AFC films in festivals

Ruben Impens, SBC, discusses the making of "The Eight Mountains" by Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix Van Groeningen
From the novel to the screen

Conversations with cinematographers

Before becoming a writer, Paolo Cognetti was a student at Milan’s filmmaking school. This was put to good use in the making of this film, over which he kept a watchful eye “like a good guardian angel,” according to Ruben Impens, SBC. With The Eight Mountains, the first adaptation of his novel, the lover of alpine hiking seems to have found a duo of directors on the same wavelength as him. The result is an Italian-language ode to mountain peaks, a film about friendship and life’s unpredictable paths. Luca Marinelli and Alessandro Borghi are the two main actors. (FR)

Benjamin Loeb, FNF, discusses the making of "Sick of Myself" by Kristoffer Borgli
Beauty Mark

Conversations with cinematographers

Norwegian cinematographer Benjamin Loeb, FNF, has two films in selection at Cannes this year: When You Finish Saving the World, the first feature by actor Jesse Eisenberg (Mark Zuckerberg from The Social Network), and Sick of Myself, by his countryman Kristoffer Borgli. Two independent films shot on film (16 and 35mm 2 perf), testifying to the return of many projects at Cannes that have chosen film to translate their vision onto the screen. (FR)

Cinematographer Hooman Behmaanesh looks back on the set of "Leila’s Brothers", by Saeed Roustayi
24-Karat Gold

Conversations with cinematographers

After the highly acclaimed Just 6.5, filmmaker Saeed Roustaee presents Leila’s Brothers at the 75th Cannes Festival. This is a family story whose themes are intimately linked to those of present-day Iranian society. Filmed largely in a modest apartment in the Iranian capital, the film shows great ingenuity in the way it handles the scenes with the six-member family. Hooman Behmaanesh talks to us about his experience as director of photography on this film. (FR)

Judith Kaufmann, BVK, discusses the technical and aesthetic choices made on "Corsage", by Marie Kreutzer
As Tears Go By

Conversations with cinematographers

German filmmaker Marie Kreutzer, in a desire to give contemporary appeal to the somewhat fusty figure of the Empress of Austria, has decided to offer her own resolutely feminist version of this historical figure. Once she is tightly bound by the corset firmly laced around her wasp waist, Luxembourg actress Vicky Krieps becomes the embodiment of Sissi. In order to film this princess who is constantly engaged in an emotional flight, cinematographer Judith Kaufmann, BVK, produced very subtle work, in 3P 35mm film and spherical 2.39 format. This film was remarked during the 75th annual Cannes Film Festival in the "Un Certain Regard" official section. (FR)

Cinematographer David Gallego, ADFC, discusses his work on "War Pony", by Gina Gammel and Riley Keough

Conversations with cinematographers

Producer Gina Gammel and actress Riley Keough decided to shoot their first feature film as co-directors in the heart of Pine Ridge Native American reservation, in South Dakota. War Pony is a film featuring non-professional actors, which describes the daily lives of several young people belonging to the Lakota tribe. This is also a deep dive into the lives of marginalized Americans, who live in mobile homes, and whose lives are severely impacted by drug trafficking. David Gallego, ADFC, a cinematographer originally from Columbia (I Am Not a Witch, by Rungano Nyoni, noticed at Cannes in 2017) took on this political and emotional film. (FR)

Darius Khondji, AFC, ASC, discusses his work on "Armageddon Time", by James Gray
Autumn in New York

Conversations with cinematographers

A dark, autumnal film bathed in flickering golden sunlight, James Gray’s Armageddon Time is a feature film full of memories from its director. The story is composed of a gallery of characters all drawn from the director’s real childhood in the borough of Queens. At the center of the plot is a teenager in search of himself – played on screen by young actor Banks Repeta – surrounded by Anne Hathaway (his mother), Jeremy Strong (his father) and Anthony Hopkins (his grandfather). Darius Khondji, AFC, ASC was the mastermind behind this film’s visuals, creating a sober and soft image of mid-1980s New York, where hip hop music was being born just as the punk movement was slowly dying out. (FR)

Sébastien Buchmann, AFC, discusses the challenges he faced in shooting "Le Parfum vert", by Nicolas Pariser

Conversations with cinematographers

Nicolas Pariser’s latest film, Le Parfum vert, in selection at the Directors’ Fortnight, is set in the world of the theater. Between a spy film and a comic-strip, reflections of Hitchcock and Tintin hover above the somewhat incredible adventures of the strange duo of Vincent Lacoste and Sandrine Kiberlain. Sébastien Buchmann, AFC, has loyally worked alongside Nicolas Pariser in the past, and the Directors’ Fortnight screened their film Alice et le maire in 2019. This year, they’re back with Le Parfum vert, a film with colored and contrasted visuals, with waves of green… (BB)

Fredrik Wenzel, FSF, discusses the making of “Triangle of Sadness”, by Ruben Östlund
Carl and Yaya are in a boat...

