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The 33rd EnergaCAMERIMAGE International Film Festival returns to Toruń, Poland from November 15-22, 2025, bringing together over 70,000 attendees for cinema’s only major festival devoted exclusively to cinematography. Your first time to CamerImage, or have you have you been there many times? Here’s your guide to CamerImage 2025.
This year’s edition of CamerImage features an unprecedented 30+ workshops and technical seminars covering everything from high-speed cinematography to AI applications, alongside a stellar main competition lineup that includes Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s work on Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, Claudio Miranda’s cinematography for Joseph Kosinski’s F1, and Łukasz Żal’s visuals for Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet. With Bradford Young, ASC, serving as jury president and Park Chan-wook as guest of honor, the festival offers cinematographers and filmmakers an intensive week of masterclasses, equipment demonstrations, and peer recognition that has launched careers and predicted Oscar nominations for over three decades.
CamerImage 2025 delivers the most comprehensive workshop schedule in the festival’s history, with over 30 distinct educational opportunities ranging from daily hands-on equipment sessions to specialized seminars led by Oscar-nominated cinematographers. The workshop programming emphasizes practical, hands-on learning with cutting-edge technology while addressing emerging challenges like artificial intelligence’s role in cinematography.
ARRI orchestrates the festival’s most extensive daily workshop series, transforming their exhibition booth into a dynamic learning laboratory throughout the week. Starting Sunday, November 16, the Next-gen Control for 1st ACs workshop explores ARRI’s Electronic Control System with emphasis on new NIA-1 configurations and Focusbug integration, targeting assistant cameras and focus pullers. Monday’s High-Speed Cinematography session provides hands-on experimentation with the ALEXA 35 Xtreme camera and Ensō lenses, featuring water drops, bubble machines, and lighters for creative slow-motion exploration at frame rates up to 330 fps (660 fps in Sensor Overdrive mode).
Tuesday shifts focus to Create Your Look with ARRI Lenses, where attendees explore both anamorphic and spherical lenses, examining depth of field manipulation and close-up techniques while experimenting with Ensō Vintage Elements detuning. Wednesday’s The Magic of Film workshop bridges analog and digital worlds, teaching participants to load magazines and lace movements while introducing a new plugin that delivers authentic film looks on digital images. Thursday brings professional gaffers for Lighting for High Speed, addressing the precision lighting and flicker avoidance required for high frame rate cinematography with modern ARRI fixtures. The series concludes Friday with a repeat high-speed cinematography session, accommodating the overwhelming demand while showcasing the ARRICORE codec’s capabilities.
Sony’s FX2 hands-on program offers structured 90-minute sessions three times daily (11:00, 14:00, and 17:00) from November 16-22. Participants receive camera prep instruction, shooting time, and downloadable rushes on USB sticks, with advance booking available 24 hours prior through the festival app. The sessions provide practical experience with Sony’s full-frame cinema camera and E-mount lens selection, allowing cinematographers to test the FX2 in controlled conditions before committing to it for productions.
Fujifilm’s Open House at their dedicated lounge across from CKK Jordanki entrance runs daily from Monday through Friday with four sessions (10:00, 11:00, 16:00, 17:00), focusing on large format flexibility and storytelling applications. The Monday seminar Storytelling with Large Format Flexibility at 16:30 specifically addresses creative approaches to large-format cinematography, complementing the hands-on demonstrations.
Astera’s LightTalk series delivers eight focused lighting discussions throughout the week, concentrated Wednesday and Friday at the Sigma & Astera café in Horzyca Theatre (signup link). The 13:00, 16:00, and 18:00 time slots allow cinematographers and gaffers to attend multiple sessions while managing screening schedules. These technical presentations address modern LED technology and lighting control systems that have transformed set lighting in recent years.
The festival’s seminar programming brings working professionals to share specific project insights. Autumn Durald Arkapaw, ASC, delivers the Panavision seminar The Cinematography of Sinners on Monday, November 17 at 14:00, discussing her visual approach to Ryan Coogler’s period thriller before a 23:45 meeting with attendees. Phedon Papamichael, ASC, GSC, and Michał Sobociński, PSC, lead Tuesday’s Sony panel Camerimage 2025 Nominated Cinematographers at 17:00, examining how Sony cameras enabled their creative visions for both blockbusters and intimate character studies. Aleksandar Jakonic follows Friday at 14:00 with another Sony conversation, exploring his distinct visual approaches across diverse projects using Cinema Line cameras.
