Baz Luhrmann: opening your heart to what's happening around you is the only way to stay alive as an artist

The 30th edition of the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography EnergaCAMERIMAGE 2022 is taking place in Toruń. Among the distinguished guests of the event is Australian director Baz Lurhmann - known for his work with movie stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Nicole Kidman, or Tom Hanks - and Australian cinematographer Mandy Walker. TVN24 reporter Ewelina Witenberg spoke with the filmmaking duo.

Baz Lurhmann said Poland has "a great history of great filmmakers" and added that he saw a short film during the festival titled "Light". "It’s a film about Ukrainian filmmakers, and they’re making film one minute and then they’re in a conflict. I arrived here from Australia, and I’m in Poland and I see the light. I see the Polish light and I think about Kieślowski and Polański. And I think about the light of this place, and how we work in light. But the light here is like nowhere else. And nearby a few hours from here, the light has been taken away. So you can’t help but arrive here and start to think about artists who try to tell stories, but in this light. So it’s inspiring in a strange way," he said.

"It’s amazing to be here in Poland, with what’s going on but a few hours from here. An incredible kindness of the Polish people, the way they’ve dealt with what’s happening in Ukraine. You go away from here and you see it in television – you’re a little distant from that. And so I think that allowing yourself to open your heart to what’s going on around you is the only way of staying actually alive as a human being and also as an artist," Luhrmann added.

Luhrmann and Walker also spoke about their work on "Elvis".