AFC-related activities

Selected in competition in Camerimage in the "Cinematographer’s Debuts" and "Director’s Debuts" categories, which are open to first and second films, Two of Us, by Filippo Meneghetti, tells the turbulent love affair between two retired women. At once a romance, a drama, and even at times a thriller, this film was cinematographer Aurélien Marra’s second feature film. The film is mainly set under the autumn sun in the south of France, with interiors shot in studio in Luxembourg. (FR)

Pierre Aïm undertook a very realistic reconstruction of Sarajevo for Sympathy for the Devil, the first film by Guillaume de Fontenay (Quebec director who started his career in the theatre). The film, released in Paris in late 2019, was selected at Camerimage this year in the “Director’s Debut” competition. Here, he discusses his influences for this film, fake wartime reporting and cigar smoke…

Marcel Zyskind is a Danish cinematographer who has often worked with British director Michael Winterbottom. He has also shot several documentaries, clips and advertising campaigns. He became close with Viggo Mortensen during their shared experiences on The Two Faces of January, a film by Hossein Amini (the screenwriter of Drive), and the international star actor chose him to be the DoP for Falling, his first film as a director, in Camerimage’s Main Competition. This is a film that constantly oscillates between past and present in order to portray the complicated relationship between a son and his father. (FR)

For his seventh film as director, actor and director Albert Dupontel chose a rather pessimistic dark comedy in which, as is usual in his films, contemporary social reality sometimes slips into an expressionist world that is akin to that of comic books. Alexis Kavyrchine (Perdrix, La Douleur, Ce qui nous lie) was in control of the cinematography. He discusses the way the filmmaker works in order to construct his unique and personal universe. (FR)

Because of the current situation and at the request of our exhibitor partners, the AFC Micro Salon will not be held as initially planned next January at the Parc Floral. The AFC and its associate members hope to announce a new date for the 2021 Micro Salon this spring, depending on the public health situation, the intentions of the various parties involved, and the availability of the location.

Recently admitted to the active membership of the AFC, cinematographer Aymerick Pilarksi is introduced in the following article by his two sponsors, Thierry Arbogast, AFC, and Gilles Porte, AFC, who both supported his application for admission to membership.

Aymerick Pilarski has had an unusual career. Because he was passionate about the cinema and he wanted to discover other cultures, he decided to study in Beijing rather than in France. This young cinematographer decided to leave for Asia nearly 15 years ago, where he learned Chinese and has been following in the footsteps of Christopher Doyle, a legend in cinematography. (FR)

The Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco (Después de Lucia, Les Filles d’Avril, Chronic…) portrays in his new film a popular revolt in the heart of the Mexican capital and its repercussions on society. Preferring a progressive narration from a single starting point (a big wedding party in high society), we observe the different layers of society coexist before suddenly everything explodes. For cinematographer Yves Cape, AFC, SBC, this film marks his fourth time alongside this director who has won several awards at Cannes. New Order is a film shot entirely in Mexico City in six weeks in the spring of 2019, and winner of the Silver Lion at the 2020 Venice Film Festival (FR)

Letter to the AFC’s active and associate members.
As you know, the AFC has joined Imago, effective on March 12 of this year. I am very proud of having successfully fulfilled the mission that the AFC President, Gilles Porte, and Board of Directors, had assigned to me. In order to complete this mission, last September I put together a group composed of Marie Spencer, Jean-Marie Dreujou and Gilles Porte. This group later grew to include about ten members [1]. Their advice was extremely valuable.

COVID-19 has created a huge crisis in our community with terrible consequences for many of us. IMAGO is deeply concerned by the situation which strikes each country with different levels of casualties.

The AFC is pleased to announce its return to IMAGO – the ex-European and now International Federation of Cinematographers. The AFC’s return was unanimously acclaimed (except for one abstention) at Imago’s Annual General Assembly (IAGA), held on Wednesday, 12 March 2020 at Brussels. The AFC was represented by Gilles Porte, its President, and Eric Gautier, who is in charge of international affairs.

As the sanitary conditions still require it, the AFC board met "at a distance" on Wednesday June the 3^rd, and proceeded to the election of the Executive Committee of the association. Chaired by Gilles Porte, elected on April 13 for a third term, it is then composed as follows…

To close the 2^nd AFC Postproduction Days, on January 22, 2020, the directors of photography Éric Gautier, AFC, and Fabian Wagner led a Master Class, moderated by N.T. Binh. During this meeting, they spoke of their common passion for the image.

The second annual “Festival Chefs Op’ en lumière” organized by La Bobine, took place at Chalon-sur-Saône, from 11 to 15 March 2020. The spotlight was shone on Jonathan Ricquebourg, AFC, and Elin Kirschfink, AFC, SBC, joined by Manu Dacosse, SBC, Sébastien Goepfert, Antoine Héberlé, AFC, Gilles Porte, AFC, Marie Spencer, AFC, SBC, and Virginie Surdej, SBC. Pierre Lhomme, AFC, has been honored at this event, and a photographic exposition dedicated to Roger Corbeau was also featured.

Not only a warm and friendly atmosphere, but also a high level of technical expertise at the second annual Post-Production Days organized by the AFC at the Forum des images, as part of the Paris Images Trade Show (PITS), following the Micro Salon. Introduced by Caroline Champetier, AFC, and Gilles Porte, President of the AFC, the Post-Production Days were prepared by Thierry Beaumel, consulting member of the AFC, and moderated by François Reumont.

After their first film, Syngué Sabour, in 2012, Atiq Rahimi called on Thierry Arbogast a second time to film the adaptation of the eponymous novel by Scholastique Mukasonga. This story, somewhere between a Bildungsroman and a bloody tragedy, takes place in Rwanda in the 1970s against a background of sundrenched hills, rainy dawns, and dreamy forests, and is set in a Catholic boarding school far outside of the city whose pupils are upper-class young ladies.

Besides being a direct journey through a war-torn landscape, 1917 is also a literal dive into the heart of time, and Sam Mendes uses a vast palette of directorial techniques to recreate it. The set, which in the opening sequence literally sets the viewer in the middle of a trench in the Somme, the extremely profound sound, with extreme dynamic effects, and the image with its single shot that transforms this simple tale of a suicide mission into a sort of theatrical play where the style gradually transcends the authentic. An exceptional project requires an exceptional director of photography, namely Roger Deakins, BSC, ASC, who has graciously agreed to discuss the behind-the-scenes of this unique film with us. (FR)

The 7^th Annual Paris Images Trade Show (PITS) is comprised of six main events with complementary themes intended to promote the entire French audiovisual and cinematographic industry. PITS will be an opportunity to develop a reflection around France’s place in international cinema from the economic, technical and artistic standpoints.