At the 30th installment of Camerimage this year, cinephiles from around the world returned to Toruń, Poland, in November 2022. Once again, Camerimage rolled out its red carpets and ARRI was thrilled to be able to support and be a part of this one-of-a-kind international film festival, dedicated to the art of cinematography. Many festival nominees and winners relied on ARRI equipment for their films that were screened over the course of the event, and the company is honored to be a part of these brilliant endeavors.
The Jordanki Festival Center in Torún Poland, home to the marketplace and the ARRI booth. Here ARRI Senior Product Manager Marc Shipman-Mueller explains some new camera details.
Congratulations to all the 2022 Camerimage Frog nominees and winners! In the main competition, The Golden Frog—the festival’s top prize—went to Florian Hoffmeister BSC for director Todd Field’s “Tár” shot with the ALEXA Mini LF and ARRI Signature Prime lenses. Cinematographer Darius Khondji AFC, ASC, was awarded the Silver Frog for “Bardo, False Chronicles of a Handful of Truths,” directed by Alejandro González Ińárritu and captured with ARRI Rental’s ALEXA 65 camera. This film also won the FIPRESCI Award, the International Federation of Film Critics Award for Best Film, at the festival. Bronze Frog winner Jamie D. Ramsay chose to shoot Oliver Hermanus’ “Living” with ALEXA Mini. Mandy Walker ASC, ACS, took home the Audience Award for her work on Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis.” Festival Director Marek Żydowicz also awarded this visually stunning film, shot on ALEXA 65, ALEXA LF, and ALEXA Mini LF, with the Festival Director’s Award together with “Top Gun: Maverick.”
Florian Hoffmeister, who couldn’t attend the ceremony, won the Golden Frog for his work on “Tár.” In his absence, Stephan Schenk, Managing Director at ARRI, accepted the award at the closing ceremony.
Other Main Competition frog contenders included: “All Quiet on the Western Front,” directed by Edward Berger and captured by James Friend ASC, BSC with ALEXA 65 and ALEXA Mini LF along with Prime 65 and Prime DNA lenses from ARRI Rental. “Empire of Light,” directed by Sam Mendes with Roger A. Deakins ASC, BSC, CSE as cinematographer utilized the ALEXA Mini LF with ARRI Signature Prime lenses.
“The Perfect Number,” directed by Krzysztof Zanussi, was shot by Piotr Niemyjski PSC, JSC on the ALEXA LF with ARRI SR II and ARRI SR III cameras and Master Prime lenses, and for Gunnar Vikene’s “War Sailor,” DP Sturla Brandth Grøvlen DDF chose the ALEXA Mini. For his work on “White Noise,” DP Lol Crawley chose to go analog using the ARRICAM LT, ARRIFLEX 235, and ARRIFLEX 435 cameras to capture Noah Baumbach’s film.
Festival Director Marek Żydowicz presented the Festival Director’s Award to Mandy Walker at the closing ceremony.
In the Documentary Features Competition, the Golden Frog went to “Kash Kash,” directed by Lea Najjar and lensed by cinematographer Jonas Schneider on the ARRI AMIRA. For Documentary Shorts, DP Adric Watson won the Golden Frog for Jess Kohl’s piece “A Mouthful of Petrol,” also shot on AMIRA.
Director Lea Najjar of the documentary film “Kash Kash” accepting her frog on stage at the closing ceremony.
Throughout the company‘s history, ARRI has attached great importance to supporting future filmmakers worldwide. Therefore, we would like to highlight the “Debut” winners from Camerimage 2022—this year, the prize for the Directors’ Debuts Competition and the Cinematographers’ Debuts Competition went to filmmakers behind the same film: “Love According To Dalva.” These talented newbies, director Emmanuelle Nicot and cinematographer Caroline Guimbal, chose to shoot their film with the ARRI ALEXA Mini. Our congratulations go out to all the young filmmakers who made this year’s Camerimage so special.
Already on Tuesday ARRI had the chance to honor a few of the nominees at ARRI’s annual Nominations Dinner. Nominees for the Golden Frog at this year’s festival called on stage by Festival Director Marek Żydowicz and Managing Director at ARRI Stephan Schenk. Congratulations to “The Angel in the Wall” cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger; “Elvis” cinematographer Mandy Walker; “Elvis” director Baz Luhrmann; “Top Gun: Maverick” director Joseph Kosinski; “Top Gun: Maverick” cinematographer Claudio Miranda; and “Living” cinematographer Jamie D. Ramsay and thank you for joining us!
At the annual Nominations Dinner, Golden Frog festival nominees were presented with statues (from l. to r.) Cinematographers Peter Zeitlinger and Mandy Walker, directors Baz Luhrmann and Joseph Kosinski, cinematographers Claudio Miranda and Jamie D. Ramsay along with Managing Director at ARRI Stephan Schenk, and Festival Director Marek Żydowicz.