James Friend and Harlon Haveland present Lighting Ballad of a Small Player Wednesday at 17:30, hosted by Aputure, offering detailed analysis of their lighting approaches for specific productions. Mauro Fiore, AIC, ASC, follows at 20:00 with Fujifilm’s Lighting the Path Home, sharing techniques from his distinguished career. The RED seminar Creating a 70’s Film Aesthetic for September 5 with our friend Markus Förderer ASC BVK on Tuesday at 20:00 addresses period-appropriate cinematography techniques, while Zeiss presents Immersive Action Cinematography Tuesday at 14:30 with movement specialist Daniel Ilabaca.
ARRI’s Big Screen Experience Wednesday at 16:15 transforms the main theater into a masterclass venue where cinematographers share practical knowledge from their latest productions. Thursday’s dedicated ARRI seminar at 14:00 showcases New Possibilities with ALEXA 35 Xtreme, highlighting the ARRICORE next-generation RGB codec, high-speed shooting capabilities reaching 330 fps at full dynamic range, and the new postproduction plugin for authentic analog film aesthetics on digital images.
Three major sessions address AI’s impact on cinematography, reflecting the industry’s urgent engagement with machine learning tools. The American Society of Cinematographers presents AI In Real Time Monday at 18:45, followed by Veles Productions’ The Light That Thinks: AI in Service of Cinematic Imagination Wednesday at 14:00. The week concludes with the ASC panel Visual Artistry in The Age Of AI Friday at 20:00, exploring how cinematographers can maintain artistic control while leveraging algorithmic tools. These sessions acknowledge both the opportunities and anxieties surrounding AI’s rapid integration into production and post-production workflows.
Oliver Stapleton anchors student engagement through three Film and Art School Etudes Panorama roundtables with Stephen Lighthill (Tuesday 11:45, Wednesday 17:15, Friday 10:00), analyzing work from the festival’s prestigious student competition. Stapleton also leads Any Questions? panels Friday at 17:00, offering emerging cinematographers direct access to an accomplished British cinematographer’s insights.
The AFI Conservatory presents their cinematography program Monday at 17:15, with Stephen Lighthill, ASC, and Sandra Valde-Hansen, ASC, detailing their educational approach. Michael Neubauer’s Consulting Center sessions Wednesday and Thursday address professional realities, covering “Setting up your artistic and economic independence step by step” (Wednesday 14:45), “Artistic Ambition and Contractual Reality” (Thursday 11:45), and “The Professional Society as a Service Provider and Lobby Organisation” (Thursday 17:45). Monday evening’s Get Noticed as a Professional Film Artist at 21:30 tackles career development strategies.
Daily Cinematographer and Gaffer Breakfasts at 09:30 (extended Saturday 9:30-12:30) provide networking opportunities, while Mindfulness Workshops throughout the festival address crew wellness and mental health—a growing concern in the demanding cinematography profession.
Equipment manufacturers leverage CamerImage’s concentrated cinematographer audience for significant technology reveals. Blackmagic Design presents Behind the Scenes with Bedlam Thursday at 17:00, showcasing 65mm shooting with their new URSA Cine 17K 65 camera. Nikon debuts early field experiences with their new ZR camera Thursday at 11:00. Sigma delivers three Beyond Fullframe lectures (Monday and Tuesday at 16:00, Thursday at 13:00) with Stephan Schuh BVK and Nils Keber examining Sigma Aizu Prime Line performance on large sensor cameras.
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Berek and Marko Massinger present Cinematographer Classics and the Art of Sci-Fi: A Vintage Look Strikes Back across two sessions (Tuesday 18:00, Thursday 16:00), exploring how vintage optics can create period-appropriate or stylized aesthetics. FilmLight addresses the ongoing digital transition with From Print Stock to Digital Workflow Monday at 11:00, particularly relevant as film stock availability continues declining. Production Designers Collective hosts Shaping Space: Cinematography and Production Design Collaboration Wednesday at 11:00, emphasizing the essential partnership between these departments.
