festivals

After having shot his last film in France, Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi decided on Spain for his latest film, a family thriller that is reminiscent both of classical tragedy and westerns. A family behind closed doors in a village of the sierra outside of Madrid, set amongst grape harvests, passions, and jealousies. The great Spanish (and French-speaking) cinematographer José Luis Alcaine is opening this year’s Competition at Cannes with this authentic firework display of actors and cinematography. (FR)

With seventeen films filmed by its members and screened on the Croisette (all sections), the AFC will once again be well-represented at the Cannes Film Festival this year. It will also be present in the jury of the Caméra d’Or award and by its daily newsletter. Over a dozen AFC cinematographers have already indicated that they will attend the Festival.

At the Cannes Film Festival 2018, for the 57^th edition of "La Semaine de la Critique", CW Sonderoptic-Leica is once again sponsoring the "Leica Ciné Discovery Price" and welcomes you from May 10 to 17 on the Nespresso beach.

Camerimage has been a regular haunt of Denis Lenoir, AFC, ASC, for some time now. In attendance this year as a member of the jury for the Polish Film competition, here, he shares his impressions after returning from the 25^th annual festival.

We were once there. A week of meetings, films, discussions with DoPs at Camerimage. I returned home in a particular state of fatigue, leaving the hotel for Poznan Airport at 2:30 a.m., just after the last party of the week, alongside a director from Bombay. That was my last meeting of the week, and like all the encounters during the week, we understood one another immediately! We discussed images, cameras, shootings...

On Thursday, 16 November, Caroline Champetier, AFC, attended the conference given at the Opera Nova by Vittorio Storaro, AIC, ASC. The cinematographer was discussing the physiology of colour with Woody Allen’s film Wonder Wheel as his guiding thread. Here, she summarizes some of the main points of his speech.

Arri Academy’s HDR seminar was well-attended and impressively-outfitted. All the students and young DoPs in attendance at Camerimage came to this event. The session is scheduled from noon to 4 p.m., and let’s hope that the hundreds of young people queued up outside will be able to get in at some point.

The Leica team organized a special meeting with the attendees of the festival in order to discuss its new Thalia range of lenses, intended to be used on large-format cameras (like the Arri Alexa 65 or the RED Monstro). In order to illustrate what we’re talking about, nothing is worth a few images taken on the spot.

Cinematographer Claudio Miranda, ASC, who was recently contacted by Sony to try out its new Venice camera, was a member of the competition jury at Camerimage. He took advantage of the opportunity to teach a Master Class and to share his vision of light, in which the relationship to nature and to camera work seem to be highly important.

Peter Bernaers colour graded the series “Transferts,” cinematography by Pascal Lagriffoul, AFC, whose first episode was selected to compete at the Camerimage Festival in the Television Series’ Pilots competition. In this article, he discusses the colour timing and finishing options for the series.

For its second incursion into science-fiction after “Trepalium,” a television series it produced in the past, Arte France decided to hire Patrick Benedek and Claude Scasso to write a six-episode season on the theme of immortality and on transferring from one body to another. The series will be broadcast as of 16 November and the cinematography of the first season was directed by Pascal Lagriffoul, AFC. The first episode was selected at Camerimage in the Television Series’ Pilots competition. (FR)

At Poznan airport, I met Pascal Lagriffoul, AFC, who, like me, was left without luggage. The tricky Lufthansa must know that in less than 40 minutes of transit in Munich it cannot forward baggage from one plane to another because as a passenger, we have to walk kilometers of corridors, running like lunatics, hoping to "catch" the connecting flight. But at first, she pretends that there is no problem.

During the closing ceremony of the 25^th annual Camerimage Festival, held on Saturday 18 November 2017 in the Grand Theatre of the Opera Nova of Bydgoszcz (Poland), the jury, presided by filmmaker Michael Apted, revealed the names of the winners. The Golden Frog went to Ildikó Enyedi’s film On Body and Soul, cinematography by Máté Herbai, HSC, the Silver Frog, to Loveless, by Andrei Zyvagintsev, cinematography by Mikhail Krichman, RGC, and the Bronze Frog to First They Killed My Father, by Angelina Jolie, cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle, DFF, BSC, ASC.

The Bydgoszcz Film Festival, called Camerimage, is known for the many great filmakers that gather every year. This event is also visited by other people. These are aspiring artists from all around the world.

Every year, the Cinematographers’ Debuts selection holds a few good surprises in store. Last year, it was Juliette Van Doermael; this year, young Copenhagen DoP Maria von Hausswolff tore open the screen with (Vinterbrodre), a strange and pale film that portrays a group of lovelorn workers in a Danish limestone mine. The impressionistic screenplay was well-served by the graininess of the Super16 and an extremely impressive sound design. Director Hlynur Palmason and his cinematographer met during their studies and both work in the field of contemporary art (sculpture and installations).

On Body and Soul, a Hungarian film directed by Ildiko Enyedi, is also the third this year in the official selection to be set in an abattoir. Máté Herbai, HSC, shares his approach to working on this congenial and unusual love story between two wounded souls.

Jonathan Ricquebourg is the only French cinematographer officially competing in the feature-length fiction section of Camerimage 2017. Still Life, a first feature which was released a year ago in France, takes place in an abattoir. Animals and humans live side-by-side in a strange fable with infrequent dialogue. An original choice for this international selection that sometimes pits outsiders against internationally-recognized stars in the profession. (FR)

American director Alexander Payne chose a futuristic science-fiction universe for his latest film in which humans are able to shrink themselves to conserve the planet’s resources. Downsizing narrates the experience of an average American (Matt Damon) who gets caught up despite himself in this social and physiological process that completely changes his life. Phedon Papamichael, ASC, GSC, shares with us the secrets behind the “making of” of this bittersweet and highly-awaited comedy.