AFC-related activities

Guillaume Deffontaines, AFC, reflects on the making of "Nos Frangins", by Rachid Bouchareb

Conversations with cinematographers

For his tenth feature film, Rachid Bouchareb decided to immerse viewers in the student demonstrations of December 1986. At the center of Nos frangins is the free reconstruction of two tragedies: the deaths of the young Malik and Abdel who became the symbols of police brutality during the Pasqua-Pandraud years. Because it alternates between real archival footage, recreated archival footage, and more classic fiction, it was a particular challenge on this film to reproduce the texture of the video used in television reporting at the time. Guillaume Deffontaines, AFC, explains how he did it. (FR)

Nicolas Loir, AFC, discusses the filming of "Novembre", by Cédric Jimenez
Fear Stalks the City

Conversations with cinematographers

After several projects about crime stories in Marseilles (La French, Bac Nord), director Cédric Jimenez decided to seize on a global news story: the hunt for the terrorist mastermind responsible for the Parisian attacks of November 13, 2015. Bringing together a star-studded cast, headed by Jean Dujardin (also in La French), this adaptation of the event, written by Olivier Demangel, immediately begins immersing viewers in the workings of the SDAT (Anti-Terrorist Subdivision of the French Police). This team’s methods and goals sometimes evoke those of the DGSI (French equivalent of the FBI), popularized by the series "Bureau"... To illustrate this race against time, Nicolas Loir, AFC, had to come up with a very flexible approach to filming, with two cameras, or even more, to capture these very intense moments during which national history is being made with each passing minute. (FR)

Laurent Fénart, AFC, reflects on the shooting of Philippe Faucon’s film, "Les Harkis"

Conversations with cinematographers

Philippe Faucon and Laurent Fénart, AFC, have been working together for twenty years. One is a director with a commitment to a cinema rooted in social realism – Fatima, which received the 2016 César for Best Film and the Louis Delluc Prize in 2015, AminLa Désintegration – the other is a cinematographer who has an equal passion for documentaries and fictions. We meet with them here to talk about their latest collaboration on Les Harkis, a film that denounces the tragic destiny of the Algerians enlisted in the French army. Les Harkis is selected in the Directors’ Fortnight in this 75th Cannes Film Festival. (BB)

Interview with Pierre Aïm, AFC, about "Boy from Heaven", by Tarik Saleh

Conversations with cinematographers

After The Nile Hilton Incident, Tarik Saleh, a Swedish director of Egyptian origin, continues his exploration of genre film. He moves more towards a more realistic drama on Boy from Heaven but still keeps us in suspense with, this time, a power struggle at the heart of Sunni Islam. The cinematographer Pierre Aïm, AFC, who already worked with Tarik Saleh on The Nile Hilton Incident, has created a more restrained, naturalistic image that pushes us to eliminate the border between reality and fiction. Boy from Heaven is being presented in Official Competition at the 75th Cannes Film Festival. (BB)

Cinematographer Raphaël Vandenbussche discusses his work on "Rodéo", by Lola Quivoron

Conversations with cinematographers

After the very tender Garçon chiffon, in official competition at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, cinematographer Raphaël Vandenbussche is back at the Festival, with Rodéo, in the Un Certain Regard selection. Lola Quivoron’s first feature film depicts, with passion and sincerity, the world of Bikelife, and the struggle of a young woman to find her place in it. (MC)

Jonathan Ricquebourg, AFC, discusses the challenges of filming "Final Cut", by Michel Hazanavicius

Conversations with cinematographers

Unselfconsciously embracing its status as a remake of a concept film from Japan, Final Cut, by Michel Hazanavicius, is above all a comedy about the world of cinema, with a star-studded cast. This latest film from the director of The Artist with its hectic pace, its thirty-minute opening long take and its very particular construction, which is faithful to the original but has literally been translated into the language of French cinema, is being screened at the opening of the 75th Cannes Film Festival. Jonathan Ricquebourg, AFC, is the director of photography and here, he recounts the behind the scenes of the shooting of this film, a great, ambitious game. (FR)

Interviews about preproduction and shooting of “Notre-Dame on Fire”, by Jean-Jacques Annaud
Rekindling the Fire

AFC’s Conversations

A true afficionado of unique projects, filmmaker Jean-Jacques Annaud offers viewers a dive into the heart of one of 2019’s major international news events, with his new film Notre-Dame on Fire. Both a fiction and a documentary, this 20 million Euro production strives to recreate as accurately as possible the accidental fire that ravaged the emblematic cathedral. The film features both real-life characters played by actors and certain protagonists playing their own role (such as the Mayor of Paris). This is an interview with Jean-Yves Asselin, executive producer, Jean Rabasse, production designer, Jean-Marie Dreujou, AFC, director of photography, and Jean-Christophe Magnaud, special effects director on set. (FR)

Cinematographer Thomas Hardmeier, AFC, discusses his work on Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s film "Big Bug"
The husband, the ex-wife, and the cyborg

