The acclaimed Danish period horror drama The Girl with the Needle, shot by cinematographer Michal Dymek, took home the Camerimage Film Festival’s Golden Frog Saturday night in Toruń, Poland. The winner was selected by a jury led by two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett.
Camerimage famously celebrates the art of cinematography, so its honors are extended to the directors of photography behind the movies exhibited in its main competition. But this year’s jury made a point of adding a “special mention” for The Girl with the Needle‘s 40-year-old director, Magnus von Horn.
The masterfully realized period thriller is loosely based on the true story of Danish serial killer Dagmar Overbye, who helped impoverished women kill their unwanted children in 1910s Copenhagen.
The Hollywood Reporter‘s contributing film critic, Leslie Felperin, summed up the film as “a dark, urgently timely Danish drama” that’s “like one of those fiendish knots that tighten the more you squirm… build[ing] to a devastating climax, taut as piano wire.”
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 poise of antique photographs, an aesthetic that will delight cineastes.”
The Camerimage jury awarded the event’s Silver Frog to British DP Lol Crawley for his work — which THR‘s chief critic David Rooney previously described as simply “magnificent” — on Brady Corbet’s monumental immigrant artist epic The Brutalist. The film was shot on film in the retro VistaVision format, “a giant canvas amply justified by the narrative’s variegated textures.”
‘The Brutalist’
The third-place Bronze Frog went to Paul Guilhaume’s inventive work on Emilia Pérez, the Mexican cartel musical genre swirl from French maverick Jacques Audiard. (The director and DP both recently spoke with THR for a behind-the-scenes feature on the making of Emilia Pérez.)
The Golden Frog in the Directors’ Debuts Competition was awarded to Sandhya Suri for her morally slippery, India-set police procedural Santosh, which is the U.K.’s submission for the best international film Oscar. The Golden Frog in the Cinematographers’ Debuts Competition, meanwhile, went to Todd Martin for Tatami, a 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 Prix for the documentary features competition was handed out to Elizabeth Lo, director and DP of the Chinese-American doc Mistress Dispeller, which explores a love triangle from various angles. The Jury of the International Federations of Film Critics handed its prize for best film to the Austrian-German historical horror drama The Devil’s Bath, with cinematography by Martin Gschlacht and direction from Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala.
Earlier in the week in Toruń, Camerimage’s lifetime achievement honor was awarded to legendary cinematographer Ed Lachman (Carol, Maria, The Virgin Suicides, Light Sleeper, The Limey) and a new award for television performance went to Shogun star Hiroyuki Sanada.
The full list of the 2024 Camerimage Film Festival’s jury prize winners is below.
Main Competition
Golden Frog: The Girl with the NeedleCin. MICHAŁ DYMEKDir. Magnus von Horn
Silver Frog: The BrutalistCin. LOL CRAWLEYDir. Brady Corbet
Bronze Frog: Emilia PérezCin. PAUL GUILHAUMEDir. Jacques Audiard
Jury of the International Federations of Film Critics Award for Best Film: The Devil’s BathCin. MARTIN GSCHLACHTDir. Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
Cinematographers’ Debuts, Golden Frog: TatamiCin. TODD MARTINDir. Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Guy Nattiv
Directors’ Debuts, Golden Frog: SantoshDir. SANDHYA SURI
Documentary Features Competition, Golden Frog: Mistress DispellerCin. ELIZABETH LODir. ELIZABETH LO
Documentary Shorts Competition, Golden Frog: ShotplayerCin. J. DANIEL ZÚÑIGADir. Sam Shainberg
Music Videos Competition, Grand Prix: Taylor Swift’s “Fortnight” (Feat. Post Malone)Cin. RODRIGO PRIETODir. TAYLOR SWIFT
TV Series Competition, Golden Frog: “Ripley: A Hard Man to Find”Cin. ROBERT ELSWITDir. Steven Zaillian
Polish Films Competition, Golden Frog: ScarbornCin. PIOTR SOBOCIŃSKI JRDir. PAWEŁ MAŚLONA
Audience Award: TatamiCin. TODD MARTINDir. Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Guy Nattiv
The Golden Tadpole Award: cin. TIN BRENDEL from Łódź Film School for Orchid dir. by TIN BRENDEL.
The Silver Tadpole Award: cin. DANIEL LE HAI from Krzystof Kieslowski Film School for I am Not Here dir. by DANIEL LE HAI.
The Bronze Tadpole Award: cin. LISA JILG from Filmakademie Baden-Wittenberg for Titans dir. by JANNIK WEIßE.
