Camerimage Founder Sets AI Boundaries as Festival Honors Darren Aronofsky

Camerimage is keeping films generated entirely by artificial intelligence out of its selection as the cinematography festival holds debates and workshops on the technology. Running Nov. 7 to 14 in Torun, Poland, this year's event also honors director Darren Aronofsky, whose embrace of AI is expected to prompt discussion.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the festival, founder Marek Zydowicz said its selection remains centered on cinematographers' creative contributions. He expressed personal support for hybrid productions in which live actors determine how extensively AI can alter their images. Whether filmmakers use elaborate digital effects or techniques achieved on set, he said, they should respect the wishes of people contributing their likenesses and voices.

Zydowicz said the festival wants discussions about AI to help advance legal protections, potentially at European Union level. He expects the technology to become widely used but said that prospect does not alter Camerimage's current competition principles. His position combines an interest in new filmmaking tools with concern for artists' rights.

The director award for Aronofsky recognizes more than three decades of filmmaking, Zydowicz said, and does not represent a judgment on his use of AI. Citing films including Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, The Fountain and The Whale, he praised the director's willingness to tackle difficult aspects of human experience. He said Aronofsky's technological experiments should be discussed openly, including the disagreements they generate.

Editor Joe Walker is also being honored and will chair the Main Competition jury. Zydowicz highlighted Walker's collaborations with Denis Villeneuve and Steve McQueen, describing his editing as central to how audiences experience time, performance and emotion. Walker's credits include Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, the Dune films and 12 Years a Slave.

Polish cinematographer Janusz Kaminski will receive The Hollywood Reporter's Visionary award, while Disclosure Day, his collaboration with Steven Spielberg, screens in the Main Competition. Zydowicz praised Kaminski's ability to find a visual approach suited to a story's emotional content. He also pointed to The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, which earned Kaminski Camerimage's Golden Frog, as an important achievement beyond his work with Spielberg.

Zydowicz identified financial constraints and fears about AI's effects on livelihoods as major pressures facing film artists. He argued that cinematographers draw on personal experience and observation that cannot simply be replaced by generated imagery. Although cinematography receives awards internationally, he said mainstream coverage still frequently centers on directors and actors, overlooking the people shaping a film's images.

Founded in 1993, Camerimage continues to pursue greater recognition for those artists, Zydowicz said. The festival now records average annual attendance of about 70,000 across its events, including around 1,000 film students and some 800 cinematographers from across the world. Its ambitions also include the European Film Center Camerimage, which Torun's authorities and the Polish government decided to build at a cost of around $200 million.