Monday February 12th, 2024
The end of January is traditionally a time for summaries for us. During a press conference held in the Royal Hall of the Old Town Hall in Toruń, Poland we presented the most important data regarding the course of the 31st EnergaCAMERIMAGE Festival, which took place from November 11th to November 18th, 2023.
A record number of press publications in Polish and international media, along with an impressive equivalent advertising value for the Camerimage brand and the City of Toruń, are just some of the data points demonstrating the full success of last year's EnergaCAMERIMAGE Festival.
Photo by Karol Zamorski ©Camerimage
It was a challenging year; we were the first film event in the world after the Hollywood actors' strike, which greatly complicated the organization of this year's Festival, yet we managed to conclude it with great success. Not only economically, but also artistically, as the films we showcased received over 70 Oscar® nominations a few months later – commented Kazimierz Suwała, Director of the European Film Center CAMERIMAGE.
During the Festival, guests from all over the world once again came to Toruń, representing 75 countries and 6 continents. 4,300 people used entry cards allowing them to participate in all festival attractions, including screenings of 252 films and 165 special events. As in previous years, alongside the Festival Center at CKK Jordanki, the Festival also took place at venues such as Cinema City, Wilam Horzyca Theatre, Ethnographic Museum, Tumult Foundation, and the Toruń Regional Museum. On average, an EnergaCAMERIMAGE participant spent over 4 days in Toruń and left over 1600 PLN in the city during that time. The total expenditure of festival guests is estimated at over 7 million PLN.
I would like to thank our entire team, who prepared this extraordinary event. Without these people, we wouldn't be able to convince foreign guests to come to Toruń for the EnergaCAMERIMAGE Festival. Our primary goal is the benefit of Toruń and Polish culture, and as a private institution, we strive to contribute financially to this – said Marek Żydowicz, President of the Tumult Foundation and Festival Director, during the press conference.
Mayor of Toruń, Michał Zaleski, photo by W.Szabelski/torun.pl
The budget for the event in 2023 amounted to 13 million PLN, consisting of grants from the City of Toruń (3 million), the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (3 million), and the Marshal's Office of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region (1.4 million). The remaining part of the budget, over 5.5 million PLN, was provided by the Tumult Foundation. In Toruń, the organizers spent over 5 million PLN, including on catering, accommodation, and transportation services, which, together with the expenses of festival guests, amounts to a total of over 12 million PLN remaining in the Toruń economy, strengthening it in a difficult tourist month.
Since 2019, I have seen great satisfaction among those who provide services for the Festival. Starting from hotel owners, through restaurant owners, taxi drivers, to souvenir shops. And that's in November. In a city like Toruń, this is exceptional added value – commented the Mayor of Toruń, Michał Zaleski, on the presented results.
The previous edition of the EnergaCAMERIMAGE Festival met with tremendous interest from journalists from all over the world. Nearly 17 thousand publications related to the Camerimage brand appeared in both Polish and international media, generating a record equivalent advertising value of almost 70 million PLN. All promotional and image-building activities for the City of Toruń were valued at 45 million PLN by the company PSMM Monitoring & More, a leader in the market of media and advertising coverage analysis.
But for me, the most important equivalent is contained in the eyes, ears, and hearts of the people who were in Toruń. They took Toruń with them. They will remember this place, they will return to the places they saw, they will return to memories, they will return to tastes and meetings in Toruń, and this makes it a wonderful promotion of our city – added Mayor Michał Zaleski.
photo Krzysztof Wesołowski ©Camerimage
The next edition of the EnergaCAMERIMAGE Festival will take place in Toruń from November 16th to November 23rd, 2024, and we warmly invite you today! Meanwhile, the first edition of the event, which will be organized using the new infrastructure, namely the seat of the European Film Center CAMERIMAGE, is scheduled for 2027!
text author: Roman Tondel
© EnergaCAMERIMAGE
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