Polish cinematographer Rafał Ganowski examines How Drones Changed the Language of Cinema Tuesday at 11:30 (Polish language only), analyzing how aerial cinematography democratization has transformed visual storytelling. The Production Designers Collective roundtable Wednesday emphasizes the cinematographer-production designer partnership that shapes every frame.
The main competition for the prestigious Golden Frog award features 13 films representing cinema’s highest-profile productions alongside intimate art films. Ryan Coogler’s Sinners brings Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s cinematography into contention with a period thriller starring Michael B. Jordan. Joseph Kosinski’s F1, shot by Claudio Miranda, delivers high-speed racing cinematography with Brad Pitt and Damson Idris (check out our behind-the-scenes coverage on F1: The Movie here and here). James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown, photographed by Phedon Papamichael, stars Timothée Chalamet in the Bob Dylan biopic, while Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet features Łukasz Żal’s cinematography for this Shakespeare adaptation with Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal.
Kathryn Bigelow returns with A House of Dynamite, shot by Barry Ackroyd, while James Vanderbilt’s Nuremberg pairs Dariusz Wolski’s cinematography with a cast including Rami Malek and Russell Crowe. Polish cinematographers feature prominently: Michał Sobociński shot Chopin, A Sonata in Paris for director Michał Kwieciński, while Tomasz Naumiuk photographed Agnieszka Holland’s Franz. Lech Majewski and Paweł Tybora share cinematography credit on Majewski’s 12 Paintings of Enslavement.
The competition demonstrates significant female representation with Judith Kaufmann (Late Shift directed by Petra Biondina Volpe), Virginie Saint Martin (Mother directed by Teona Strugar Mitevska), and Arkapaw competing. Fabian Gamper’s work on Sound of Falling and Masanobu Takayanagi’s cinematography for the Springsteen biopic Deliver Me from Nowhere round out the selection.
Fifteen music videos selected from 400 submissions compete for best cinematography honors. Tim Burton directed Lady Gaga’s “Disease”, shot by Andrés Arochi, marking Burton’s music video return. Kendrick Lamar’s “squabble up”, photographed by Adam Newport-Berra and directed by Karena Evans, represents hip-hop’s visual ambitions. Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” (Jake Gabbay, DP; Gabriel Moses, director) and Raye’s “Genesis” (Courtney Bennett, DP; Charlie Sarsfield, director) showcase pop cinematography’s evolution. Electronic music appears through Jamie xx’s “Waited All Night” (Jaime Ackroyd, DP; Luna Carmoon, director) and Rüfüs Du Sol’s “Breathe” (Rina Yang, DP; Salomon Ligthelm, director).
Documentary Shorts Competition maintains Oscar-qualifying status, with winners eligible for Academy Award consideration in Documentary Short Subject without theatrical distribution. Documentary Features Competition recognizes long-form non-fiction cinematography. The Polish Films Competition requires majority Polish capital investment, honoring the festival’s national cinematography tradition with both cinematographers and directors receiving recognition.
Cinematographers’ Debuts and Directors’ Debuts competitions identify emerging talent, often launching international careers. The Film and Art School Etudes Competition, established 1997, awards the Laszlo Kovacs Student Award (Golden, Silver, and Bronze Tadpoles) and qualifies nominees for Student Academy Awards. The TV Series Competition acknowledges episodic cinematography’s rising artistic ambition, accepting pilot episodes or first episodes of subsequent seasons.
Bradford Young, ASC, serves as main competition jury president, bringing the perspective of an Oscar-nominated cinematographer (Arrival) whose work spans Solo: A Star Wars Story, When They See Us, Selma, and A Most Violent Year. Young simultaneously presides over the FilmLight Colour Awards jury, which expanded to 20 members representing colorists and cinematographers globally. The jury includes Dion Beebe, ASC, ACS; Alice Brooks, ASC(cinematographer of Wicked); colorists Pankaj Bajpai, Masahiro Ishiyama, Douglas Dutton, and Stefan Sonnenfeld(Company 3 founder); and cinematographers Bojana Andrić, SAS; Sylvester Fonseca, ISC; Callan Green, ACS, NZCS; Kim Ji-yong; Petra Korner, AAC; Frida Marzouk, AFC; Adam Newport-Berra; and Colin Wandersman.
