Women in Cinematography — the popular and influential union that represents women cinematographers across the globe — has become the latest industry organization to publicly criticize Camerimage Film Festival head Marek Żydowicz for comments he made last week in a magazine op-ed.
In the article titled ‘Time for Solidarity’, published in the craft magazine Cinematography World, Żydowicz outlined the path he believes the cinematography-focused festival can take as the wider film industry continues to change at speed. The greatest change, Żydowicz hypothesized, was the growing prominence of women cinematographers and directors. The thesis of Żydowicz’s article, however, was quickly denounced by industry professionals and unions who said it was sexist.
In the first public statement to criticize the article, the British Society of Cinematographers said Żydowicz’s words represented an “outdated notion of male superiority in the field and equate fairer gender representation with a drop in artistic values.” The BSC highlighted an early portion of the article where Żydowicz writes: “‘Can we sacrifice works and artists with outstanding artistic achievements solely to make room for mediocre productions?”
Another portion of Żydowicz’s article that was widely criticized online by filmmakers such as Reed Morano and Fabian Wagner read: “While EnergaCamerimage strives to acknowledge the contributions of women in cinematography, it also aims to maintain artistic integrity. Change? Yes, but let’s remain decent and honest. It’s about rapid evolution, not a fanatical revolution that destroys the cathedrals of art and throws out its sculptures and paintings.”
The BSC’s statement was quickly supported by the American Society of Cinematographers, which reshared the letter on its website. Similar statements have since been shared by almost a dozen industry unions, including the Canadian Society of Cinematographers, the Society of Camera Operators, and the Women Cinematographers Network Of Germany, Austria & Switzerland.
In their letter which you can read in full below, Women in Cinematography (WIC) — an expansive network of working cinematographers — has criticized Żydowicz’s article but also called on the festival to introduce changes to its structural operations to promote greater diversity. (WIC is a largely anonymous group, but Deadline has seen evidence of it’s membership, which includes hundreds of working DoPs and some of the industry’s biggest names. The group is also backed by national organizations like the BSC).
“Camerimage’s historical exclusion of all but a few women is the very reason that Women in Cinematography – a collective of filmmakers from across the globe – was formed earlier this year,” the letter reads.
The group continues to state that recent editions of Camerimage “demonstrate how female cinematographers have been sidelined by the festival.”
“Mudbound, for which Rachel Morrison ASC became the first woman to be nominated for a cinematography Oscar in 2018, was not included in competition and instead relegated to a special screening,” the letter reads. “In 2021, cinematographer Ari Wegner ACS ASC was nominated for an Academy Award for The Power Of The Dog, but this film was also excluded from the main competition and shown as a special screening. Ellen Kuras ASC’s cinematography work has never been nominated in competition… Can Camerimage claim to be first and foremost about artistic merit when it overlooks these brilliant and lauded achievements?”
The letter later outlines a series of changes the group says it believes will bring greater transparency to the festival. The list includes “full transparency of the selection committees; publish names and photographs” and “Extensive cooperation with organisations representing minorities in the film business.”
The letter ends: “Camerimage has always been, and continues to be, a unique and invaluable festival for all of us; shaping, supporting, and educating cinematographers in countless ways. That’s why we deeply care about its evolution to reflect the highest standards of the film industry, including inclusivity and social responsibility.
“We hope that this year’s initiatives will lay the groundwork for meaningful and lasting progress, and have faith that Camerimage will commit to these principles.”
Żydowicz has published a public apology following pushback over the article. You can read that in full below too. In the note, Żydowicz writes that it was never his “intention to undermine the achievements of any filmmakers, whose work I deeply appreciate and respect.”
“Whether this misunderstanding stemmed from an unfortunate choice of words or inaccurate translation from Polish is irrelevant. I apologize for this misunderstanding. I assure you that we will prevent this kind of ambiguity from occurring in our communications in the future,” Żydowicz’s statement reads.
“I created the festival to recognize excluded filmmakers, to bring attention to those undervalued and marginalized within our industry. We actively support and will continue to support women in their efforts to achieve the recognition and standing they deserve in the film world.”
Camerimage opens in Torun, Poland on Saturday and will run until November 23. This year’s opening film is Blitz, the latest feature from Steve McQueen. The festival will close with Universal’s Wicked remake starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.
Women in Cinematography Statement
Women in Cinematography echo the sentiments that have been made by Cinematography societies the world over since the release of Marek Żydowicz’s article in Cinematography World magazine on Nov. 8, 2024 and wish to provide greater context to this discussion.
Camerimage’s historical exclusion of all but a few women is the very reason that Women in Cinematography – a collective of filmmakers from across the globe – was formed earlier this year.
Even a recap of the most recent history can demonstrate how female cinematographers have been sidelined by the festival. MUDBOUND, for which Rachel Morrison ASC became the first woman to be nominated for a cinematography Oscar in 2018, was not included in competition and instead relegated to a special screening. In 2021, cinematographer Ari Wegner ACS ASC was nominated for an Academy Award for THE POWER OF THE DOG, but this film was also excluded from the main competition and shown as a special screening. Ellen Kuras ASC’s cinematography work has never been nominated in competition. PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE, for which Claire Mathon AFC won the César award for cinematography for in 2020, was excluded from the festival. Can Camerimage claim to be first and foremost about artistic merit when it.overlooks these brilliant and lauded achievements?
