AFC films in festivals

Somewhere in Canada’s Great North, Sam and Lucy are passionately in love with each other. But when she decides to leave their small town for her studies, Sam considers breaking up. Their love will be put to the test… In this video interview, Cinematographer Nicolas Bolduc, CSC, discusses the cinematography of this romantic story filmed at -40°C with snowmobiles, a rifle, the aurora borealis… and a whisky-loving white bear.

Natasha Brier was very much in view at Cannes in 2014 for her work on the Australian suspense film The Rover, and she is back at Cannes this year with Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn. The Neon Demon is set within the fashion industry, and portrays Elle Fanning in the role of a young woman who arrives in Los Angeles to work as a model. The ambiance mixes horror and sophistication for a film that seems to be one of the craziest by the director of Drive, which won the award for Best Director at Cannes in 2011. (FR)

Upon graduating from La fémis in 2006 Julien Poupard designed the lighting on a number of short films and was noticed for his work on Party Girl, awarded a Golden Camera at Cannes in 2014. He is a faithful collaborator on first films and for young directors – for example 40-Love by Stéphane Demoustier, or Les Ogres, by Léa Fehner – now he is back with Divines, the first feature-length film by director Houda Benyamina, in selection at the Directors’ Fortnight.

Quebecer André Turpin combines the roles of director of photography, director and screenwriter. Endorphin, his last film, was recently released in Canada. His career as a cinematographer relies on his loyal collaboration with Denis Villeneuve for August 32^nd on Earth, Maelstrom (Jutra for Best Cinematography) and Incendies (Genie and Jutra Awards for Best Cinematography). Since Tom at the Farm, André Turpin has been working with the young Quebecois director Xavier Dolan. He was the cinematographer for It’s Only the End of the World, the sixth feature by the most prolific director of this 69^th annual Cannes Film Festival, in competition for the Golden Palm. (BB)

Nicole Garcia ’s latest feature is an adaptation of the eponym novel written by the Italian Milena Agus: From the Land of the Moon. While she is no stranger to the Croisette with films like 15 Août, The Adversary, According to Charlie, From the Land of the Moon is in competition for the 69^th Festival’s Palme d’Or. For the cinematography of her 8^th film, Nicole Garcia called upon Christophe Beaucarne, AFC, SBC, and loyal partner of Jaco Van Doermel, Mathieu Amalric or Anne Fontaine. (BB

Filming nature and man’s relationship to it is one of the bases of Alain Guiraudie’s filmography. After Stranger by the Lake, which won the prize for Best Director at Un certain regard at Cannes in 2013, the director shot his fifth feature-length film in the Lozère, the Marais Poitevin, and Brest. Staying Vertical, a movie about wolves, paternity, and loss of status is in competition for the Golden Palm at the 69^th annual Cannes Film Festival this year.

After working on Camille Claudel 1915 and Le P’tit Quiquin, cinematographer Guillaume Deffontaines, AFC, once again teams up with Bruno Dumont on Slack Bay, in Official Compeition at the 69^th Cannes Film Festival. Guillaume Deffontaines has worked with the Larrieu brothers and Michel Leclerc a number of times, and recently filmed David Oeloffen’s movie Far From Men.

Robbie Ryan made a dazzling appearance in 2009 with the magnificent Fish Tank, directed by Andrea Arnold, and following a successful career shooting UK short films.
In 2011, he was won the Bronze Frog at Camerimage for Wuthering Heights, also directed by Andrea Arnold; they again have a film at Cannes this year. He has also shot three films for Ken Loach recently, and just finished the shoot of Yeh Din Ka Kissa (dir. Noah Baumbach) in New York – so definitely a DoP to watch…

The films photographed and projected on the screens at the Cannes festival by Directors of Photography who are AFC members will once again highlight the presence of our association at this great celebration of cinema. For this 69^th edition, sixteen “AFC” films from all sections will be screened in one of the many theatres of La Croisette.

