Festivals

Monika Lenczewska Will Hold a Masterclass at Ponta Lopud

Lenczewska is Recognized by Variety as One of the Best Cinematographers of 2016

Monika Lenczewska, a cinematographer based in Europe and the US and recognized by Variety as one of the best cinematographers of 2016, will hold a masterclass at Ponta Lopud with talented female cinematographers from the region. Monica’s rich career includes work on the Icelandic film Under the Tree, for which she received the Best Cinematography Award at the 2018 Dublin International Film Festival and numerous nominations at both Sundance and Camerimage Film Festivals. She is a member of the International Cinematographers Guild, Polish Society of Cinematographers and European Film Academy.

Masterclass participants are also successful cinematographers, such as Maja Radošević, a Serbian cinematographer with more than twenty short and feature films and documentaries under her belt, a young Croatian cinematographer Magdalena Ptiček, a Croatian cinematographer and documentary filmmaker Eva Kraljević, who has made more than twenty short, medium-length and feature films in the last fifteen years, and has directed four documentaries, and Dubravka Kurobasa, a Croatian cinematographer and recipient of two awards for the Deep Cuts omnibus: A special recognition from the SEEfest jury (South East European Film Festival) in Los Angeles in 2019, and the Golden Arena for Cinematography at the Pula Film Festival in 2018.

As previously announced, the novelty of this year’s Ponta Lopud Festival are professional programs for women cinematographers. One of the long-term goals of Ponta Lopud is to contribute to gender equality in the film industry. Therefore, in cooperation with the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC), this year’s Festival specially supports women cinematographers from Croatia and the wider region. Theoretical and practical work will be organized with one of the world’s most famous directors of film photography and filming sessions will take place for the first time at this year’s Ponta Lopud Festival

A special guest and moderator at this year’s Ponta Lopud Festival is Cristi Puiu, a Romanian screenwriter and director known for the award-winning films The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Cannes Film Festival 2005), Aurora (Cannes Film Festival 2010), Stuff & Dough (Quinzaine 2001), Sieranevada (Cannes Film Festival 2016) and Malmkrog (Berinale 2020). His short film Coffee and Cigarettes was awarded the Golden Bear at the 2004 Berlinale. He is considered the initiator of the Romanian new wave and one of the most important filmmakers of today.

The greatest recognition that Ponta Lopud could ever receive is the return of last year’s masters to this year’s Festival. Namely, we will welcome directors and Oscar winners Pawel Pawlikowski and Danis Tanović again this year, as well as screenwriter, director and producer Michel Franco, all of whom will moderate the masterclasses. They will be joined by Hungarian director Lili Horvát and Serbian director Ognjen Glavonić.

Lili Horvát is a Hungarian director and screenwriter, whose first feature film, Wednesday Child, was awarded in the competition programme East of the West at the Karlovy Vary Festival in 2015. Her second feature film, Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in 2020. The film has also been shown at film festivals in Toronto and Busan and won major awards worldwide.

Ognjen Glavonić is a Serbian filmmaker and producer, whose documentary Depth Two premiered at Berlin Film Festival in 2016, while his debut feature The Load was screened at Cannes as part of the Directors’ Fortnight 2018. His films have also been shown at places like MOMA, MOMI and Lincoln Center in New York, The Centre Pompidou in Paris, and ICA in London, to name but a few. Ognjen is also director and co-founder of the Pančevo Film Festival.

During the six days of the Festival, participants and audiences will have the opportunity to enjoy the evening film screenings at unique locations under the stars, such as the exceptional ambience of the Fortress of the Franciscan Monastery – Lopud 1483, and the beach of RMH Lafodia Sea Resort.

The second Ponta Lopud festival will be held from June 22 to 27, 2022.