CAMERIMAGE 2017 SPECIAL SCREENINGS

Tuesday October 31st, 2017

We announce the Special Screenings of the 25^th anniversary edition of the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography CAMERIMAGE.

Darkest Hour

1940 is a disastrous year for Europe. The entire continent is a battlefield, with many countries having surrendered to the Nazi war machine. Great Britain sees the election of a new prime minister, Winston Churchill. He is an experienced politician, and one of the few people who believes in creating a strong coalition in these dark times. The country needs a strong leader, and that is how Churchill presents himself during public speeches and important meetings. However, he is unable to conceal his more vulnerable side and the many doubts he has about his new role. Soon he will have to face the greatest challenges of them all, while fighting enemies both at home and abroad.

Polish title: Czas mroku
Director: Joe Wright
Cinematographer: Bruno Delbonnel

Produced by: Working Title Films
Polish distributor: United International Pictures Sp. z o. o. (UIP Polska)

UK, 2017

Downsizing

What if all of our problems could disappear? That is the promise of a group of Norwegian scientists who have discovered how to shrink humans to only a couple of inches tall. How would life look if there were only happiness and luxury for dozens of metres around? Then again, you would know that the further you go, the bigger, the sadder, the more struggling, and the more indebted the people you meet will be. Should the fact that the procedure is conducted by large corporations – who are spending tons of money to promote this new way of life – suggest that there is a catch to the whole thing? After discussing all the pros and cons of being downsized, Paul and Audrey decide to do it, to become miniature versions of themselves. How naive they are to think they could escape the responsibility for those around them and the world they live in…

Polish title: Pomniejszenie
Director: Alexander Payne
Cinematographer: Phedon Papamichael

Produced by: Ad Hominem Enterprises, Annapurna Pictures, Paramount Pictures
Polish distributor: United International Pictures Sp. z o. o. (UIP Polska)

USA, 2017

Get Out

Love conquers all and is blind. The world, however, is not. Human beings would not be themselves without at least a little bit of aggression, controversy, and division. That is what black photographer Chris experiences when, convinced by his white girlfriend Rose, he decides to face the greatest challenge of his life – meeting her parents. In the beginning, the Armitages are all cordial, smiling, complacent with how open and kind to otherness they have become. But underneath these masks hides something horrific. Not only does it make them a lousy pair of in-laws, but also causes the young man to run for his life. Literally.

Director: Jordan Peele
Cinematographer: Toby Oliver

Produced by: Blumhouse Productions, Monkeypaw Productions, QC Entertainment

Polish distributor: United International Pictures Sp. z o. o. (UIP Polska)

USA, 2017

It Comes at Night

Two families with different sets of values, barricaded in a cabin in the middle of the woods, surrounded by a vast area in which the infected wander. Infected by what? Nobody knows, but the world of humans has been destroyed by some sort of plague, a rapidly spreading illness that turns people into monsters. The cabin is peaceful at times, but more often than not it is a melting pot of tension and desire. Where do you run when the world seems to be on the brink of apocalypse? How do you live normally when you can’t trust the people with whom you share probably one of the last safe places on Earth? How do you protect your family when its members might one day become your worst enemies?

Polish title: To przychodzi po zmroku

Director: Trey Edward Shults
Cinematographer: Drew Daniels

Produced by: Animal Kingdom Films, A24

Polish distributor: M2Films

USA, 2017

Loving Vincent

There are films that are shot as though they were moving paintings, with the camera movement, lighting, and composition resembling the strokes of a brush. There are films that emulate numerous painting techniques to narrate their powerful stories. This tale about a young man who becomes obsessed with finding the true causes of Vincent van Gogh’s death is literally a cinematic painting. Each and every shot was initially painted in the real, physical world using the masterful painter’s peculiar methods, and only then transformed into an animated feature film. We follow the young protagonist as he learns new facts about Van Gogh’s life and finds new leads in the investigation of his death. At the same time we get to better know not only the eccentric genius, but also the world that killed him.

Polish title: Twój Vincent

Directors: Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman
Cinematographers: Tristan Oliver, Łukasz Żal

Produced by: BreakThru Films, Odra-Film, Trademark Films, Centrum Technologii Audiowizualnych. Silver Reel
Polish distributor: NEXT FILM Sp. z o. o.

UK, Poland, 2017

Marshall

Thurgood Marshall made his mark on history in 1967 when he became the first African-American justice serving on the Supreme Court of the United States. He was the precedent that changed the entire country. Yet it is too rarely that he is talked about in terms of what kind of man he was before that date, how he achieved the reputation that pushed him so far. The film, set in 1941, looks at Marshall’s younger years as a charismatic lawyer fighting for civil rights. At that time, he had to stand up to the system in his defence of a black man accused of raping a white woman. Though he was helped by a white lawyer, the rest of the country chose only to watch.

