Festival audience
Such result of the 8-day event proves that the Camera Action Festival, as the only festival of feature films in Lodz, the UNESCO City of Film, has firmly established itself on the map of Polish film events. The Camera Action Festival was brought to life in 2010. University of Lodz has been present since its beginning. This only festival in Europe devoted to film criticism was created by students and graduates of the Faculty of Philology of the University of Lodz. Each year, the event is substantively supported by the staff of the University of Lodz.
The record-breaking 13th edition of the Camera Action Festival
The numbers do not lie: exactly 25,100 viewers took part in the first fully post-pandemic edition of the Camera Action Festival – in on-site screenings and meetings, as well as in online events. It is a large community of cinema enthusiasts, who look forward to this film festival, full of cinema enthusiasm and fascination with the tenth muse, every year. The organisers prepared a total of nearly 600 seats in the screening rooms, which were often one hundred percent full. The biggest hits of this year's festival included: "Beautiful Beings" by Guðmundsson, "Les cinq diables” by Léi Mysius or the winner of the Grand Prix in Cannes "Close" by Lukas Dhont.
The interest was so great that, unfortunately, not all the enthusiasts fit into Z1 and Z2 rooms!
– recalls Przemek Glajzner, Director of the festival.
The audience also enthusiastically welcomed three discussions around the film industry. The discussion panels are the highlight of each edition of the Camera Action Festival.
The audience filled the screening rooms to the last seat.
We are pleased that the discussion panels have once again met with great interest from the audience. The discussions were full of difficult emotions, searching for recipes for the changing world of cinematography and all of this without taboos
– adds Malwina Czajka, Director of the festival.
During the closing of the festival, we also got to know the verdict of the International Authors Spotlight Competition. The main prize in the category "Best Live Action etude" was won by the film "A Day, That Year", directed by Stanley Xu from Taiwan, and the best animation was the production of "The Fourth Wall", directed by Mahboobeh Kalaee from Iran. It was the first time that the awards have gone beyond Poland and resonated with young artists around the world.
The audience confirms – this was the best edition of the Camera Action Festival
The numbers are one thing, but the most important are the individual impressions of the festival goers.
Camera Action is one of this year’s surprises. Lovely atmosphere, great people and a comprehensive programme. I feel that this place in Lodz will become a permanent point on my festival map
– guest of the festival, Martin Stankiewicz.
The participants often left the screening rooms in amazement, and each time the Espresso Patronum festival club became the outlet for film emotions. This festival is a one-of-a-kind event – one of the regular viewers commented on the 23th edition of the festival. He was echoed by bloggers who have come to the film festival for the first time in their lives:
The festival is created for people like me – cinema enthusiasts, film lovers – call it whatever you like. The atmosphere is a distinguishing factor that has been mentioned by many festival goers. (...) These are these specific places where a person is terribly tired, but at the same time charged with new energy
– reads the Serialoza profile.
Such opinions can be multiplied, there are many of them. Screenings of the world-renowned productions and discussions without secrets are not the only attractions of the Camera Action Festival. The participants could also take part in workshops organised as part of the Akcja Edukacja [Education Action] project.
We recognise that film education is important for cinema audiences. We want the Camera Action events to be always accompanied by inspiring workshops, courses and masterclass meetings, so that the participants can expand their film competences in all areas.
– says Malwina Czajka.
The programme included, among others such meetings as storytelling workshops with Tomasz Habowski, Bez tajemnic. Jak pracuje dzisiaj krytyk filmowy z Arturem Zaborskim [No Secrets. How a film critic works with Artur Zaborski today] or workshops on programming film festivals, the expert of which was Marcin Pieńkowski, director of the New Horizons International Film Festival.
Photo from the Klapki na oczach panel. Promotion in the film industry.
Anonymous polls were also conducted among the audience. When asked about the dominant features of the Camera Action Festival, the three most frequently given answers were: interesting, inspiring and integrating. The participants also emphasised that the greatest advantage of this year's edition was good atmosphere (87% of the respondents), and some of the people described it as family-style one. As many as 79% of the viewers pointed out that creative discussions and the availability of artistic cinema are the most important elements of the festival.
It was a fantastic festival. If you ever have an opportunity, come to the Camera Action Festival, because it's brilliant. Good movies, full debate rooms and friends. It's been a long time since I attended a festival that engage, absorb and spit out a person much happier than at the beginning. I had a wonderful time .
– influencer, film critic and this year's guest of the festival – Katarzyna Czajka-Kominiarczuk on her profile Zwierz Popkulturalny.
Mickiewicz is still alive
The events of the online part of the Akcja Edukacja and Camera Action were also very popular, including “Wideoesej. Pomysł, produkcja, premiera”, to which the organisers invited Dagna Kidoń, Stanisław Liguziński, Kuba Mikurda and Michał Matuszewski, Za castingowymi drzwiami with Nadia Lebik and Jarek Skotnicki, as well as: Śmierć krytyka. Kultura uczestnictwa a przemiany krytyki XX i XXI wieku, in which Alicja Górska and Kamil Jędrasiak took part.
Conversation with Alicja Górska and Kamil Jędrasiak, moderated by Michał Piepiórka, as part of the Camera Action Festival were fascinating, broadening horizons and eye-opening. Congratulations!
– Rafał Glapiak, film expert, film critic and author of the MocnePunkty.pl website.
Both the interest in the events and many requests on the part of the viewers made the organisers extend access to the festival materials until the end of November 2022.
This year the team of the Camera Action Festival also encouraged to participate in the unusual project entitled "Mickiewicz filmowy". Echa „Ballad i romansów” w polskim kinie [Film Mickiewwicz. Echoes of "Ballads and romances" in Polish cinema]. They took a closer look at every lead and every inspiration in many titles that have been produced over the course of several dozen years. These were not only the films by Grzegorz Królikiewicz or Wojciech Jerzy Has, but also screenings of the prose of Andrzej Sapkowski – the creator of the character of The Witcher, in which the early-romantic, Slavic horror plays a special role.
Crowds in front of the screening rooms of the 13th edition of Camera Action Festival
Experts from the University of Lodz who were looking for traces of the film Mickiewicz included Małgorzata Jakubowska, Kamila Żyto and Marta Kasprzak. The event proved that the work of Adam Mickiewicz is still alive and relevant in the culture. The premiere week of the Film Mickiewicz was marked by screenings.
Virtual attendance at the shows “Wieża. Jasny dzień” by Jagoda Szelc and “The Witcher” by Marek Brodzki was high and positively surprised us. Viewers were also interested in other events, and above all, the unusual approach to the work of Adam Mickiewicz"
– Patryk F. R. Ostrowski, the project coordinator.
The 13th edition of Camera action Festival was held from 13 October to 16 October 2022 – on-site in Lodz and online on the Think Film platform (17-20.October). The task was carried out thanks to co-financing from the budget of the City of Lodz. It was co-financed by the Minister of Culture, National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund, the Polish Film Institute and the University of Lodz – patron of the festival. The festival was held under the honorary patronage of the President of the City of Lodz, Hanna Zdanowska. The meetings within the Akcja Edukacja series were carried out as part of the "Łódź akademicka, Łódź naukowa 2022" programme.
The project is co-financed from the budget of the city of Lodz as part of the regranting carried out by the Opus Centre. Camera Action Festival Foundation is the organiser. Admission to the events was free.
Source: Dominika Druch, Camera Action Festival
Edit: Promotion Centre, University of Lodz
Photos: Mikołaj Zacharow