“The Needle Girl” wins the Golden Frog

The critically acclaimed Danish horror drama The girl with the needleshot by cinematographer Michal Dymek, won the Golden Frog at the Camerimage Film Festival in Toruń, Poland on Saturday evening. The winner was selected by a jury led by two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett.

Camerimage celebrates the art of cinema, which is why its honors are given to the cinematographers behind the films presented in its main competition. But this year’s jury wanted to add a “special mention” for The girl with the needleThe 40-year-old director Magnus von Horn.

This masterfully crafted period thriller is loosely based on the true story of Danish serial killer Dagmar Overbye, who helped poor women kill their unwanted children in 1910s Copenhagen.

The Hollywood ReporterFilm critic Leslie Felperin summarized the film as “a dark, urgently topical Danish drama” that is “like one of those devilish knots that tightens the more you squirm… leading to a point devastating climax, tense as a piano”. thread.”

She added: “Shot digitally, in black and white and using a claustrophobic 3:2 ratio by rising cinematographer Michal Dymek (A Real Pain, EO), the film has the haunted, eerily still balance of old photographs, an aesthetic that will delight. filmmakers. »

The Camerimage jury awarded the event’s Silver Frog to British cinematographer Lol Crawley for his work which THRDavid Rooney’s chief reviewer previously called it simply “magnificent” — about Brady Corbet’s monumental immigrant artist epic. The Brutalist. The film was shot on retro VistaVision format film, “a giant canvas amply justified by the varied textures of the story”.

Third place in the Bronze Frog went to the inventive work of Paul Guilhaume on Emilie Pérezthe musical genre whirlwind of French maverick Jacques Audiard’s Mexican cartel. (The director and DP recently spoke with THR for a behind-the-scenes report on the making of Emilie Pérez.)

The Golden Frog in the Directors’ Debut Competition went to Sandhya Suri for her morally slippery police procedural set in India. Santoshwhich is the UK’s entry for the Academy Award for Best International Film. The Golden Frog of the Debuts of filmmakers competition was awarded to Todd Martin for Tatamia searing Iranian-Israeli sports drama that delivers a timely punch, shot in black and white and co-directed by Zar Amir Ebrahimi and Guy Nattiv.

The Grand Prize in the feature documentary competition was awarded to Elizabeth Lo, director and director of photography of the Chinese-American documentary Mistress Dispellerwhich explores a love triangle from different angles. The Jury of the International Federation of Film Critics awarded the prize for best film to the Austrian-German historical horror drama The Devil’s Bathwith photography by Martin Gschlacht and direction by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala.

Earlier in the week in Toruń, Camerimage’s Lifetime Achievement Award went to legendary cinematographer Ed Lachman (Carole, Married, Virgin suicides, Light sleep, Limey) and a new prize for television performance was awarded to Shogun star Hiroyuki Sanada.

The full list of 2024 Camerimage Film Festival jury prize winners is below.

Main competition

Golden frog: The girl with the needle
Cin. MICHAŁ DYMEK
Real. Magnus von Horn

Silver Frog: The Brutalist
Cin. LOL CRAWLEY
Real. Brady Corbet

Bronze frog: Emilie Pérez
Cin. PAUL GUILHAUME
Real. Jacques Audiard

Jury for the International Federation of Film Critics Prize for Best Film: The Devil’s Bath
Cin. MARTIN GSCHLACHT
Real. Veronika Franz, Séverin Fiala

The beginnings of the filmmakersGolden frog: Tatami
Cin. TODD ​​MARTIN
Real. Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Guy Nattiv

Directorial debutGolden frog: Santosh
Real. SANDHYA SURI

Documentary feature competitionGolden frog: Mistress Dispeller
Cin. ELIZABETH LO
Real. ELIZABETH LO

Documentary short film competitionGolden frog: Shooter
Cin. J. DANIEL ZÚÑIGA
Real. Sam Shainberg

Music video competitionGrand Prize: “Fortnight” by Taylor Swift (Feat. Post Malone)
Cin. RODRIGO PRIETO
Real. TAYLOR SWIFT

TV series competitionGolden frog: “Ripley: A Hard Man to Find”
Cin. ROBERT ELSWIT
Real. Steven Zaillian

Polish film competitionGolden frog: Scarborn
Cin. PIOTR SOBOCIŃSKI JR
Real. PAWEŁ MAŚLONA

Audience Award: Tatami
Cin. TODD ​​MARTIN
Real. Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Guy Nattiv

The Golden Tadpole Prize: cin. TIN BRENDEL from the Łódź Film School for Orchid dir. by TIN BRENDEL.

The price of the silver tadpole:cin. DANIEL LE HAI from the Krzystof Kieslowski Film School for I’m Not Here real. by DANIEL LE HAI.

The price of the bronze tadpole: cin. LISA JILG from the Filmakademie Baden-Wittenberg for Titans dir. by JANNIK WEIßE.