Director: Reginald Hudlin
Cinematographer: Newton Thomas Siegel

Produced by: Chestnut Ridge Productions, China Wit Media, Starlight Media, Super Hero Films

USA, 2017

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

A writer, poet, playwright, actor, and film director, Yukio Mishima is widely considered one of the most distinguished Japanese authors of the 21st century. He was a complicated man and an artist of many extremes. With his art he broke many social taboos and altered numerous conventions, but he was also actively engaged in the politics of his country, had his own private army, and was vehemently against any form of materialism. In the film, shaped as a tribute to Mishima’s legacy, the facts about his life are intertwined with numerous myths: literary fiction permeates reality and art penetrates life to the extent that it is often not possible to differentiate one from the other.

Director: Paul Schrader
Cinematographer: John Bailey

Produced by: Zoetrope Studios, Lucasfilm Ltd., Filmlink International, M Company, Tristone Entertainment Inc.

USA, Japan, 1985

Murder on the Orient Express

A group of people meet on a train. They come from different cultures, professions, and ways of life; they have different ages and worldviews. Among them is the famous Belgian Hercule Poirot, most probably the best detective in the world. Everything seems to be fine; the passengers talk, sharing their stories and thoughts with each other simply to maintain the illusion they are all equal. One night it all changes – a passenger is brutally murdered. Now the detective must use all his deductive skills to discover the truth. The problem is, literally anyone could be the murderer. Furthermore, the tension breaks and the passengers begin to turn on each other.

Polish title: Morderstwo w Orient Expressie
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Cinematographer: Haris Zambarloukos

Produced by: Scott Free Productions, Latina Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Genre Films, The Mark Gordon Company, The Estate of Agatha Christie
Polish distributor: Imperial CinePix Sp. z o. o.

USA, Malta, 2017

Obsession

Michael is an affluent businessman who loses his wife and daughter, partly due to his own actions, in the most tragic of circumstances. Unable to find closure, the man spends the subsequent years doing everything to commemorate those he will never see, touch, or hug again. Years later Michael goes to Florence, the place where he first met his dear wife... only to find himself standing face to face with a girl who looks exactly like her. How is it even possible? Why won’t cruel fate let him be after all these years? Or perhaps it is a sign worth considering? The man cannot stop thinking about the mysterious stranger, and slowly loses touch with the reality.

Polish title: Obsesja

Director: Brian De Palma
Cinematographer: Vilmos Zsigmond

Produced by: Columbia Pictures Corporation, Yellowbird Productions

USA, 1976

Only the Brave

Based on the tragic events of June 2013, this film tells the story of the group of specially trained firefighters who faced the raging wildfire that devoured acres of forest near Yarnell, Arizona that year. The fight lasted several days, as the rapidly spreading and unpredictable force of nature for a long time seemed unstoppable. But the firefighters who risked their lives for the common good were really just normal men, not some unreal heroes. Ordinary men with their own plans and dreams, some thinking of having a child, others trying to put their past addictions behind them and start a new life. They were simply doing their job. After the dust settled, they wanted to go home and forget that they once again looked death right in the eye.

Director: Joseph Kosinski
Cinematographer: Claudio Miranda

Produced by: Black Label Media, Conde Nast Entertainment, Di Bonaventura Pictures
Polish distributor: Monolith Films Sp. z o. o.

USA, 2017

Ordinary Man, An

A nameless war criminal – a truly savage beast who for many years took pleasure in taking away people’s lives, families, and hope – takes refuge in an undisclosed location, away from all those who seek justice from him. His only contact with the outside world is his maid, a young girl who has been sent there to aide him in ‘living a normal life’. In the beginning there is a distance between them, she even feels disgusted by the man somehow, but as time passes they begin to talk to one other, argue about things that define who they were as human beings. Each of them influences the way the other perceives the world. They seem fascinated by each other, and develop a better understanding of life. The question is, will this be enough to ease their consciences?

Director: Brad Silberling
Cinematographer: Magdalena Górka

Produced by: Enderby Entertainment, Lavender Pictures, Reveal Entertainment

USA, Serbia, 2017

Our Souls at Night

Both Addie and Louis are widowed, have already lived through their best years and craziest accomplishments, and have mostly fulfilled their biggest plans and dreams. They live quietly and without fuss in their houses full of memorabilia from lives well lived. But they do feel lonely, and because they are friendly neighbours they begin a casual affair – not to prove anything to anybody, but to have someone to talk to, to hug, to live something real with. Two autumnal lovers know well each other’s flaws and weaknesses, even some of the sins they committed in the past, but the fragile bond becomes stronger with each day spent together.

