Kluz Wins Canon Best Cinematography Award At Raindance Film Festival

Director of Photography Szymon Kluz was named winner of the inaugural Canon Best Cinematography Award at this year’s Raindance Film Festival. Kluz was recognised for his outstanding work on the short 'Dragonflies'.
As a new award category for the 2007 Raindance Film Festival, the Canon Best Cinematography Award recognises the best photography in a short film. The winner, chosen by a panel of leading industry experts, receives a Canon XH A1 HD camcorder as a prize.
“We congratulate Szymon for his visually impressive work on Dragonflies,” said Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging, Europe. “Canon is committed to encouraging exciting new talents like Szymon by delivering innovative products that offer the highest optical standards. I can’t wait to see what his next project will be, with the XH A1 in his hands.”
A Polish production, Dragonflies was directed by Justyna Nowak. It is a short story about two teenagers living in a small seaside town.
The Canon XH A1 is a professional-standard 3CCD camcorder that combines comfortable and intuitive, handheld shooting with the level of manual control that serious moviemakers demand. Inheriting many features developed for Canon’s broadcast-ready flagship HD camcorder, the XL H1, the XH A1 offers the very highest standards of imaging quality.
Culminating in the Canon Best Cinematography Award, Canon undertook a variety of sponsorship activities at this year’s Raindance Film Festival.
On 29 September, the highly acclaimed cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (28 Days Later, The Last King of Scotland) hosted a special Canon HD Masterclass with long-time collaborator Stefan Ciupek – one of Europe’s leading HD technicians. Over two hours, and in front of a full house, Anthony and Stefan shared exclusive rushes from two of their latest projects, Trip to Asia: Quest for Harmony and My Black Little Heart. Both movies were shot on the Canon XL H1. The pair shared their excitement over the possibilities that HD moviemaking now brings to indie filmmakers.
Canon’s support for Raindance is part of the company’s renewed commitment to independent and grassroots moviemaking and HD. Earlier this year, Canon was lead sponsor of DiBA in Barcelona – Spain’s most exciting celebration of indie moviemaking.
In October, the company will be lead sponsor of Cimatics, the cutting edge AV festival hosted in Brussels. And in November, the Canon Best Short will be presented during the star-studded awards night of the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA).
For further information visit www.canon.co.uk
(DS)