Conversations with cinematographers

After The Square (Palme d’or 2017) and Snow Therapy (Un Certain Regard 2014), Swedish director Ruben Östlund makes his return to the Croisette with a hilarious bombshell where certain scenes rise to the height of Monty Python’s Himalayas. Triangle of Sadness thrilled audiences during the first weekend of the festival, sparking hilarious laughter in the theater as buckets of vomit spilled onto the screen. Cinematographer Fredrik Wenzel, FSF, teamed up with the Gothenburg director again on this marathon shoot of nearly eighty-five days (interrupted at the very start of the pandemic in March 2020, then resumed in the fall). He tells us of his joy at having been able to film this new film, which is a serious contender for this year’s top prize. (FR)

Irina Lubtchansky, AFC, discusses her choices on "Frère et sœur", by Arnaud Desplechin

Conversations with cinematographers

Arnaud Desplechin’s films have often plunged viewers into the heart of family dramas; with Frère et sœur, the director reinvents his favorite theme and offers an exploration of the feelings that oppose Alice (Marion Cotillard) and Louis (Melvil Poupaud). Cinematographer Irina Lubtchansky, AFC, has loyally worked alongside the filmmaker since their first film together, Trois souvenirs de ma jeunesse. She developed an image for this drama that is both soft and realistic, contrasting and romantic... Frère et sœur is in Official Competition at Cannes for the 75th Festival. (BB)

Antoine Héberlé, AFC, discusses his technical choices on "Mediterranean Fever", by Maha Haj

Conversations with cinematographers

After her first film, Personal Affairs, selected for Un Certain Regard in 2016, Maha Haj returns to the Croisette this year with her second feature, Mediterranean Fever. In this chilling tragedy, the director, a Palestinian and Israeli citizen, very freely addresses the loss of identity of Palestinians who live in Israel. She entrusted the visuals of Mediterranean Fever to Antoine Héberlé, AFC, who has been the cinematographer for many foreign films. During his career, Antoine has acquired extensive filming experience in the Middle East and constantly adapts his skills to make these sometimes hazardous and often low-budget productions. (BB)

Hazem Berrabah, AFC, TSC, discusses "Ashkal", by Youssef Chebbi
Concrete, cops and fire

Conversations with cinematographers

Ashkal, by Youssef Chebbi, is a film set in a particular district of the Tunisian capital: "Les Jardins de Carthage", a real estate development that is symbolic of the old regime, and which has remained under construction since the 2011 revolution. This crime drama is also a political and social film about contemporary Tunisia, and it also involves a metaphysical and religious dimension. Hazem Berrabah, AFC, TSC, was behind the camera and, here, he discusses this film whose visuals cause this neighborhood under construction to play a starring role in this film in its own right. (FR).

Hélène Louvart, AFC, discusses her collaborative work with Léonor Séraille on “Un petit frère”

Conversations with cinematographers

After winning the Camera d’or in 2017 for her first film Jeune femme, Léonor Séraille returns to the Croisette in Official Competition with Un petit frère. The story spans twenty years, we first accompany the mother, Rose, a young Ivorian woman who arrives in Paris with her two children in 1989. Thanks to ellipses, the director then guides us to one of the sons, Jean, then to the youngest, Ernest. Three eras, three points of view. Director of photography Hélène Louvart , AFC, discusses about her collaborative work with Léonor. (BB)

Julien Poupard, AFC, discusses his cinematographic work on "Les Amandiers", by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi

Conversations with cinematographers

The film is set in the 1980s and tells Valeria’s personal experience from her time at the Théâtre des Amandiers school, but with contemporary actors. I wanted that to be reflected in the image. The memory of images is more important than the image itself. When you see the film, you must feel the both 1980s and the 2020s. Because the film is a meeting between the past and the present.

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)