27/11/2024 - Polish DoP Michał Dymek, who worked on Magnus von Horn’s film, has scooped the Golden Frog, while the Silver Frog and Bronze Frog went to Lol Crawley and Paul Guilhaume, respectively

Camerimage (16-23 November, Toruń), the annual Polish celebration of the art of cinematography, which is also considered to be the best predictor of Oscar nominees, has been held for the 32nd time. However, this year, it was overshadowed by a controversy sparked by the event’s director, Marek Żydowicz. In an editorial for Cinematography World, he addressed the request from Women in Cinematography to include more films lensed by female DoPs, and suggested that the work of women is mediocre and shouldn’t be considered only in light of the filmmaker’s gender. As a result, Steve McQueen cancelled his attendance at the festival, and Coraline Fargeat pulled The Substance [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] from the Main Competition.

During the closing gala, many guests, including the head of the jury, thesp Cate Blanchett, championed more inclusivity and diversity in the industry. She announced the winner of the three main awards, with no statement from the jury because, as she put it, the films spoke for themselves. The Golden Frog went to Polish DoP Michał Dymek for The Girl with the Needle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Magnus von Horn
film profile], his second collaboration with Swedish-Polish helmer Magnus von Horn. The first runner-up and hence Silver Frog winner was Lol Crawley, who worked with Brady Corbet on The Brutalist [+see also:
film review
film profile], while the Bronze Frog landed in the lap of Paul Guilhaume, who lensed Emilia Perez [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Jacques Audiard. Martin Gschlacht won the FIPRESCI Award for his work on The Devil’s Bath [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
film profile], directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala.

The Golden Frog in the Cinematographers’ Debuts Competition was handed to Todd Martin for Tatami [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], directed by Zar Amir Ebrahimi and Guy Nattiv (which was also the winner of the Audience Award), while Sandhya Suri emerged triumphant in the Directors’ Debuts Competition for Santosh [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sandhya Suri
film profile], and Elizabeth Lo bagged the top gong in the Documentary Features Competition for Mistress Dispeller, which she also directed.

The prize in the Documentary Shorts Competition went to J Daniel Zúñiga for Shotplayer by Sam Shainberg. Student films were also competing at Camerimage: the Golden Tadpole went to Tin Brendel (Łodź Film School) for Orchid, the Silver Tadpole swam its way to Daniel Le Hai (Krzysztof Kieslowski Film School) for I Am Not Here, and Lisa Jilg (Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg) pocketed the Bronze Tadpole for her efforts on Jannik Weisse’s Titans.

Piotr Sobocinski Jr grabbed the Golden Frog in the Polish Films Competition for Paweł Maślona’s Scarborn. Finally, as usual, music videos and TV series were also lauded – Rodrigo Prieto triumphed for shooting Taylor Swift’s “Fortnight” (featuring Post Malone), and Robert Elswit bagged an award for Steven Zaillan’s show Ripley: A Hard Man to Find.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Main Competition

Golden Frog 
Michał Dymek – The Girl with the Needle [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Magnus von Horn
film profile] (Denmark/Sweden/Poland)

Silver Frog 
Lol Crawley – The Brutalist [+see also:
film review
film profile] (USA/UK/Hungary)

Bronze Frog
Paul Guilhaume – Emilia Perez [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (France/Belgium)

FIPRESCI Award
Martin Gschlacht – The Devil’s Bath [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
film profile] (Austria/Germany)

Audience Award
Tatami [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Guy Nattiv (Georgia/USA/UK/Israel)

Polish Films Competition

Polish Films Competition Award
Piotr Sobociński Jr – Scarborn (Poland)

Documentary Features Competition

Documentary Features Competition Award
Elizabeth Lo - Mistress Dispeller (China/USA)

Documentary Shorts Competition

Documentary Shorts Competition Award
J Daniel Zúñiga – Shotplayer (USA)

Directors' Debuts Competition

Directors' Debuts Competition Award
Sandhya Suri – Santosh [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sandhya Suri
film profile] (UK/Germany/India/France)

Cinematographers' Debuts Competition

Cinematographers' Debuts Competition Award
Todd Martin - Tatami

Student Film Competition

Golden Tadpole
Tin Brendel – Orchid (Poland)

Silver Tadpole
Daniel Le Hai - I Am Not Here (Poland)

Bronze Tadpole
Lisa Jilg - Titans (Germany)

Music Videos Competition

Grand Prix Music Videos Competition
Rodrigo Prieto ­– “Fortnight” (featuring Post Malone)

TV Series Competition

Grand Prix TV Series Competition
Robert Elswit - Ripley: A Hard Man to Find (USA)