One of the opportunities the Cannes Festival offers in it’s Cannes Classics program is to revisit its classics, and this 69^th edition will allow you to discover Close Encounters with Vilmos Zsigmond, a documentary film by Pierre Filmon that retraces the life of the director of photography from the streets of Budapest to Hollywood. Film personalities and renowned directors of photography intervene and interview him in order to trace a portrait of a complete artist.

Three exciting events have just happened concerning British (and francophone) cinematographer Peter Suschitzky, ASC, who attended the Cannes Film Festival to present Matteo Garrone’s new film Tale of Tales, to serve as a member of the jury of the Critics’ Week, and to teach a Master Class under the aegis of Sony available on the Internet on 21 May. David Cronenberg’s loyal partner discusses the creation of this fantasy film inspired by traditional Italian folk tales. (FR)

To be a member of the jury of the Caméra d’Or... What an honour, what a privilege! So, for all of you who have not had that pleasure, here is my diary from my time as a member of the jury of the Caméra d’Or award.

His first feature film, See How They Fall, was screened at Cannes, and three of Jacques Audiard’s subsequent films were selected to be in the Official Competition: A Self-Made Hero, Best Screenplay in 1996, A Prophet, Grand Jury Prize in 2009, and Rust and Bone, in 2012. For his seventh feature film, Dheepan, which is in the Official Competition of the 68^th Cannes Film Festival, Jacques Audiard chose an unknown aspiring actor to play the lead role, like Tahar Rahim and Reda Kateb in A Prophet. (BB)

Below, you will find a list of links for all of the articles that we published in English during the 68^th Cannes Film Festival. Cinematographers discuss their work with us on films featured in one of the Festival’s selections. These interviews are listed in the order in which the films are screened at the Festival.
The AFC expresses its heartfelt thanks to the CNC and its associate members — Aaton-Digital, Arri, Binocle, Cinemage, Digimage, Eclair Group, K 5600 Lighting, Lee Filters, Leica, Nikon, Panavision, RVZ, Sony, Technicolor, Thales Angénieux, Transvideo, and TSF Group — for their support, thanks to which these daily updates from Cannes were made possible.
The AFC also thanks Pierre-William Glenn, Angelo Cosimano, and the whole CST team for their warm welcome and for making it possible for us to be present at the Festival.

While for many the name Slawomir Idziak, PSC remains associated with the visuals of his compatriot Kristof Kieslowski’s 1993 film Three Colours: Blue, the Polish cinematographer has since enjoyed a distinguished international career (alongside Andrew Niccol on Gattaca, Ridley Scott on Black Hawk Down, and David Yates on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix). He now returns to the forefront of the Cannes scene with A Tale of Love and Darkness, Israeli actress Natalie Portman’s highly anticipated adaptation of the eponymous novel by Amos Oz. (FR)

After the international success of Blue Ruin in 2013, a great revenge movie that was self-produced, directed, and filmed by cinematographer and director Jeremy Saulnier, Cannes is about to discover the world premier of Green Room, his latest thriller. This story, which portrays a group of Punks and its involvement with a gang of Skinheads, is highly anticipated at the Directors’ Fortnight. American cinematographer Sean Porter is responsible for the film’s visuals.

Cinematographer Luca Bigazzi and Paolo Sorrentino together form one of the most successful tandems in Italian cinema today. Winners of over sixty awards, including the Oscar for Best Foreign Film with The Great Beauty in 2014 – which, although it was screened at Cannes in 2013, was ignored by the jury – the two men meet again this year at Cannes with their movie La giovinezza (Youth). This film portrays two octogenarians played by Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel and was shot between Switzerland and Italy. (FR)

Yves Cape, AFC, SBC, became known as a cinematographer by filming Humanité, directed by Bruno Dumont. He then continued to work with the director all the way through Outside Satan. He has also worked with Claire Denis, Martin Provost, Cédric Khan, Guillaume Nicloux, and designed the lighting on Patrice Chéreau’s latest film, Persecution. (BB)