Park Chan-wook, the acclaimed South Korean filmmaker, serves as jury guest of honor, contributing the perspective of a director-cinematographer whose visual mastery defines his work. This pairing emphasizes international perspectives and the director-cinematographer collaboration the festival celebrates.
Cate Blanchett accepts the Icon Award November 22, honoring the two-time Oscar winner’s career and cinematography advocacy. Blanchett served as 2024 jury president and produced The New Boy, which won the 2023 Golden Frog. Her collaborations with cinematographers Remi Adefarasin (Elizabeth), Ed Lachman (Carol), and Florian Hoffmeister (Tár) demonstrate her understanding of cinematography’s crucial role. Joel Edgerton receives the Actor’s Award, with the Australian actor’s credits including Animal Kingdom and the upcoming Netflix film Train Dreams (premiering November 21). Polish cinema icon Grażyna Szapołowska receives the Marshal’s Film Award from the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region.
Bill Viola’s “Visions of Time” exhibition brings the video art pioneer’s work to Toruń, creating dialogue between fine art video and cinematography. The David Lynch retrospective “The World of Imagination of David Lynch” includes Lucky and Lynch’s experimental work, with Rabbits Episode 1 receiving a special introduction and a 16mm Experiments section. The Film Kujawy and Pomorze section celebrates regional scientists through documentaries including Jan Czochralski: The Forefather of Electronics, The Chemist’s Return, The Gardens of Tadeusz Reichstein, and The Secrets of Enigma, alongside fiction films.
Ronan Day-Lewis’s directorial debut Anemone opens the festival November 15, featuring father Daniel Day-Lewis’s return to acting after retirement, alongside Sean Bean and Samuel Bottomley. Cinematographer Ben Fordesman photographed the film, which premiered at New York Film Festival before CamerImage. Jim Jarmusch’s “Father Mother Sister Brother”, the Venice Golden Lion winner, screens in the special section with cinematography by Frederick Elmes, ASC, and Yorick Le Saux, AFC, starring Tom Waits, Adam Driver, Cate Blanchett, and Charlotte Rampling.
The EnergaCAMERIMAGE Market on CKK Jordanki’s lower level gathers ARRI, Sony, Panavision, RED, Blackmagic Design, Canon, Zeiss, Cooke Optics, Sigma, Leitz Cine, Atlas Lens Co., Angenieux, Fujifilm, Kodak, Aputure, Creamsource, Godox, Astera, Sumolight, Nanlux, Nanlite, Xelmus, FilmLight, and dozens of additional manufacturers. Equipment demonstrations, product launches, and booth presentations run continuously, creating what industry representatives describe as the world’s highest concentration of professional cinematographers. Entry card holders access the market free; separate day tickets available for those attending only the exhibition.
Founded in 1993 by Marek Żydowicz with co-founder Kazimierz Partuki, alongside legendary cinematographers Sven Nykvist (Ingmar Bergman’s DP) and Vittorio Storaro, CamerImage emerged from a manifesto declaring cinematographers’ work insufficiently recognized. Żydowicz stated the mission: “To help restore dignity to the artists of the film industry who are overlooked, or who are treated simply as technicians whenever we celebrate film.” The festival stands alone as the world’s only major international event devoted exclusively to cinematography, judging films purely on visual, aesthetic, and technical cinematographic merit with awards going primarily to cinematographers rather than directors.
The festival’s growth from 2,000 attendees in 1993 to over 70,000 annually demonstrates cinematography’s rising cultural recognition. After hosting in Toruń (1993-1999), Łódź home of Poland’s National Film School (2000-2009), and Bydgoszcz (2010-2018), the festival returned to Toruń in 2019. Since 2013, it maintains Oscar-qualifying status for Documentary Short Subject, with winners eligible for Academy Awards without theatrical distribution. The festival now includes nine competition categories and attracts 4,400 industry attendees annually alongside general audiences.
