EnergaCAMERIMAGE OPENING FILM “POOR THINGS” TO SCREEN WITH SPECIAL GUEST WILLEM DAFOE

Saturday November 11th, 2023

The 31st edition of a grand celebration of all the beauty and diversity of filmmaking that is EnergaCAMERIMAGE Film Festival starts today with the Opening Ceremony and a screening of Yorgos Lanthimos' brilliant and mesmerizing Poor Things, the incredible tale and fantastical evolution of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a young woman brought back to life by the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Under Baxter's protection, Bella is eager to learn. Hungry for the worldliness she is lacking, Bella runs off with Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a slick and debauched lawyer, on a whirlwind adventure across the continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, Bella grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation.

We are thrilled to announce that the Opening Ceremony screening - as well as the second screening the day after - will be introduced by acclaimed cinematographer and Golden Frog winner Robbie Ryan as well as Academy Award^®-nominated actor and longtime friend of the festival Willem Dafoe. Both artists will also meet the audiences at Q&A sessions after the screenings.

Willem Dafoe
photo by Brad Trent

Willem Dafoe is a true acting legend as well as one of the most versatile artists the art of moving images has ever witnessed. During four decades and well over one hundred films of his professional career, he embodied diverse characters in films such as Alan Parker's Mississippi Burning, David Lynch's Wild at Heart, William Friedkin's To Live and Die in LA, Wes Anderson's Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man, Paul Schrader's Light Sleeper, Abel Ferrara's Pasolini, Lars Von Trier's Antichrist and Robert Eggers' The Lighthouse.

Willem Dafoe received four Academy Award® nominations for his hypnotic turns as Vietnam War veteran Sgt. Elias in Oliver Stone's Platoon, extremely committed Nosferatu actor Max Schreck in E. Elias Merhige's Shadow of the Vampire, budget hotel manager Bobby in Sean Baker's The Florida Project and legendary painter Vincent van Gogh in Julian Schnabel's At Eternity's Gate.

Still from "Poor Things"

Be sure to note that the first screening of Poor Things will be held on November 11th in CKK Jordanki in Toruń and will be a part of EnergaCAMERIMAGE 2023 Opening Ceremony, to which you need an invitation (subject to availability of free seats, we will admit holders of festival entry cards). However, the second screening, held on November 12th in Cinema City Screening Room No. 9, will be subjected to the festival's regular rules of admission.