festivals

Both of the last two productions that Steven Poster participated in were filmed in very different conditions. They are both about to be released in the United States. The first is Amityville: the Awakening, by Franck Khalfoun, the twelfth film of the series to be dedicated to America’s most famous haunted house. A horror film in the most pure tradition of the genre, alternating interiors and exteriors, with most of it shot at nighttime, of course.

Looking back at the beginnings of his career and his education, Phedon Papamichael admits that he didn’t attend a cinema school. “I was originally a photographer, and I learned to make movies on the job, by filming lots of short films using the Éclair 16 camera that I owned at the time.” Bit by bit, he went from short films to feature-length films under the guidance of Roger Corman of Concorde Pictures, for whom, beginning in 1989, he signed off on a number of low-budget B series films produced in a fortnight. At that time, he began to work with a number of his future colleagues, Raphel Sanchez, who was a key grip and later became a gaffer, Wally Pfister, who is one of his sparks, and Janusz Kaminski, who was also working as a gaffer at that time.

In a filmed interview, cinematographer Michael Seresin, BSC, discusses his philosophy and his passion for lighting, he mentions the advantages of Cameraimage’s diversity, continues with his experiences on shooting a film in digital. He misses film…, the most important thing is to tell a story.

In a filmed interview, cinematographer Nancy Schreiber discusses her experience at Cameraimage, her concerns regarding the increased accessibility of the profession and the loss of craftsmanship that this has engendered. She ends the interview with her fears regarding the loss of control over the integrity of the image from its production to the final version.

This round table, moderated by Benjamin B., brought together cinematographers Matthew Libatique, ASC and Dick Pope, BSC, Steadicam operator Thomas English, gaffer Helmut Prein, focus-puller John Bailie, and DIT Peter Marsden, in order to discuss the various steps in the work of the image team and their implications.

Seizing the opportunity of Cameraimage, Arri Rental organized the first public try-outs of its Alexa 65 camera within the framework of a workshop led by Spanish cinematographer Daniel Vilar.

Camerimage 2014.

In a filmed interview in English, cinematographer Stephen Goldblatt, ASC, discusses what, according to him, has changed in the way that one makes movies nowadays.

The Dinard British Film Festival has celebrated its 25^th anniversary from 8-12 October 2014. This year, the jury was presided by Catherine Deneuve, and the festival has screened six feature-length films in competition for the “Golden Hitchcock” award and fifteen exclusive previews of upcoming films. This festival has also celebrated the centenary of Technicolor.

Mikhail Krichman, RGC, is a Russian cinematographer who was “discovered” via his work with his fellow Russian, director Andrei Zvyagintsev. Since their first project, The Return, in 2003, they have also filmed The Banishment (2008) and Elena (2012) together. With Leviathan, which was chosen for the Official Competition in Cannes, they have created a social and political drama filmed in the furthest northwestern reaches of Russia, in a little village on the banks of the Barents Sea. A man whose government wants to deprive him of his lands decides to fight back… (FR)

The Cannes Pierre Angénieux ExcelLens in Cinematography Tribute honors the career of a Director of Photography. In 2013 the first tribute was presented to Philippe Rousselot, AFC,ASC. The 2014 edition paid homage to another figure of international cinema, Vilmos Zsigmond, HSC, ASC.

Alain Marcoen, SBC, and camera operator Benoît Dervaux form the team that is the backbone of the Dardenne Brothers’ films. With the release of Two Days, One Night — their most minimalistic film yet in terms of the screenplay, yet also perhaps their most visually elaborate — the chief operator from Liege shares with us what it is like to work with the Brothers. (FR)

André Turpin is a director of photography, filmmaker and scriptwriter from Quebec. In 1995 he produces his first film, Zigrail, followed by Cosmos, a year later. In 2002 he receives the Jutra Award and the Genie Award for the best production, the best script and the best photographic direction for his third feature film, Un crabe dans la tête (Soft Shell Man).

After the international success of The Artist (first screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011), Michel Hazanavicius has once again joined forces with Thomas Langmann, Bérénice Bejo and Guillaume Schiffman, AFC, for a movie that takes place during the war in Chechnya. The subject is somewhere between current events and history at a time when Russian pressure is once again being exerted on the former territories of the Soviet Empire... This dual interview was conducted during colour timing on the film The Search. (FR)

For The Homesman, his second film as a director, American actor Tommy Lee Jones enjoyed being in the great outdoors that are so dear to his heart. We remember his film Three Burials, which won Best Screenplay in 2005. This new Western offers Mexican cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC, another opportunity to film the American West. (FR)

A fan of the universe of Gaspar Noë, star Ryan Gosling has availed himself of the services of Benoît Debie, SBC, to create the visuals on his first, strange feature-length film that oscillates between social fable and fantasy story. "Lost River" is one of the most anticipated films in the “Un certain regard” selection this year at the 67^th Cannes Film Festival. (FR)

Josée Deshaies, who we have already met to discuss Before I Forget, by Jacques Nolot, Heartbeat Detector, by Nicolas Klotz, Rebecca H., by Lodge Kerrigan, and House of Tolerance, by Bertrand Bonello, discusses Saint Laurent, which is in the official competition at Cannes this year. This is Bertrand Bonello’s sixth feature film; she has contributed to every single one. (BB)

Christophe Beaucarne has been working for over twenty years with very different directors on films with very different visual worlds. He has worked with the Larrieu brothers on Un homme, un vrai and Peindre ou faire l’amour, and with Anne Fontaine on Coco Before Chanel and Perfect Mother, with Jaco Van Dormael on Mr. Nobody, and recently with Christophe Gans on Beauty and the Beast. With The Blue Room, the fourth feature film by Mathieu Amalric, competing in the Un Certain Regard section, Christophe Beaucarne is once again working with Amalric, following their collaborations on Stade de Wimbledon and Tournée. Adapted from the eponymous novel by Georges Simenon, Mathieu Amalric plays the lead role alongside Léa Drucker. (BB)

The AFC will once again be present at the Festival de Cannes thanks in the first place to the movies filmed by its member cinematographers, who have been chosen for the Official Selection (In Competition, Out of Competition, and Un Certain Regard) and for the Parallel Sections. This year, twelve "AFC” films will be screened in one or the other of these selections.