Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” — his rapturously-received follow-up to 2018 awards darling “The Favourite” — has been selected as the opening-night film for the 31st EnergaCamerimage festival, which honors the best and the brightest in cinematography in Toruń, Poland every November. The film’s director of photography, Robbie Ryan, received the Camerimage Golden Frog — their top prize — for his moody black-and-white work on Mike Mills’ 2021 film “C’mon C’mon,” which also won the 2021 Audience Award.
The film has been on a roll since premiering at this year’s Venice Film Festival, winning the Golden Lion and launching the notepads of awards prognosticators everywhere. It landed as a major contender for Searchlight Pictures in the top Oscar categories, including Best Picture — not to mention lots of buzz for stars Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe.
The 31st annual gathering has already announced Werner Herzog and his cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger will receive the Camerimage Duo Award, while Oscar-winning lenser Peter Biziou (“Mississippi Burning,” “The Truman Show”) will received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Retrospective screenings for all of these filmmakers will be shown alongside major international titles vying for awards attention this season.
Two of last year’s top award winners at Camerimage went on to become Oscar nominees: Florian Hoffmeister for “Tár” (Golden Frog winner) and Darius Khondji for “Bardo (False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths).”
The 31st Camerimage festival takes place in Toruń, Poland from Nov. 11-18. For more information, visit the official website.
