more in common with the villain that he would like to openly admit. Will the protagonists be able to restore order to a world that is becoming more chaotic every single day? A Conspiracy of Faith is a dark and ominous thriller with a hint of existential dread, influenced in more than one way by the recent wave of Nordic noir. The film offers mature entertainment, simultaneously suspenseful and poignant, but also leaves the viewer with a number of tough questions to answer.

Original title: Flaskepost fra P
Director: Hans Petter Moland
Cinematographer: John Andreas Andersen

Produced by: Zentropa Entertainments20, Zentropa Post Production, Zentropa Productions 2

Polish distributor: KINO ŚWIAT Sp. z o. o.
Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Norway, 2016

Foreign Body

The protagonist of Foreign Body is Wolfgang, an elderly German man whose life was saved by a kidney transplant, though he gained access to the organ illegally in Turkey. When everything seems to be getting back to normal, he receives a note from a woman who claims she was the donor, and that she now demands financial compensation. Desperate and hopeless, Wolfgang goes back to Istanbul, which he thought he would never have to see again, to be humiliated and scoffed at. Or at least that is what he thinks will happen. He meets his blackmailer, a young Ukrainian named Irina who says she did not get a penny for the sacrifice she made, and then, curiously, begins to realise that he has become somewhat attached to the woman. They come from two different worlds and are separated by many years and miles of experience, but they try to resolve the difficult situation so that nobody gets more hurt. The truth is, however, that people mainly see what they want to see, not what really is.

Original title: Fremdkörper
Director: Christian Werner
Cinematographer: Eva Katharina Bühler

Produced by: Venice Pictures
Germany, 2015

Innocents, The

December, 1945. Poland is gradually finding its feet again after the nightmare of World War II. One day, Mathilde Beaulieu, a young medical student working for the French Red Cross, is begged by a nun to come to her convent and assist another nun in need. When she arrives, Mathilde finds out that the woman is pregnant and has practically started giving birth. After saving her and the baby’s life, she leaves the convent, but starts to take an interest in what is happening there, despite the strong resistance from the mother superior and the other sisters. Mathilde discovers in horror that the nuns were repeatedly raped by Russian soldiers, which has left the deeply religious women with many permanent scars, both physical and psychological. Many events from Les Innocentes happened in real life, in the times when morality was just another word and all selfless help raised suspicion. A minimalistic film of great emotions and poignant human tragedies.

Original title: Les Innocentes

Polish title: Niewinne
Director: Anne Fontaine
Cinematographer: Caroline Champetier

Produced by: France 2 Cinema, Scope Pictures, Mandarin Cinéma, Mars Films, Aeroplan Film

Polish distributor: KINO ŚWIAT Sp. z o. o.
Poland, France, 2016

Neon Demon, The

A tale of the cult of beauty and youth in the world of high fashion, set in sunny Los Angeles, a place of countless possibilities that by night turns into a city full or predators and emotional vampires on a perpetual hunt for new victims. Yet this is a classic cinematic fairy tale, disguised as a horror movie, about an innocent, naïve teenage girl who has to learn to handle the monsters around her or become one of them. Jesse moves to the City of Angels to start a career as a model. Her natural beauty, still not improved after dozens of plastic surgeries, catches the eye of many important fashion people, as well as bringing jealousy to the hearts of the women who have sacrificed their bodies in the name of career and fame. On her way, the girl meets egocentric fashion designers, indifferent photographers, desperate models, and many other people for whom the world in which they exist is the best possible drug.

Original title: The Neon Demon
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Cinematographer: Natasha Braier

Produced by: Bold Films, Vendian Entertainment, Space Rocket Nation

Polish distributor: GUTEK Film Sp. z o. o.
Denmark, USA, France, 2016

Son of Saul

Saul is a Hungarian Jew trying to make ends meet in Auschwitz where he works as a member of ‘Sonderkommando’, a special work unit which has to clean up the gas chambers and crematoria, among many other things. Knowing that he cannot do anything to change his existence, Saul has chosen to immunize himself from the surrounding reality. He acts like a machine, living from one task to another, dealing with the subsequent transports of prisoners one by one. When he sees the body of what appears to be his beloved son dragged out of the gas chamber without any remorse, something changes within him, he discovers some long-forgotten part of his former self. In spite of the unimaginably horrific situation in which he exists, Saul decides to give the boy a proper burial, thus risking not only his life but also the lives of his inmates. László Nemes’s Son of Saul is a powerful, mentally exhausting, and harrowing tale about looking for sparks of humanity in a world gone mad.

Original title: Saul fia

Polish title: Syn Szawła
Director: László Nemes
Cinematographer: Mátyás Erdély

Produced by: Laokoon Filmgroup

Polish distributor: GUTEK Film Sp. z o. o.
Hungary, 2015