American director and screenwriter Joel Schumacher will attend Plus Camerimage as the festival's special guest and will chair the Jury of the Student Etudes Competition. He is also the recipient of this year's Special Plus Camerimage Award to the Director.

Joel Schumacher

Joel Schumacher is renowned for his versatility, style and ability to move seamlessly between film genres with equal popular success and critical acclaim. He began his film career as a costume designer for such legendary directors as Woody Allen (Sleeper, Interiors) and Herbert Ross (The Last of Sheila), before making his own name as a screenwriter with Sparkle and Car Wash. After cutting his teeth directing two television movies, Joel made his feature film directorial debut on The Incredible Shrinking Woman in 1981. His career soon took off with such iconic fare as St. Elmo's Fire and The Lost Boys, followed by other successes - Cousins, Flatliners, Dying Young and Falling Down (his first collaboration with Polish cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak). He would go on to direct film versions of two best selling novels by John Grisham (The Client and A Time to Kill) as well as two installments of the blockbuster Batman film series, Batman Forever (the #1 movie of 1995, with Jim Carrey as ‘The Riddler') and Batman & Robin.

Most recently, Joel brought audiences the films 8MM, Flawless (which he also wrote), Tigerland, Phone Booth, Bad Company and Veronica Guerin. In 2004 he adapted Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit musical, The Phantom of the Opera, for the screen. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards and a Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy. He followed that up with his second collaboration with Jim Carrey, the intriguing thriller The Number 23.

Joel's latest film, Twelve, based on the groundbreaking novel by Nick McDonell, was honored as the closing night presentation of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. He is currently in post-production on his twenty-fourth feature film, Trespass, a reunion with DP Andrzej Bartkowiak, as well as actors Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman.

The organizers would like to use the opportunity to hold a special screening of Schumacher's Falling Down, cin. Andrzej Bartkowiak. Both the director and the cinematographer will attend the screening and will introduce the film to the audience.

SELECTED FILMOPGRAPHY:

• 2007 - The Number 23 - Director
• 2004 - The Phantom Of The Opera - Director, Writer
• 2003 - Veronica Guerin - Director
• 2002 - Bad Company - Director
• 2000 - Tigerland - Director
• 1999 - 8mm - Director, Producer
• 1994 - The Client - Director
• 1993 - Falling Down - Director
• 1990 - Flatliners- Director
• 1987 - The Lost Boys - Director
• 1985 - St. Elmo's Fire - Director, Writer