AFC-related activities

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".

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

The winner of the 2023 Pierre Angénieux Tribute is a filmmaker who loves movement. He honed his skills shooting documentary films,when his passion for cinematography led him to cross paths with British director Ken Loach who offered him the opportunity to shoot Riff Raff, in 1991. He teamed up with Loach on several major films (Raining Stones, Ladybird, My Name is Joe, amongst others) until their The Wind That Shakes the Barley won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2006.
He then altered dircetion and worked with Paul Greengrass (United 93, Captain Philips) and filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow, whose films The Hurt Locker and Detroit he shot. Barry Ackroyd, BSC, reminisces with us about his exceptional career and discusses how he creates cinema. (FR)

Comedies with a fantastical or eccentric statement are rare in European cinema. But The (Ex)perience of Love (Syndrome des amours passées), an exciting couples analysis by Ann Sirot and Raphaël Balboni, is one exception. The humour, tenderness and audacity of this Belgian film will do wonders during the Semaine de la Critique. Jorge Piquer Rodriguez, the director of photography, and the two directors, talk to us about rhythm, direction, and a giant inner tube. (FR)

The 76^th Cannes Film Festival’s opening film, Jeanne du Barry, is American actor Johnny Depp’s first French-language role, alongside Maïwenn, who directs and stars as the lead character in her sixth feature film. She entrusted Laurent Dailland, AFC (French Society of Cinematographers), with the cinematographic direction of this film of an unexpected genre in her filmography. Experienced in period films, – but not only – , Laurent Dailland talks about his work using 35mm film, and the choices he made to create a sober yet modern world to accompany the story of King Louis XV’s favourite. (BB)

Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire and David Ungaro, AFC (French Society of Cinematographers), team up once again on Black Flies. A very realistic and desperate dive into the world of American paramedics. Shot mainly at night, in Brooklyn, this film brings together for the first time on screen the acting duo Sean Penn and Tye Sheridan. David talks to us about the city as its own character in the film, shooting in an emergency truck and his approach to scaling lighting on a set. (FR)

Following the series "Chernobyl", which remains to this day one of HBO’s most successful historical dramas of all time, screenwriter and director Craig Main has decided to adapt one of the most recognized video games for its originality and ambience. This is "The Last of Us", an immersion in a post-pandemic world where the protagonists’ survival is at stake. In order to surprise audiences and take distance from the average zombie flick, the director has performed many feats in terms of the screenwriting in order to portray the ambience and the characters as they were originally developed in the game. Young Russian cinematographer Ksenia Sereda was chosen to film the first two episodes, while Eben Bolter, BSC, took over on episodes 3-5. We are overjoyed to have Eben here with us to share what was at stake in this adventure. (FR)

Cinematographer Guillaume Le Grontec, recently admitted as an active member of the AFC, is here introduced by his two sponsors, Romain Lacourbas, AFC, ASC, and David Quesemand, AFC, in the same terms they used to introduce his application for membership and support it.

Cinematographer Noé Bach was recently admitted as an active member of the AFC. Here, he is introduced by his AFC sponsors, Patrick Blossier and Jeanne Lapoirie, in the words each used when they tabled and supported his application for membership.

Recently admitted as an active member of the AFC, cinematographer Victor Seguin is introduced here by his AFC sponsors, Agnès Godard and Julien Poupard in the words they used to support his application before their peers.

Cinematographer Inès Tabarin was recently admitted to the AFC as a member. Here, she is introduced by her AFC sponsors, Caroline Champetier and Benoît Delhomme, in the words they used before the Board in support of her application.

Cinematographer Vincent Gallot has just joined the AFC as an active member. Philip Lozano, AFC, one of his two sponsors (the second was Michael Abramowicz, AFC) introduces the new arrival here in the same words he used to introduce him to the Board when his application was being considered.

Cinematographer Evgenia Alexandrova has just been admitted as a member of our association. Here, she is introduced by her two AFC sponsors, Denis Lenoir, ASC, ASK, and Gordon Spooner, in the words they used to expressed their support of her candidacy to the Board Members of the AFC.