Polish title: Nasze noce
Director: Ritesh Batra
Cinematographer: Stephen Goldblatt

USA, 2017

Rabbit-Proof Fence

Aborigines, like the numerous other native people of the world who have been conquered and destroyed by white settlers, have gone through a terrible ordeal in Australia. The film depicts one of the many ways Aboriginal blood and traditions have been eliminated from the continent by its colonisers. It is 1931. Three Aborigine girls are – completely lawfully – taken away from their parents and sent to a special orphanage that is supposed to crush their spirit and make them good future servants for white families. The small protagonists manage to escape and decide to make the long and arduous journey back home across hundreds of kilometres of inhospitable terrain. They meet many kind people on the way, but their pursuers come one step closer each and every day.

Polish title: Polowanie na króliki

Director: Phillip Noyce
Cinematographer: Christopher Doyle

Produced by: Australian Film Commission, Showtime Australia

Australia, 2002

Return to Montauk

If we are to trust the words of one of the characters, there are only two things that matter in a person’s life: the biggest mistake they have made, and the biggest regret they have about not doing something that could have changed everything. Max Zorn is a writer at a difficult moment in his life. He recently returned to New York to promote his latest book, but his thoughts revolve around a passionate affair from years before. At the time the love he felt was not enough, and Max ultimately settled for a woman who was perfect to lead an easy and comfortable life with. Will fate allow him to right the wrongs of the past without hurting the women he loves?

Polish title: Powrót do Montauk

Director: Volker Schlöndorff
Cinematographer: Jérôme Alméras

Produced by: Film And Music Entertainment Ltd., Ziegler Film & Company, Volksfilm, Gaumont

Polish distributor: Bomba Film

Germany, 2017

Shape of Water, The

Elisa never had it easy. She is an orphan who never knew her parents. She is mute and treated by others as an inferior human being as a result. In a world where achievement is the only language, she is condemned to live from one month to the next in the service of successful men. And yet Elisa has something others do not: empathy and a wonderful imagination. These traits will help her in her work as a cleaner in a secret government laboratory. One day she accidentally encounters a strange creature straight out of old Hollywood movies that has been imprisoned by the American army. When she approaches the creature and actually comes into contact with it, she discovers that it is no beast, but a fragile and sensitive being worth knowing and talking to; a being that has been tainted by suffering at the hand of humans since the day it was born.

Polish title: Kształt wody

Director: Guillermo del Toro
Cinematographer: Dan Laustsen

Produced by: Fox Searchlight Pictures, Bullion Productions
Polish distributor: Imperial CinePix z o. o.

USA, 2017

Twin Peaks

Directed entirely by David Lynch, the new SHOWTIME 18-part limited event series picks up 25 years after the inhabitants of a quaint northwestern town were stunned by the shocking murder of their homecoming queen Laura Palmer.

Director: David Lynch
Cinematographer: Peter Deming

Produced by: Showtime Networks, Lynch/Frost Productions. Rancho Rosa Partnership
Polish distributor: HBO Polska

USA, 2017

Wedding, The

One of the greatest classics in Polish literature immortalised as a film event that inspired entire generations of cinephiles. The story is set at the turn of 19th and 20th centuries, a time when Poland was still partitioned between other countries, and revolves around the titular wedding between a member of Cracow’s intelligentsia and a peasant girl. The party slowly transforms into a symbolic reckoning with vividly depicted national vices and myths. The guests make a whole night out if it, drinking, arguing, dancing, showing their true colours, meeting ghosts of the past, and doing some soul-searching – this microcosm of Polish society is intertwined with a universal message that freedom is too important to sleep through.

Original title: Wesele
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Cinematographer: Witold Sobociński

Produced by: Fundacja Promocji Kina FILM POLSKI
Polish distributor: KinoRP - CYFROWE REPOZYTORIUM FILMOWE

Poland, 1973

White Girl, The

Three outsiders seek happiness and fulfilment in a small fishing community in Hong Kong that is the last of its kind. Our eponymous heroine is allergic to the sun – she can only move freely at night, but thankfully then the sleeping can’t accuse her of being a bad omen. Sakamoto is a Japanese artist who lives in seclusion, creating a peculiar film project from recordings of the community’s everyday activity. Ho Zai is a kid and a street hustler; he knows everyone and their secrets. Suddenly a group of developers appears who want to reshape the area for some exciting business opportunities. One world falls apart for another to be built.

Director: Jenny Suen
Cinematographer: Christopher Doyle

Produced by: Pica Pica Media

Hong Kong, 2017