Is the inclusion of only two women as chair on the Main Jury (Agnieszka Holland in 1997 and Mandy Walker ACS ASC in 2023) evidence that the festival ‘has always defended underappreciated and excluded creators’? Only 3.1% of films selected for the main competition have been photographed by women in 30 years.
There have been repeated failed attempts by several organisations to persuade Camerimage to implement broader inclusion initiatives beyond the occasional diversity panel. As a result of the dismaying lack of representation in the 2021 edition of of the festival, the IMAGO D&I committee, in conjunction with the Digital Orchard Foundation, submitted a comprehensive list of proposals to Camerimage that could broaden the selection process that repeatedly sees female and minority cinematographers sidelined. None of these initiatives were implemented by Camerimage.
In May this year, the festival reached out to Women Behind the Camera in the UK to help them with a one-off event to celebrate ‘The Year of Brave Women’. They resisted WBTC’s suggestion to curate a number of events across the week featuring female filmmakers and despite WBTC sending over 30 proposals to the festival in early June, they received no response or commitment.
Women in Cinematography’s petition on change.org was delivered to the Camerimage administration in September with over 2500 signatures and public pledges of support from leading cinematography societies and manufacturers and directly led to WIC’s inclusion in the this year’s festival programme.
We reject this campaign being used by Mr Żydowicz as a demonstration of the festival’s commitment to diversity or to shield Camerimage Festival from rightful criticism, as was attempted in his 9th November response to the BSC’s open letter. These events only came about as a result of our activism and public and international pressure. In outlining its defence, the festival published a new Diversity and Inclusion policy which was in fact drafted by WIC and delivered to the festival on 28th September. It remained unpublished until the recent backlash against the Cinematography World article, and was posted without acknowledgement of its origins or credit for the women who wrote it.
Mr Żydowicz may believe that he doesn’t have a blind spot when it comes to minority representation but please take a moment to reflect on the events of the last few days. As a major player on the international stage, Mr Zydowicz’s words wield great influence and Camerimage has a responsibility to celebrate filmmakers from all walks of life and those who historically have not received the support needed to amplify their talents and achievements. Diversity and inclusion are essential to innovation and progress in any sector, and the art of cinema is no exception.
WIC were happy finally to read yesterday of Mr Żydowicz’s commitment to progress. We hold great fondness in our hearts for the festival and want it to thrive. Given the outcry from the community over the weekend, we urge the festival’s apology for the offence caused and a genuine pledge of concrete commitments going forward. This will go a long way to restoring the faith in the festival and its leadership’s integrity
This is a brief list of where positive change must happen:
- Full transparency of the selection committees; publish names and photographs.
- Creation of a meaningful selection policy to ensure fair representation in competitions.
- Creation of an advisory board to oversee and implement the original D&I policy
- Extensive cooperation with organisations representing minorities in the film business.
- Training management teams, selection committees and juries about unconscious bias and how to use inclusive language and behaviours
- Revise your competition categories to diversify those eligible to submit. For instance,
introduce a mid-range feature competition so that it is not a choice between debut feature or big budget, where minority groups have historically been excluded. We also suggest opening the TV competition to include later episodes and not restrict submissions to the pilot. - Engage scouts to actively seek excellent work from underrepresented groups
Camerimage has always been, and continues to be, a unique and invaluable festival for all of us; shaping, supporting, and educating cinematographers in countless ways. That’s why we deeply care about its evolution to reflect the highest standards of the film industry, including inclusivity and social responsibility.
We hope that this year’s initiatives will lay the groundwork for meaningful and lasting progress, and have faith that Camerimage will commit to these principles.
Marek Żydowicz‘s Statement
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Many have read an excerpt from my statement cited in Cinematography World article. It was never my intention to undermine the achievements of any filmmakers, whose work I deeply appreciate and respect. Whether this misunderstanding stemmed from an unfortunate choice of words or inaccurate translation from Polish is irrelevant.
I apologize for this misunderstanding. I assure you that we will prevent this kind of ambiguity from occurring in our communications in the future.
I created the festival to recognize excluded filmmakers, to bring attention to those undervalued and marginalized within our industry. We actively support and will continue to support women in their efforts to achieve the recognition and standing they deserve in the film world.
I hear and support the many voices calling for progress. Rest assured that I will continue listening and remain open to discussions initiated by the filmmaking community. I believe there is a path forward, and I am committed to engage in dialogue grounded in mutual respect.
Together with the entire EnergaCAMERIMAGE team, I hope to see you soon at the EnergaCAMERIMAGE film festival in Toruń, Poland, where we can enjoy a welcoming environment to discuss the cinematic art, technology, and education for everyone.
Sincerely,
Marek Żydowicz and the EnergaCAMERIMAGE Festival Team
