A Wild Ride: From Dupieux to VHS Hell
The “On the wave” section is a playful exploration of cinema and the most rebellious part of the festival program. Audiences can look forward to the Polish premiere of Quentin Dupieux’s “Le Vertige“, which once again shatters the logic of the world, this time starting from the suspicion that reality may be nothing more than a simulation. Gregg Araki’s “I want your sex” blends erotic comedy with a thriller about desire, power, and obsession, while retaining the director’s signature camp energy and queer subversion. In “Love, Death, and Adolescence at Camp Miasma“, Jane Schoenbrun reimagines the slasher genre not to replicate its conventions, but to explore the imagery that shapes adolescent fears and desires. Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano, in “Just an Illusion“, return to coming-of-age cinema, whose rhythm is set by first loves, family tensions, and ’80s music. The most literal return to the past will be VHS Hell and David DeCoteau’s “Dr. Alien“. A screening featuring the original voice-over from that era will evoke the culture of video rental stores, pirated copies, and VHS discoveries – a time when the cinematic canon was shaped not only in film archives and magazines but also among the shelves of neighborhood video rental stores.
The 17th Camera Action Festival will take place from October 22 to 25, 2026, in Łódź, and online from October 19 to 21, 2026, on the Think Film platform. This project is made possible thanks to funding from the City of Łódź’s budget. It is co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage from the Culture Promotion Fund – a state-administered special-purpose fund—as well as by the Polish Film Institute and the University of Łódź, the festival’s patron. The “Sound Direction” section is organized in collaboration with the Łódź Film School and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain in Poland. Filmweb is a partner of the section. The festival’s main partners are Monopolis, the Łódź Film School, and the Museum of Cinematography. The Camera Action Festival and the “Man in Danger” Media Festival form the “Łódź Film Festival” network.
