The most recent staging of the growing Polish festival offered a diverse program, including a heartfelt tribute to Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC.
It's hard to beat the charm of Eastern Europe," says Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC, shortly after returning from CamerImage '97, the International Festival of the Art of Cinematography held annually in Torun, Poland. Zsigmond received the festival's Lifetime Achievement Award, following in the footsteps of Sven Nykvist, ASC; Witold Sobocinski, Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC; Conrad Hall, ASC and Haskell Wexler, ASC. "I'm honored to join a list of artists who have created such extraordinary work," Zsigmond submits. "CamerImage is becoming a distinguished festival."
Seven of Zsigmond's films were featured in a retrospective compiled by Michael Friend, archivist for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences: Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Heaven's Gate, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, The Two Jakes, Deliverance, The River and the HBO telefilm Stalin.
The films were shown after midnight, and some ran well into the wee hours of the morning. "The hour didn't matter," Zsigmond testifies, noting that the festival's key theater — a 1,000-plus-seat auditorium on the campus of Nicolaus Copernicus University — was always jam-packed. "There were people standing around the edges of the room and sitting on the steps at four o'clock in the morning. They were wonderful, not like the rude crowds you see at some other festivals. They never booed and no one left early. They applauded for every film, including a few bad ones in the general screenings."
Torun is an unconventional place to conduct a film festival; the city is a 2 1/2-hour drive — and a longer train ride from the closest international airport, in Warsaw. In addition, the festival is staged in winter (late November through early December); there are no luxurious restaurants or hotels; and the participation of celebrities is relatively rare, although two screen luminaries attended this year's fest: French star Sophie Marceau (in support of her film Firelight, directed by William Nicholson and shot by Nic Morris) and British actor Jeremy Irons (the star of Chinese Box, directed by Wayne Wang, photographed by Vilko Filac, and featured in the cinematography competition).
The 1997 international jury was led by Polish-born director Agnieszka Holland (Europa, Europa; Washington Square) and also included film critic Peter Cargin and cinematographers Jerzy Zielinski, Edward Klosinski, Victor Kemper, ASC; Jack Green, ASC; Dick Pope, BSC and Eduardo Serra, AFC. Also in attendance were Ivan Passer (the director of Stalin), directors of photography Mike Southon, BSC (the president of the British Society of Cinemato-graphers); Walter Lassally, BSC; Piotr Sobocinski and lighting equipment innovator Dedo Weigert.
The city of Torun was founded in 1233 by the Teutonic Knights as a bastion on the frontier of Western civilization. A 700-year-old wall stands near the center of the city, where one can find the university named after the town's most famous citizen, Copernicus (who lived from 1473-1543), the father of modern astronomy. The area offers a few other architectural relics from medieval times, including a magnificent church. There is also a museum dedicated to preserving the memory of Copernicus and his scientific achievements.
Torun encompasses a population of some 210,000 citizens, including about 15,000 students. After the communist government was swept out of power, some locals formed The Tumult Foundation for the purpose of bringing art and commerce to Torun, which they felt had stagnated culturally and eco-nomically.
The group decided that a film festival could be an important step toward achieving their goals. Foundation member Marek Zydowicz visited many festivals in Europe before he recommended making cinematography the centerpiece of Torun's gala. "There were no other festivals dedicated to this important visual art," said Zydowicz. "We decided to organize a festival that would give cinematographers the recognition they deserve. We also envisioned it becoming a forum where cinematographers and students from around the world could meet and discuss their art."
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