The Golden Frog has become a significant Academy Award precursor, with winners frequently earning Best Cinematography Oscar nominations. Recent winners include Michał Dymek for The Girl with the Needle (2024), Warwick Thornton for The New Boy (2023), Florian Hoffmeister, BSC, for Tár (2022 Golden Frog, 2023 Oscar nomination), Robbie Ryan, BSC, for C’mon C’mon (2021), Joshua James Richards for Nomadland (2020 Golden Frog, 2021 Oscar win), and Lawrence Sher for Joker (2019 Golden Frog, 2020 Oscar nomination). Earlier winners include Łukasz Żal for Ida (2013 Golden Frog, 2015 Oscar nomination), whose career transformed after the award: “That’s really the moment when somehow my career changed. I was always dreaming while having student films here.”
Lifetime Achievement Award recipients represent cinematography’s pantheon: Ed Lachman, ASC (2024), three-time Oscar nominee for Carol, Far from Heaven, and El Conde; Peter Biziou, BSC (2023), Oscar winner for Mississippi Burning; Philippe Rousselot, ASC, AFC (2020), Oscar winner for A River Runs Through It; and previous honorees including Michael Chapman, Laszlo Kovacs, Michael Ballhaus, Vilmos Zsigmond, Haskell Wexler, and Witold Sobociński. Anthony Dod Mantle, ASC, noted that Golden Frog recognition has “enormous” career impact because “you feel quite vulnerable here” facing judgment by peers—the ultimate validation.
Unlike traditional film festivals with red carpet premieres, CamerImage emphasizes technical excellence, equipment access, and peer interaction. As one longtime attendee observed: “cinematographers young and old don’t really get to see each other other than at an event like Camerimage.” Equipment vendor Russell Bell of Atlas Lens noted: “Where else in the world are you going to get such a concentration of people so dedicated to the craft?” Ed Lachman called CamerImage his “spiritual, cultural, and cinematic home for 22 years.” Jury president Cate Blanchett emphasized: “I think we should normalize cinematographers getting asked for their autographs – the fact that this frog is the idolized thing here.”
The festival maintains close relationships with the American Society of Cinematographers, British Society of Cinematographers, International Cinematographers Guild (IATSE Local 600), IMAGO (International Federation of Cinematographers), and dozens of national cinematography societies globally. These organizations regularly provide jury members, participate in panels, and support the festival’s educational mission while engaging in ongoing dialogue about representation and working conditions.
CamerImage 2025 delivers an unparalleled concentration of technical education, artistic recognition, and professional community for cinematographers at every career stage. The 30+ workshops provide hands-on access to cutting-edge technology from ALEXA 35 Xtreme high-speed cameras to large-format storytelling techniques, while seminars address both practical production challenges and philosophical questions about AI’s role in visual artistry. The main competition showcases cinematography’s artistic range from Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s Sinners to Łukasz Żal’s Hamnet, judged purely on visual merit by peers led by Bradford Young and Park Chan-wook.
Beyond competitions and workshops, the festival fulfills its founding mission of elevating cinematography from technical craft to recognized art form. The Golden Frog’s status as an Oscar predictor, the concentrated equipment marketplace, the daily breakfast networking sessions, and the informal atmosphere focused on craft over celebrity create an ecosystem that exists nowhere else in cinema. For cinematographers seeking education, recognition, career advancement, or simply connection with the global community that shares their dedication to visual storytelling, CamerImage remains the essential annual pilgrimage – 32 years after Marek Żydowicz, Sven Nykvist, and Vittorio Storaro founded it to restore dignity to cinema’s overlooked visual artists.
Are you attending CamerImage 2025, and if so, which workshops and seminars are you most excited about? Have you experienced the festival before, and how has it impacted your cinematography career? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!
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Nino Leitner, AAC is Co-CEO of CineD and MZed. He co-owns CineD (alongside Johnnie Behiri), through his company Nino Film GmbH. Nino is a cinematographer and producer, well-traveled around the world for his productions and filmmaking workshops. He specializes in shooting documentaries and commercials, and at times a narrative piece. Nino is a studied Master of Arts. He lives with his wife and two sons in Vienna, Austria.