Johnny Depp poses behind bars while accepting Camerimage Festival prize

Johnny Depp posed behind bars in the Bahamas as he scooped the Actor with Unique Visual Sensitivity prize for his drama Minamata at this year's virtual Camerimage Festival.

Just weeks after losing his libel battle against bosses at The Sun newspaper over an 2018 article calling him a "wife beater" in reference to allegations of domestic abuse made by his now ex-wife Amber Heard, the Pirates of the Caribbean star shared the bizarre snap via Camerimage's official social media accounts.

Depp, who produced and starred in the flick, flashed a wide grin and sported a beanie hat with sunglasses as he pointed at his accolade with pride, and in an acceptance letter to the event's organisers, he expressed gratitude towards the cinematographers he has worked with throughout his career.

"Over the years, I have been lucky enough to work with many incredible cinematographers," he wrote, honouring stars including Stefan Czapsky and Vilko Filac. "The relationship between the actor and the cinematographer is a pivotal one. You might even say the most important, considering cinema, more than anything, is a visual medium.
"With Benoit (Delhomme), we enjoyed a sort of dance together. It was a joy to come to work every morning, since we never quite knew what was going to happen."

"Our director, Andrew Levitas, encourages us to explore and investigate the many ways in which the scene we might be shooting that day, could play out," he added. "To capture those unrehearsed moments – those moments of beautiful mistake – those same moments that make cinema, and life, magic."

In the movie, the star plays war photographer W. Eugene Smith, who travels to Japan to document the devastating effects of mercury poisoning in coastal communities in the 1970s.

Minamata will be released globally in February 2021.