Sam Mendes was the guest of honor at the opening of the 30th EnergaCamerimage Film Festival on Saturday night, where he accepted the Krzysztof Kieslowski Career Award and hosted a special screening of his latest film. rich in light.
Accepting the award in Toruń, Poland, Mendes praised the festival for its commitment to celebrating the art of cinematography and acknowledged the cinematographers he has worked with throughout his career, citing them as key to his success .
Mendes made special mention of Conrad Hall, who directed his first two films, american beauty and away to destruction. Hall won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on both films.
“Conrad was my guide, and cinematographers have always been my guide since Conrad,” Mendes said before paying tribute to veteran cinematographer Roger Deakins. The two worked together on five films over 15 years, including sky falls and 1917.
Mendes said their partnership brought him “more fun and joy” than any partnership he had while working in the film industry.
However, Mendes began his remarks by saying he found it “difficult to talk about celebrations” after watching two Ukrainian activists’ speeches at the start of the ceremony. The powerful speeches were followed by a short and vivid documentary filmed from Ukraine showing the devastation of the violence on the ground.
Mendes connected the war in Ukraine with the reactions he received after the release of his previous film 1917a First World War drama.
“I made a film with Roger Deakins about two young men involved in a senseless war. And the question I kept getting was, ‘Is it relevant?'” Mendes said. “I’m afraid to say it is and always will be. We stand with everyone in Ukraine.”
The lengthy opening ceremony included several tributes to the people of Ukraine, including a video montage featuring the names and images of former Ukrainian film industry professionals who joined the country’s armed forces and are currently on the front lines.
Additionally, it was announced that this week Camerimage will be supporting the OKO International Ethnographic Film Festival and the KINOKO Film Festival, two war-torn festivals in Ukraine, with a special festival sidebar here in Poland.
The opening ceremony ended with Mendes presenting an exhibition of his new photo. rich in light. Opening in Telluride in September, the film is an understated but philosophically ambitious historical drama about love, reason and race in Thatcher Britain, set against the backdrop of a cinema on the south coast of England.
Drawing a line between the current climate and a specific frame in the film, Mendes said: “On the wall of the cinema right at the beginning of the film is written: Find Where Light in Darkness Lies. This is all our work. This is the work of the cinematographer and I am very happy to have shed light on this.”
rich in light is one of 12 titles in the main competition on Camerimage. Other titles include the Netflix war drama No news from the western front and that of Alejandro González Ińárritu bardo. The main jury of the competition is led by Lech Majewski, who will be assisted by the jury members Fred Berger, Markus Förderer, Arthur Reinhart and Jan Roelfs.
The festival lasts until November 19.
Author: Zac Ntim
Source: Deadline
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