Conversations with cinematographers

Jean-Pierre Jeunet directed his new film BigBug for streaming platform Netflix, nearly eight years after his last film, The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet. The latest film is an intimate combination of theater and classic Sci-Fi themes of confrontation between aliens and humans. Almost entirely set inside a futuristic suburban house, the film portrays a group of individuals who find themselves locked inside their automatic home as a result of a giant bug that seems to be affecting the entire planet. For this new film, Thomas Hardmeier, AFC, perfected a shooting strategy based almost entirely on the integration of the lighting into prop sources (with the collaboration of Aline Bonetto, set designer). A shoot that was almost entirely done in studio at Transpaset in Bry-sur-Marne, between September and December. (FR)

A look at the Femmes à la Caméra conference at Paris Images AFC Events 2022
By Margot Cavret for the AFC

2022

On 20 January, the Femmes à la Caméra collective opened AFC Events at Paris Images 2022 with a round-table discussion involving several female European cinematographers. The collective was also present for the entire duration of the event at their stand, which offered visitors the possibility of testing out several systems for optimizing the ergonomics of shoulder-carried cameras.

Karina Silva, discusses her work on Amber Sealey’s "No Man of God"
Sympathy for the Devil

Les entretiens de Camerimage

“No Man of God” is a behind-closed-doors look into a cell where an FBI agent is interrogating a serial killer. It is an adaptation of authentic recordings made by Bill Hagmaier during his interviews with Ted Bundy. Director Amer Sealey and her DoP Karina Silva implemented directorial and cinematographic strategies to portray these sequences, which are all alike on paper, in order to impart rhythm to the film. “No Man of God” is in competition this year at Torun in the “Cinematographers’ Debuts Competition”. (FR)

Andrew Droz Palermo discusses his work about "The Green Knight" directed by David Lowery
Filmed by François Reumont for the AFC

Les entretiens de Camerimage

From the family of films about the Knights of the Round Table, I choose… The Green Knight! A new variation on the quest theme, that sheds light on the lesser-known character of Sir Gawain (played by Dev Patel, the British actor of Indian descent, who had his breakout role with Slumdog Millionaire). Andrew Droz Palermo, Californian cinematographer, seconds his faithful collaborator, David Lowery (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, A Ghost Story), in filming this mysterious story that draws as much from the universe of chivalry as from fantasy.

Xavier Dolléans, AFC, discusses the shoot of six episodes of David Hourrègue’s "Germinal"
Sooty blacks

Les entretiens de Camerimage

Cinematographer Xavier Dolléans, AFC, partnership with director David Hourrègue is long-standing, and the two have worked together on several series, such as "Cut" (France Ô) and "Skam" (France TV Slash). The duo has built a certain reputation on the back of the success of these programmes, and they attacked their first big-budget project with the same production crew. This project is a new, six-episode adaptation of Zola’s novel Germinal, shot with a 12-million-Euro budget. This series will be broadcast on public television by France Télévisions and is expected to be one of the public service broadcaster’s main attractions of October 2021. This is also a major event for Xavier, who has been selected in competition at Toruń for Best Television Series Image. (FR)

Ari Wegner, ACS, discusses her work on Jane Campion’s "The Power of the Dog"
Filmed by François Reumont on behalf of the AFC

Les entretiens de Camerimage

A rare filmmaker, director Jane Campion, is back 12 years after her last film, Bright Star. This time, she has chosen to adapt Thomas Savage’s novel The Power of the Dog, a rivalry between two brothers in which isolation and nature — a ranch in Montana in the 1920s — play a preponderant role. Following in the footsteps of Stuart Dryburgh, ACS, ASC, and Greig Fraser, ACS, ASC, it is now the turn of young DoP Ari Wegner, ACS, to accompany the Australian 1994 Oscar-winning director. Produced by Netflix, The Power of the Dog will be released online on the company’s platform on 1st December.

Elin Kirschfink, SBC, AFC, discusses the challenges of shooting Ameen Nayfeh’s “200 Meters”
A frustrated road movie

Les entretiens de Camerimage

For her first film, filmmaker Ameen Nayfeh chose to plunge her viewers into the Kafkaesque experience of daily life in Palestine. Separated from his wife and children by 200 meters (she lives and works on the other side of the wall, in Israel), Mustafa has no choice but to communicate with them every evening by a childish game of turning the lights on and off. But when his son is the victim of an accident, he tries to gain access to the Jewish State by any means possible. Elin Kirschfink, AFC, SBC, was the cinematographer of this audacious testimony, which already received the Audience Award at the Venice Film Festival this year. (FR)

James Laxton, ASC, talks about shooting Barry Jenkins’ series "Underground Railroad"
Between magic and reality

Les entretiens de Camerimage

After Moonlight, in 2016, which won the Oscars for best film and best screenplay, director Barry Jenkins decided to adapt Colson Whitehead’s 2017 Pulitzer Prize winning "Underground Railroad" for his first series. He teamed up again with James Laxton, ASC, whom he has known since they were both students at the University of Tallahassee, Florida. Both filmmakers explored a very different universe from that of their prior films, one that mixes the authenticity of a period film (the story takes place in the slave era in the middle of the 19th Century) with fantasy. The story follows the flight of Cora, a young slave being pursued by one of her master’s employees, through several states. A series broadcast on Amazon Prime, which has been heaped with praise since its release online. (FR)