November in £ód¼ is a month rich in cultural events large and small. Undoubtedly, the most important of them will be the Plus Camerimage.

The Christian Culture Festival, organized in association with the Artistic Community Church, will last Nov. 2-18. Audiences will be able to see and hear performers such as actor Jerzy Trela, who will come to the festival with the STU Theater from Cracow, the Witkacy Theater from Zakopane, which is well known outside Poland, pianist Leszek Moædæer, and the Oktoich chamber ensemble affiliated to the St. Cyril and Methodius Orthodox Church in Wroc³aw. This year's event will also see the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Logos Theater.

Another highlight is the Cantio Lodziensis 10th £ód¼ Choral Festival (Nov. 17-18), among the largest competitions of its kind in Poland. About 25 amateur choirs and ensembles from all over Poland will take part. This year's festival will feature a new category: gospel and light music. The event includes workshops for conductors. Every year the organizers additionally invite various foreign groups to perform outside the competition.

A large event scheduled for Nov. 15-17, the 17th Humans in Danger Media Festival, is also worthy of note. The Museum of Cinematography, the organizer, has admitted almost 60 films to the competition. Audiences will see some new pictures that deal with the social, political and economic changes that have taken place in Poland over the past few years. "Though we have enjoyed our freedom for so many years, we still have a feeling of uncertainty, instability and even fear-and this is where our festival comes in," says the festival's director, Mieczys³aw Ku¼micki.

The 9th Explorers Festival in £ód¼ (Nov. 14-17) has a program that includes reminiscences about the late Polish Himalayan mountaineer Wanda Rutkiewicz; screenings of films about explorers (Artshow 2007); meetings with Croatian Himalayan climber and cameraman Stipe Bozic; and a discussion panel featuring extreme-sports aficionados Barbara Brighetti and Martin Strel. Festival guests will also include German mountaineer Kurt Albert, Polish Himalayan climber Kinga Baranowska, U.S. extreme skier Alison Gannet, and British explorer Nicholas Middleton. The festival will end with a ceremony presenting the Explorers and Camera Extreme awards. The winner of the best documentary competition will also be selected.

In yet another event, Krzysztof Topolski will open his original Emigrant project at the Manhattan Gallery in £ód¼ Nov. 23. Produced in London, the project explores the sounds in languages spoken by emigrants. Topolski is involved in experimental electronic music as well as being a drummer and a "sound artist."

Focus on Film
The Plus Camerimage 15th International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography will be held in £ód¼ between Nov. 24 and Dec. 1. A shortlist of 14 films made during 2006 and 2007 has been drawn up from 320 productions from around the world and these will be slugging it out for the Golden Frog, while the Golden Tadpole will reward the best student cinematographers. As of this year, the award will be named after the renowned cinematographer, Laszlo Kovacs. Kovacs, who recently died, has been associated with the festival since its launch. There is also a Polish Films Competition. Special films and panoramic world cinema productions will be screened in addition to competition entries. "We've arranged a comprehensive student workshop program, so we're counting on a few world cinema personalities making an appearance. We have a few novelties in store too but what we'd most like to see from the festival is some serious discussion on the most important issues facing cinema today," says festival director Marek Æydowicz.

This year's main sponsor is Polkomtel SA, operator of the Plus mobile telephone network. This explains the change of name to Plus Camerimage.

Quite a few Polish and foreign documentaries are being shown this year and there are plans to create a documentary section next year.

The lives of the great painters have made it onto this year's program via Vittorio Storaro's film about Caravaggio and Peter Greenaway's film about Rembrandt. Great writers may get their turn next year. Jiri Menzel and Jaromir Sofr will be present to collect a special award for the best director-cinematographer team.

Award-winning cinematographer Vittorio Storaro is expected to appear at the opening ceremony. Æydowicz says Storaro has been the festival's friend and special guest since the outset. He has garnered numerous international awards including Oscars for Apocalypse Now, Reds and The Last Emperor.

One of the most important events accompanying the festival is Storaro's exhibition entitled Double Impressions Between Photography and Cinematography which opened at the £ód¼ History Museum Oct. 27. Storaro is known for his use of light as a means of expression. "My exhibition has been shown in a lot of countries around the world but never has it been displayed in better conditions than in £ód¼," he said at its opening. The exhibition is part of Storaro's Writing with Light project, which includes three books on the subject by the artist in addition to the photographs. Storaro's photographs, like film images, create a dialogue between interweaving pictures. The artist claims to draw his inspiration from famous paintings, philosophical theories and music. Storaro's works take up the entire museum space, including its facade. The exhibition is open until Dec. 16.

The 526 Gallery is staging an exhibition of Chris Niedenthal's photography entitled A Lighter Look, from Nov. 29 to coincide with the festival. A Lighter Look is a photographic series documenting Poland from 1969-1989. Niedenthal is a British photographer of Polish descent, best known for having taken one of the most famous photographs in Poland during the period of martial law. The photo shows an armored personnel carrier standing in front of a cinema advertising the film Apocalypse Now.

Variety magazine included Camerimage in its list of 50 must-see festivals this year.
M.S.