Camerimage 2026: DOPs confluence!

CAMERIMAGE 2026

Celebrating the Art of Cinematography – Main Competition Highlights

The 34th Toruń CAMERIMAGE International Film Festival | November 7–14, 2026 | Toruń, Poland

Cinematography is not merely the recording of images; it is the art of translating emotions, thoughts and stories into a visual language. Few international film festivals recognise this art as prominently as CAMERIMAGE.

The 34th edition of the prestigious Toruń CAMERIMAGE International Film Festival, being held from November 7 to 14, 2026, brings together some of the finest cinematographers, directors and visual storytellers from around the world.

From India Ravi K Chandran is the only cinematographer nominated for Camerimage- Hindi feature film My Name is Khan and later he served also jury member  at this worlds most prestigious event.

Unlike conventional film festivals, CAMERIMAGE gives special importance to the cinematographer’s contribution to filmmaking. Its prestigious Golden Frog Award celebrates excellence in cinematography, recognising the creative partnership between the director and the cinematographer.

The Main Competition features 15 films from different countries, representing diverse storytelling approaches, visual philosophies and cinematic styles.

MAIN COMPETITION – GOLDEN FROG 2026

The following 15 films are competing for the prestigious Golden Frog Award.

1. BEHEMOTH!

Cinematographer: Damián García

Director: Tony Gilroy

A story of a gifted cellist returning to Los Angeles after two decades on the road, embarking on an unexpected journey that changes his life.

2. DISCLOSURE DAY

Cinematographer: Janusz Kamiński

Director: Steven Spielberg

A mysterious incident during a live television broadcast opens the door to a secret hidden for decades. The film brings together the celebrated visual collaboration of Steven Spielberg and Janusz Kamiński.

3. FATHERLAND

Cinematographer: Łukasz Żal

Director: Paweł Pawlikowski

Set in post-war Germany in 1949, the film explores the relationship between Nobel Prize-winning writer Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika during an emotional journey across a divided country.

4. GROWTH OF THE SOIL

Cinematographer: Oskar Dahlsbakken

Director: Hans Petter Moland

An adaptation of the celebrated literary work, following a couple who build a farm and family in the remote Norwegian wilderness. Nature, landscape and human relationships form the heart of the narrative.

5. LA BOLA NEGRA

Cinematographer: Gris Jordana

Directors: Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo

A story spanning three generations of men against the backdrop of Spanish history, exploring identity, desire, love and long-buried family secrets.

6. MINOTAUR

Cinematographer: Mikhail Krichman

Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev

A psychological drama about a wealthy businessman whose seemingly perfect family life begins to collapse amid personal and professional conflicts.

7. THE MOSQUITO BOWL

Cinematographer: Jacques Jouffret

Director: Peter Berg

Set during World War II, the film follows four American college football stars who enlist in the Marines and prepare for the invasion of Okinawa.

8. PROJECT HAIL MARY

Cinematographer: Greig Fraser

Directors: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

A science teacher finds himself alone in the vastness of space and develops an unexpected friendship with an unlikely ally. A major science-fiction production featuring Greig Fraser, known for his remarkable visual work in Dune.

9. THROUGH THE WALL

Cinematographer: Jolanta Dylewska

Director: Maciej Sobieszczański

Set during Stalinist terror in Poland, two political prisoners held in neighbouring cells develop a relationship through Morse code, without ever seeing each other.

10. ULYA

Cinematographer: Wojciech Staroń

Director: Viesturs Kairišs

Set in Soviet Latvia in 1964, the film follows a remarkably tall teenage girl struggling with her identity, family expectations and ambitions as a basketball player.

11. VISITATION

Cinematographer: Axel Schneppat

Director: Volker Schlöndorff

A house near Berlin becomes a silent witness to a century of European history, experiencing the rise of Nazism, war, Soviet occupation and German reunification through successive generations.

12. WICKER

Cinematographer: Lol Crawley

Directors: Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson

A lonely woman in a seaside village commissions a husband made of wicker. When the creation unexpectedly comes to life, it transforms the lives of the villagers.

13. WILD HORSE NINE

Cinematographer: Ben Davis

Director: Martin McDonagh

Set shortly before the 1973 Chilean coup, two CIA agents travel to Easter Island, where political intrigue, personal histories and unexpected relationships unfold against the island’s extraordinary landscape.

14. WOMAN UNKNOWN

Cinematographer: Jasper J. Spanning

Director: May el-Toukhy

A post-war period drama about a young housemaid preparing to marry her wealthy employer while attempting to conceal a relationship from her past.

15. ZERO A.D.

Cinematographer: Gorka Gómez Andreu

Director: Alejandro Monteverde

A historical biblical drama depicting the birth of Jesus and Mary and Joseph’s struggle to protect their newborn child from King Herod.

SOME INTERESTING CINEMATOGRAPHIC COLLABORATIONS

This year’s Main Competition offers several particularly interesting combinations of directors and cinematographers.

– *Steven Spielberg – Janusz Kamiński: A long-standing creative partnership that has produced some of modern cinema’s most memorable imagery.

– *Phil Lord and Christopher Miller – Greig Fraser: A collaboration bringing together contemporary science-fiction storytelling and the cinematographic expertise of Dune.

– *Paweł Pawlikowski – Łukasz Żal: A filmmaker and cinematographer known for their distinctive visual approach.

– *Andrey Zvyagintsev – Mikhail Krichman: A partnership recognised for its carefully composed frames and atmospheric visual storytelling.

– *Martin McDonagh – Ben Davis: A collaboration that brings landscape, character and cinematic atmosphere together.

BEYOND THE MAIN COMPETITION

CAMERIMAGE also provides a platform for emerging cinematographers and filmmakers through several other competition sections and programmes.

These include cinematographers’ debuts, directors’ debuts, television series, music videos and documentary filmmaking.

The festival is also an important meeting place for cinematographers, equipment manufacturers, filmmakers, students and film institutions, with discussions, workshops, screenings and technology presentations.

WHY CAMERIMAGE IS IMPORTANT

For cinematographers, CAMERIMAGE is more than an awards festival. It is an opportunity to study how different visual artists interpret stories.

The choice of lens, camera movement, lighting direction, colour palette, exposure, composition and production design are not isolated technical decisions. Together, they create the visual identity of a film.

The 2026 Main Competition is particularly interesting because it brings together established international cinematographers and different visual approaches across historical dramas, psychological films, science fiction, war stories and contemporary narratives.

For film students and aspiring cinematographers, these 15 films offer an excellent opportunity to understand the changing language of world cinematography.

Cinema is ultimately an art of images. And behind every unforgettable image is a cinematographer who gives the story its visual soul.*

CAMERIMAGE continues to celebrate that creative vision and reminds the world that the cinematographer is not simply a technician behind the camera, but an important visual author of cinema.

Drafted by

CJ Rajkumar

Author/ Cinematographer