Camerimage 2026 Unveils 15-Film Golden Frog Competition

By Daniel Okafor

Camerimage has selected 15 films for the Golden Frog competition at its 34th festival, which runs Nov. 7-14 in Toruń, Poland, with the official program also adding special screenings and a documentary slate.

Which films lead the 15-film competition?

The festival says the 15-film main competition brings together leading Hollywood and international awards contenders, selected for the contribution their visual storytelling makes to the cinematic experience. The list pairs studio productions with established auteurs, so the field spans both without much hand-waving.

• Project Hail Mary — Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, with cinematography by Greig Fraser.
• Disclosure Day — Directed by Steven Spielberg, photographed by Janusz Kamiński.
• Wild Horse Nine — Directed by Martin McDonagh, with cinematography by Ben Davis.
• Behemoth! — Tony Gilroy’s film, photographed by Damián García.
• Minotaur — The latest film from Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev, shot by longtime collaborator Mikhail Krichman.
• Woman Unknown — Directed by May el-Toukhy, photographed by Jasper J. Spanning, and a winner at the Venice Film Festival.

The announcement identifies nine of the 15 main-competition films, while six titles remain unnamed in this program summary. Łukasz Żal shot Fatherland for Paweł Pawlikowski; Oskar Dahlsbakken photographed Growth of the Soil for Hans Petter Moland; and Axel Schneppat shot Visitation for Volker Schlöndorff.

What changes in the awards race?

For awards trackers, the release establishes a 15-film field, of which the announcement identifies nine titles with directors and cinematographers. It names no jurors, voting system or winners’ date, so the route from field to trophy remains unstated.

The stated criterion is visual storytelling’s contribution to the cinematic experience, while the Golden Frog recognizes outstanding cinematography. That much is clear. The machinery behind the decision is not.

Project Hail Mary brings a major Hollywood title into the field; Woman Unknown carries a Venice win into the competition; and Minotaur continues the Zvyagintsev-Krichman collaboration. Different credentials. The same missing ballot.

How does the wider program widen the field?

The special-screening section includes two named titles beyond the main competition.

• Fjord — Cristian Mungiu’s film, winner of this year’s Palme d’Or in Cannes, photographed by Tudor Vladimir Panduru.
• Possible Love — A Netflix international award contender, directed by Lee Chang-dong and shot by Kim Ji-yong.

The documentary program includes NAZA, directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, with Szor also serving as cinematographer. The film won a Special Jury prize in Venice.

The wider slate adds two named special screenings and one named documentary to the nine competition titles disclosed here. Fjord and Possible Love screen outside competition, while NAZA occupies the documentary section, leaving the Golden Frog field at 15 rather than 18.

What does the festival place at the center?

Now in its 34th year, Camerimage dedicates itself to the artistic contribution of cinematographers and brings directors of photography and filmmakers together to discuss and celebrate the craft behind the moving image.

Across the 12 films named in the announcement, the release identifies a director and cinematographer for every title. That makes the personnel concrete for an awards-season audience. The vote, however, remains offstage.