Jaffa

Paru le La Lettre AFC n°188 Autres formats

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It was while working with Mathieu Kassovitz (Café Au Lait, La Haine, Assassin(s)) that Peter Aïm began his career as a feature film cinematographer. He then shot several films for Antoine de Caunes, and Samuel Benchetrit, and recently he worked on the mega-hit Welcome to the Sticks (Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis) and The Actress’ Ball. With Jaffa by the Israeli Keren Yedaya, he experiments with a stylized image for a politically committed and popular film.

Was this your first collaboration with Keren Yedaya ?
Yes. It was Laurent Brunet who closely worked with her on the very beautiful film, My Treasure (Cannes Golden Camera 2004). I think that he was unable to work with her on this film for personal reasons.

Jaffa is surprising at first, specifically because of the many zooms and the rather stylized light, with marked shadows behind the actors...
Keren watched many Egyptian films in her youth and was inspired both aesthetically and politically by them. She didn’t want to use cranes or dollies which for her are signature tools of Western culture and more "Hollywood" films.

She was anxious to "rehabilitate" the zoom, which is more "lowbrow" and immediately evokes B series films. I lit with sources near the lens on the camera axis, and, unlike my "habits", and my inclinations, without real shadow areas. I kept the marked shadows of the films of the 1940s, but taking care that there only be one shadow !

You shot in Jaffa, where the story takes place ?
Absolutely. Jaffa is a city stuck to Tel-Aviv in which Israelis and Palestinians rub elbows. It is this special and delicate situation that the film speaks of. We shot on location but it was almost like being in a studio condition for me : I covered the flat with a grid of 500 Watts and 1 000 Watts bulbs. Even during the day, I used tungsten, because in Israel the openings on the outside of the homes are very small in order to keep out the heat. In the garage, which is one of principal locations, I protected myself from the direct sun with a white sheet. I used 500 ISO film, because the grain enhances the "lowbrow" film style.

How did shooting go with a crew that you didn’t know ?
Very, very well. The Israelis are extremely friendly and the gaffer was perfect, like mine in France ! This was a great experience with excellent actors. And I enjoyed shooting with a director who was very involved in the visual world of her film.

Interview by Brigitte Barbier for the AFC

Translated by Benjamin B

Technique

Film : Kodak 5219 Vision3

Negative processing : Éclair

Lens : Primo zoom

Postproduction on Lustre : Post Republik in Germany