“I fell in love with the film at the age of 12. I learned from professors for whom the camera was sacred, it was a great privilege to learn from them. Thanks to her, we can stop time and do something extraordinary.”

This was pointed out by Jolanta Dylewska, the cinematographer from Poland, who at this year`s 45 th edition of the International Cinematographers' Film Festival „Manaki Brothers“ was awarded with the special „Golden Camera 300“. She gave a master class at the Manaki Cinema in Bitola, talking about her beginnings, her professional life, as well as about the making of the masterpiece „In Darkness“.

„The Polish Film School, of which I was a student, was founded in 1948 and it has been active since then. The founders were my professors when I enrolled there. They were part of the Red Army during the war and they knew they were recording history. The camera was sacred to them. I believe it was a great privilege to learn from them. The camera for me is a metaphysical element. Thanks to her, we can stop time and that is something extraordinary“, Dylewska said.

She chooses the films she will work on when she sees that her participation in them is important. She likes to choose projects that make a change, including in her life. There are, she says, many amazing cinematographers in the world and she knows that many of them can create extraordinary films.

„However, I try to create my own personal path. I refused offers to work in the United States, and I made films in Kazakhstan“, says Dylewska.

The Polish cinematographer referred to her masterpiece, „In Darkness“, which she said depicts Poland as a tomb for the Jewish people.

„The film crew lived in the village. It was very tense, they were real protagonists“, she said.

What Dylewska demonstrates in this shocking drama about the Holocaust of the Jews in World War II is a top notch in terms of photography, which, as the title itself suggests, is shot in almost absolute darkness, rarely seen and experienced in film. To capture the horror of hiding from the fascists of a group of refugee Jews in the sewage underground of the city of Lvov/ Lviv (at the time was under Polish occupation, today a Ukrainian city) – Dylewska created a visual darkness, a kind of black and white photo in color, which was rated by experts as the ultimate mastery. For this film masterpiece, Dylewska triumphed at the Manaki Brothers Festival in 2012, when she won the Golden Camera 300.

At the master class Dylewska said that, if she could now advise the younger self, she would say to herself – „Always be true, believe in yourself and your emotional intelligence“. She also talked about the importance of cooperation between members of the team working on a film.

„Without my technical team, I`m nobody. It is important how they are as people, not only as professionals. We are a team, it is very important to get to know each other and to know each other`s strengths and weaknesses. Trust is key“, Dylewska added.

She advised young people to learn the history of the film and not to be afraid to take risks and try new things.

Jolanta Dylewska was born in Wrocław, Poland, in 1958, and studied and graduated in directing and cinematography in 1989 at the celebrated Leon Schiller National Film, Television and Theatre School in Łódź, the nursery of many generations of film artists, especially cinematographer(s). Due to her experience and world reputation, Dylewska is working as a professor at the Lodz Film School, and she also taught at the prestigious Baden-Württemberg Film Academy in Ludwigsburg, Germany.