In honor of Camerimage turning 30 this year and for our many years of successful partnership, ARRI also presented Marek Żydowicz and Camerimage with an ARRI Lion. This company award is given in recognition of exceptional efforts only a few times a year. Marek Żydowicz thanked ARRI, mentioning that “ARRI has always been a loyal and devoted partner of the festival, even in bad times.” He went on to say: “I hope that for many, many years to come we will be meeting here in Torún during the festival to celebrate all the innovations and technical novelties that our friends at ARRI are going to grace us with.”
At the Jordanki Festival Center, festival attendees had the chance to visit the ARRI booth and see ARRI and ARRI Rental’s latest camera, lenses, and lighting products. Highlights included the ALEXA 35, ALEXA Mini LF, ARRI Signature Prime and Zoom lenses, and TRINITY 2. For ARRI Lighting, Orbiter along with its brand-new Projection Optics, the Fresnel lens, and Docking Ring, took center stage at the booth in its own shower cabin while two Orbiters waited for guests in the back room. ARRI Rental showcased new and exclusive offerings from its in-house lens development program including the new HEROES optics, as well as ALEXA Monochrome cameras across three formats.
Guests at the ARRI booth could test out equipment, including the new ALEXA 35 camera.
The ARRI Academy Master Class at Camerimage was back this year and we were happy to welcome over 300 guests to this practical workshop presented by director of photography and veteran gaffer Cory Geryak. Even though Cory mainly works as a DP these days, the session focused on lighting. For this Cory was able to reflect back on his more than 50 projects where he worked as gaffer or chief lighting technician. This impressive body of work includes popular films like “Inception,” “The Dark Knight Rises,” “3:10 to Yuma,” “Thor,” “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol,” and “Her.” At the Master Class, Cory took the audience through his process in setting up lighting for daytime and nighttime scenes. He offered many anecdotes from his time as a gaffer as well as personal tips and go-to ideas. Throughout the class, Cory fielded questions from the audience and was able to incorporate specific demonstrations of his answers into the presentation.
Cinematographer and gaffer Cory Geryak provided tips and tricks for lighting daytime and nighttime scenes at the ARRI Academy Master Class.
Also on the event list this year was the ARRI Big Screen Experience, featuring the ARRI Signature lens look and how these lenses perform on the new ALEXA 35 and ALEXA Mini LF cameras. ARRI Camera Lens Specialist and director of photography, Art Adams, guided the audience through a hand-picked collection of visually stunning reels and welcomed some of their makers on stage. Thank you to Josua Staebler and his piece “Taste of Freedom” shot on ALEXA Mini LF with Signature Primes; Jerome de Gerlach for “Girl in Paris” lensed with ALEXA Mini LF with Signature Zooms; Stijn van der Veken and his work on Disney’s “Willow” filmed with ALEXA Mini LF and Signature Primes; and Satyajit Pande with “Across Windows” shot on ALEXA Mini LF and Signature Zooms. Art also went into detail about how both cameras take advantage of the new REVEAL Color Science and work with diopters. The session ended with two “Encounters” film reels presented on the big screen.
ARRI’s Big Screen Experience featuring ARRI Signature Prime and Zoom lenses. Shown here on stage: Art Adams and DP Josua Staebler giving insight into filming on the ALEXA 35.
The ARRI Academy hosted a 90-minute seminar featuring specialists from ARRI Solutions and the team from Fireframe Studios, a Helsinki-based, virtual production company. In an insightful panel hosted by ARRI Solutions’ David Levy, the production team from Fireframe, and DP John Christian Rosenlund gave a sneak peek of their upcoming feature, “A Rare Grand Alignment,” and how Fireframe has implemented ARRI’s color management into the studio workflow. The audience also heard from ARRI’s David Bermbach and Andreas Oestreich, who shared their insights into elevated virtual production. The discussion also outlined the production team’s key learnings and experiences, not only from the stage floor, but also in installing and managing an advanced virtual production studio.
The ARRI Academy Seminar: Igniting Virtual Production with Fireframe & ARRI Solutions was a well-attended event.
The second seminar hosted by the ARRI Academy showcased the new ALEXA 35 camera, its color science, and post workflow. Already in its first months in the market, the ALEXA 35 has raised the bar even higher with its new Super 35 format 4.6K sensor, REVEAL Color Science, and ARRI Textures. ARRI’s Florian Rettich, Senior Trainer & Consultant Digital Workflow Solutions, and Art Adams, Camera Lens Specialist, shared their knowledge and insights about the new camera platform to a full house.
The ARRI Academy also presented a seminar on the ALEXA 35 camera, its color and post workflow lead by Florian Rettich and Art Adams.
ARRI would like to thank EnergaCamerimage for hosting this one-of-a-kind international film festival for the past 30 years. Camerimage continues to be a special and inspiring place to reconnect with friends, partners, and customers. We enjoyed all the screenings, seminars, parties, and discussions of the past week and ARRI looks forward to returning to Torún next year!
Opening Image: Camerimage 2022 award winners and staff on stage at the Closing Ceremony. Photo: Aleksander Urbański
