AFC-related activities

Death of cinematographer Romain Winding, AFC (1951-2023)

AFC-related activities

With the death of cinematographer Romain Winding on Thursday 20th July 2023, the AFC has lost one of its most lovable members. He passed away at the age of 71 at his house in Chambonas (Ardèche, France). Over the course of nearly 30 years, Romain shot, with elegance, sensitivity and simplicity, around sixty feature films and made-for-television movies. Here, we retrace his steps.

AFC Micro Salon Show 2024: Save the Dates

2024

In keeping with our time-tested formula: one location, two dates, three reasons to visit the AFC’s Micro Salon and to note next year’s dates in your calendar, Wednesday 7th February and Thursday 8th February 2024 at the Parc Floral de Paris.

Interview with Xavier Dolléans, AFC, about his work on two episodes of the series "Mrs. Davis"
By Jonathan Bensimhon, for the AFC

Conversations with cinematographers

Created by Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof, "Mrs. Davis" is an eight-episode series produced by Warner Bros TV released on its own streaming service Peacock in late April. Xavier Dolléans, AFC, was the cinematographer for episodes 3 and 4, directed by Alethea Jones and shot in Spain. Interviewed here by screenwriter and director Jonathan Bensimhon, he discusses the technical challenges he had to overcome and the artistic, organizational and human particularities of such a production.

Member of the Caméra d’Or jury at Cannes: an exceptional experience
By Nathalie Durand, AFC

AFC-related activities

At 8:30 a.m., the lights go out and the film begins. This is the beginning of my day as a festivalgoer. It is the beginning of the day for a member of the Caméra d’Or jury. I am very honored and grateful to the AFC for allowing me to spend two weeks at Cannes. I tried to show myself from time to time at the AFC stand, but my schedule didn’t allow me many opportunities. Watching films was my sole occupation for ten days, then discussing, speaking, sharing my feelings about them with the other members of the jury.

Robert Yeoman, ASC, shares his choices on Wes Anderson’s "Asteroid City", Greg Fromentin adding to his words
"Cuando calienta el sol", by François Reumont for the AFC

Conversations with cinematographers

After shooting The French Dispatch in France in Angoulême, Wes Anderson and his crew decided to set their new film in Spain’s desert. For Asteroid City is therefore a very brilliant hommage to 1950’s America and to stage play, as the prologue says. Robert Yeoman, ASC, whose long filmography notably includes William Friekin’s masterpiece To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) shares his lensing and lighting choices on this new nostalgic fable, where John Ford’s desert and SF imagery are sometimes meeting. (FR)

The DoP Arseni Khachaturan talks about his work on the HBO serie "The Idol", directed by Sam Levinson
Sex, Lies and Ektachrome, by François Reumont

Les entretiens au Festival de Cannes

One of Cannes most awaited screening was Sam Levinson’s new mini serie "The Idol". Discovered thanks to his award-winning series "Euphoria", – also produced by HBO – , he decided, for this new project, to tell a story about the heart of show business. Lily Rose Depp plays Jocelyn, an international pop star’s clone - surrounded by a swarm of people, orbiting financially around her.
New York based cinematographer Arseni Khachaturan was chosen by Sam Levinson to boldly begin the series, then handed over the cinematography to Marcell Rev HCA, ASC, who shot both seasons of "Euphoria".

Laurent Brunet, AFC, talks about his work with Michel Gondry on "The Book of solutions"
"The Marc Becker method", by François Reumont for the l’AFC

Les entretiens au Festival de Cannes

Wacky and offbeat as per usual, Michel Gondry talks about himself in his latest film: a film director, in conflict with his producers, runs off to the Cévennes with the dailies to finish the film. Pierre Niney stars as Marc Becker, Gondry’s clone, alternately irritable and great, trying to finish his film at his old aunt Suzette’s (Francoise Lebrun) home, accompanied by his faithful editor Charlotte (Blanche Gardin) and his scapegoat assistant Sylvia (Frankie Wallach). Laurent Brunet, AFC (French society of Cinematographers) – now a part of the "Gondry family" since working on Microbes and Gasoil – was the cinematographer on this film... (FR)

Lennert Hillege, NSC, speaks about the challenges of shooting "Occupied City", by Steve McQueen
Time After Time, by François Reumont

Les entretiens au Festival de Cannes

British director and contemporary artist Steve McQueen presents with Occupied City an atypical film; altogether a tribute, a meditation on memory and archival work. This four hour documentary presented at Cannes draws a parallel between five years of German occupation in Amsterdam (with sound) and contemporary images of the pandemic filmed throughout a three year span. Dutch cinematographer Lennert Hillege, NSC, was in charge of the cinematography, shot on film. (FR)

Discussion with Haya Khairat, 2023 "Angénieux Special Encouragement"
"Burn like a Fire in Cairo", by François Reumont for the AFC

Les entretiens au Festival de Cannes

Born in 1995, Haya Khairat is an Egyptian cinematographer and director who has been working for the past ten years, mainly in her country. Dividing her work between commercials, music videos, short fiction films and TV movies, this year she has been awarded the Angénieux Special Encouragement, along with Barry Ackroyd, BSC. She talks to us about the spark that ignited her passion, her journey, and being a woman filmmaker in the Middle East. (FR)

Caroline Champetier, AFC, talks About the Shooting of "Man in Black", directed by Wang Bing
Memory in the Skin, by François Reumont

Les entretiens au Festival de Cannes

Performance, art film, testimony of an artist in his autumn years - Man in Black is a new film by Chinese director Wang Bing, known for his documentary work, such as Youth, in Official Competition. Wang Xiling, a Chinese artist in exile and composer aged 87, bears witness to what he has seen and experienced as an artist. Naked, showing the scars of torture and abuse, he wanders through the spaces of the Bouffes du Nord, the legendary and beautiful Parisian theatre. He plays fragments of his works, sings… and above all recounts, in sparing unemotional prose, the experience of an artist under the Chinese regime. An intensely personal and moving film, with an image as powerful as the force of his narrative.
 Caroline Champetier spoke with us briefly about her collaboration with Wang Bing. (FR)

Director of photography Pierre Dejon discusses his work on Just Philippot’s "Acide"
Death from above, by François Reumont, for the AFC

Les entretiens au Festival de Cannes

What if rain suddenly became deadly? In the context of global warming, and worries increasing about this upcoming’s summer water reserves, this initial idea holds a meaning of its own.
This is Acide’s take, Just Philippot’s second feature film, screened during the Official Selection, at the Midnight showing, this year, at the Cannes Film Festival. Guillaume Canet plays a divorced father, living under probation with an electronic tagging device, trying to protect his daughter in the midst of a sudden eco-climatic disaster. Pierre Dejon, the film’s director of photography, talks to us about the challenges of such a project, and in particular the difficulty of filming in the rain... when it’s sunny. (FR)

Manu Dacosse, SBC, remembers the filming of "Vincent Must Die", by Stephan Castang
The deadly glare, By François Reumont

Les entretiens au Festival de Cannes

Selected out of competition at this years Cannes Critics’ Week, Stephan Castang’s first film is a fantastic story in which the protagonist suddenly finds himself confronted with inexplicable violence. To bring this fable to life, which oscillates between a paranoid film and an epidemic film, Manu Dacosse, BSC, teamed up with this highly experienced theater actor. It is Karim Leklou who lends his features to Vincent, bringing both the fragility and the strength that characterize the character with talent. (FR)