Gianfranco Rosi Honored with Award for Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Filmmaking at EnergaCAMERIMAGE 2024

EnergaCAMERIMAGE has announced that this year’s Award for Outstanding Achievements in Documentary Filmmaking will go to visionary director Gianfranco Rosi. Known for his deeply humanistic and visually striking films, Rosi has consistently pushed the boundaries of documentary filmmaking, creating works that not only highlight pressing global issues but also offer profound insights into the lives of people often overlooked by mainstream media. We can’t wait to welcome Gianfranco Rosi to Toruń, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Region.

Gianfranco Rosi moves to New York and graduates from New York University Film School in 1985. After a trip to India in 1993, he produces and directs Skipperabout a boatman on the banks of the Ganges, which he successfully screened at several international festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival, the Locarno Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival.

After the short film Afterwordwhich was shown at the 57th Venice International Film Festival in Slab City, California in 2008, he makes the documentary Below sea level about a community of homeless people living on a desert plain 40 meters below sea level: the film wins Best Film in the Horizons section of the Venice International Film Festival and at Doc/It. It also wins the Grand Prix, the Prix des Jeunes al Cinéma du Réel, the Best Film Award at the One World Film Festival in Prague, the Vittorio De Seta Award at Bif&st 2009 and is nominated for Best Documentary at the European Film Awards 2009.

In 2010 he shoots The Sicario – Room 164a film interview of a story by Charles Bowden about a hitman on the run from Mexican drug cartels. The film wins the Fipresci Award at the Venice Film International Festival, the Doc/It Award for Best Documentary of the Year, Best Film at DocLisboa in 2010 and at Doc Aviv in 2011.

In 2013 he won the Golden Lion in Venice with Holy GRthe film in which he tells the story of the hitherto unseen humanity that lives around the Grande Raccordo Anulare (the ring road) that surrounds Rome. It is the first time that a documentary has received the Golden Lion.

In 2016, Rosi won the Golden Bear for Best Film at the Berlin International Film Festival with sea ​​of ​​firestories of the island of Lampedusa, about its inhabitants, fishermen and migrants. While in Italy it wins the Italian Golden Globe, receives two nominations for the David or Donatello Awards and wins a Nastro d’Argento, Fire at sea (the international title) will show Lampedusa, an island symbol of migration, to the whole world at festivals and in cinemas. The film will gain even more recognition thanks to a victory at the European Film Awards and a nomination for the Oscar for Best Documentary.

His feature documentary, presented at the Venice Film Festival in 2020, Do not turnhas been nominated for the 2021 Academy Awards for “Best International Feature Film”. Do not turn was shot over three years along the borders of Iraq, Kurdistan, Syria and Lebanon. A region where tyranny, invasions and terrorism have fed each other in a vicious circle, at the expense of the civilian population. Everywhere signs of violence and destruction: but in the foreground is the humanity that awakens every day from a nocturne that seems endless.

In 2022, Gianfranco Rosi followed the journeys made by the Pope during the ten years of his pontificate with In Viaggio. In Viaggio was shown at many of the world’s most prestigious film festivals and programmed in countries such as Japan, Spain and the USA, where it was distributed by Magnolia. In Italy, where it was distributed by 01 Distribution, it was shown on the national RAI channels and achieved very high audience ratings.

To celebrate Gianfranco Rosi’s remarkable contributions to documentary cinema, EnergaCAMERIMAGE is organizing a special retrospective of his work, featuring five of his most influential films: Below Sea Level, El Sicario – Room 164, Sacro GRA, FuocoammareAnd Do not turnThis carefully curated selection offers audiences a unique opportunity to experience the breadth and depth of Rosi’s cinematic vision, and provides insight into the themes and techniques that have made his films both critically acclaimed and hugely impactful.

The Award for Outstanding Achievements in Documentary Filmmaking will be presented to Rosi at the festival’s closing gala, where he will join an illustrious list of previous recipients who have shaped the landscape of documentary filmmaking. This honor recognizes not only Rosi’s exceptional body of work, but also his unwavering commitment to using the power of film to shed light on some of the most pressing issues of our time.

We invite audiences and cinephiles from around the world to join us in Toruń, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Region for this special celebration of Gianfranco Rosi’s extraordinary career. His films challenge us to see the world through a different lens, to delve into the stories of those who might otherwise go unheard, and to reflect on the complex, often uncomfortable truths that define our shared humanity. EnergaCAMERIMAGE is truly honored to welcome Gianfranco Rosi and celebrate his unparalleled contributions to the art of documentary filmmaking.