‘Tár’ Wins Golden Frog at EnergaCamerimage

Florian Hoffmeister’s lensing of Tár, the Todd Field drama starring Cate Blanchett as an EGOT-winning German conductor in a downward spiral, topped the EnergaCamerimage main competition by winning its Golden Frog.

Also Saturday in Toruń, Poland, during the closing ceremony of the 30th edition of the international cinematography film festival, runners-up were DP Darius Khondji, who won the Silver Frog for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s personal Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths; and DP Jamie Ramsay, who collected the Bronze Frog for Oliver Hermanus-helmed drama Living, which premiered in January during Sundance.

Hoffmeister was filming in Iceland and accepted the award via video. He saluted director Field for his “passion about cinematography.”

During the ceremony, Bardo claimed the FIPRESCI critics prize, and the Audience Award went to Mandy Walker’s bold lensing of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis.

Festival director Marek Żydowicz presented the Festival Director’s Award for the impact of a film’s images. These were awarded to Luhrmann and Walker for their collaboration on Elvis, and director Joe Kosinski and DP Claudio Miranda for Top Gun: Maverick.

Camerimage’s main competition has become a bellwether for what’s to come in the cinematography Oscar race. In two of the past three years, the winner of Camerimage’s Golden Frog has gone on to earn an Oscar nomination in cinematography: 2019’s Joker and 2020’s Nomadland. A year ago, the winners of Camerimage’s Silver and Bronze Frogs, The Tragedy of Macbeth and Dune, respectively, were Oscar-nominated, with Dune claiming the Academy Award.

During the closing ceremony, cinematographer Stephen H. Burum accepted the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award. “Thanks to him, I’m a famous director,” said Burum’s Hoffa and War of the Roses director Danny DeVito with a smile, while offering heartfelt congratulations to the DP via video.

Accepting, Burum said he appreciated “the honoring of the past [with the award]. By honoring the past it ensures the future.”

Additional award recipients included Andrzej Seweryn (Schindler’s List), who was honored for special achievement in the art of acting; Sarah Greenwood (Darkest Hour), for special achievement for a production designer; Joseph Kahn, for special achievement in music videos for a director; and cinematographer Vance Burberry, for achievement in music videos.

“We need to stand by our fellow human beings in Ukraine,” said Burberry, who was among the honorees who supported Ukraine in their remarks during the ceremony and the week. Żydowicz also restated support in his closing remarks.

Before closing the Festival, Żydowicz also urged attendees to show support for Camerimage, which is scheduled to begin construction in 2023 on a cultural center that will be built in Toruń, through an agreement with the Polish state and Toruń government. “There are people that are saying this festival should no longer be happening and that the European film center that we are building should not be constructed,” he said.

The closing film was Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, lensed by Janusz Kaminski.

A list of award winners follows.

MAIN COMPETITION

Golden Frog: Tár
cin. Florian Hoffmeister
dir. Todd Field

Silver Frog: Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
cin. Darius Khondji
dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Bronze Frog: Living
cin. Jamie D. Ramsay
dir. Oliver Hermanus

FIPRESCI AWARD 

The International Federation of Film Critics Award for Best Film: Bardo
cin. Darius Khondji
dir. Alejandro G. Iñárritu

AUDIENCE AWARD

Elvis
cin. Mandy Walker
dir. Baz Luhrmann

POLISH FILMS COMPETITION

Best Polish Film: Woman on the Roof
cin. Ita Zbroniec-Zajt
dir. Anna Jadowska

FILM AND ART SCHOOL ETUDES COMPETITION