Summary
- Camerimage has unveiled nine competition juries for 2026.
- Sam Levy, Hype Williams and Joanna Kulig are among the jury presidents.
- The panels cover debuts, documentaries, television and music videos.
- The Main Competition jury has yet to be announced.
ToruńCAMERIMAGE has named the cinematographers, directors and other film professionals judging its 2026 competitions, with Sam Levy and Hype Williams among the standout jury presidents.
Announced on November 2, the line-ups cover nine competition sections, ranging from emerging cinematographers to documentaries and music videos. The 34th festival takes place in Toruń, Poland, from November 7 to 14, 2026.
Sam Levy, Hype Williams and the leading jury names
The Polish Feature Films Competition jury is chaired by cinematographer Sam Levy, alongside cinematographer Mia Cioffi Henry and Henning Rädlein, a director and ARRI digital cinematography specialist.
The Cinematographers’ Debuts Competition is led by Karl Walter Lindenlaub, with producer Theresa Park and cinematographer Piotr Śliskowski. Actress Joanna Kulig chairs the Directors’ Debuts Competition, joined by producer Saul Germaine and MoMA film curator Josh Siegel.
Director and producer Hype Williams chairs the Music Videos Competition. His fellow jurors are cinematographers Vance Burberry and Ronald Víctor García, singer-songwriter and producer Doda, and composer and music producer Łukasz L.U.C. Rostkowski. Williams is also set to receive the festival’s award for achievements in music video.
TV, documentary and film-school juries
Cinematographer Natalie Kingston presides over the TV Series Competition, with cinematographers Stephen Lighthill and Ben Richardson on the jury.
The Documentary Features Competition jury is chaired by cinematographer and director Wojciech Staroń, joined by cinematographer and artist Consuelo Althouse and director-producer Rayka Zehtabchi. Cinematographer Sandra Valde-Hansen heads the Documentary Shorts Competition, alongside curator and writer Pamela Cohn and cinematographer Nikolai von Graevenitz.
For the Film and Art School Etudes Competition, cinematographer Jamie Ramsay chairs a jury including cinematographers Christoph Krauss and Stefanie Reinhard. The European Funds in Focus Competition is chaired by creative director Janek Majle, with cinematographer Janusz Gauer, Sebastian Gojdź and director-screenwriter Maria Sadowska.
The Golden Frog jury is still to be announced
The Main Competition jury, which will decide the Golden Frog, was not part of this announcement. The organizers say its members will be revealed soon. The films recently added to the Golden Frog race already show the range of cinematographic approaches competing at this year’s festival.
What we think
Jury appointments matter at Camerimage because the films are being assessed through the craft behind the camera. Framing, lighting, camera movement and the relationship between cinematography and direction are not supporting details here; they are central to the conversation.
It is encouraging to see cinematographers sitting alongside producers, directors and curators, especially in the debut and documentary categories. That mix can produce a more meaningful discussion of what images actually do for a story, rather than simply rewarding impressive individual shots. For filmmakers, the final selections will also offer a useful way to examine what working professionals recognize in emerging voices.
