AFC films in festivals

Todd Hayne’s new opus, produced by Amazon Studios, is a screen adaptation of a 2011 Brian Selznick novel. The writer and illustrator specialized in children’s books also authored the screenplay of Martin Scorcese’s Hugo Cabret. This film tells two parallel tales, one set in 1920 and the other in 1970, and was photographed by Edward Lachman, ASC. The New York cinematographer was offered a trip to Cannes by his producers and confides to us in this filmed interview his thoughts about the film’s image, his love for 35mm film, and shares some observations regarding the future of cinematographic narration…

For her latest feature-length film, American director Sofia Coppola decided to make an adaptation of Tomas Cullinan’s novel The Beguiled, which tells the story of an enemy soldier’s unexpectedly imposing himself on a boarding school for young girls in the middle of the American Civil War. A remake (but not quite) of the earlier adaptation by Don Siegel in 1971 starring Clint Eastwood in the role of the soldier. For the new version, women are given the primary emphasis and make up a prestigious casting around the character of John Mac Burney (Colin Farrell). Philippe Le Sourd, AFC, was director of photography for this Louisiana-filmed movie. (FR)

Director of photography Agnès Godard, AFC, has collaborated with Claire Denis for almost thirty years, since her first feature, Chocolat, in competition at Cannes in 1988. Director and cinematographer met on a Wim Wenders shoot, where Denis was the assistant director, and Godard the assistant to legendary cinematographer Henri Alekan.
Claire Denis believes “the image speaks to us, first and foremost”. In Let the Sunshine In, which opens the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes, Agnès Godard accomplishes that aim, with a pearly, radiant image rendering Juliette Binoche (even more) beautiful. (BB)

Leica Camera AG returns for the second year as official partner of ‘La Semaine de la Critique’ at 2017 Cannes Festival. Leica Camera and its affiliate CW Sonderoptic are proud to congratulate the winners of the Semaine de La Critique short film competition and recipient of the ’Leica Cine Discovery’ prize for the second time in succession.

For her first feature-length film, Italian director Annarita Zambrano decided to make a film about the exile of a father and his daughter against the backdrop of the post-Red Brigade Italian political context of the 1980s. This story takes place between Italy and Southwest France, and was photographed by Laurent Brunet, AFC. It is in official selection at Cannes this year in the “Un certain regard” section (FR)

Robert Redford’s A River Runs Through It is the film that earned Philippe Rousselot, AFC, ASC, the Oscar for Best Cinematography in 1993. A restored version of the film is being screened this year at Cannes. This chronic of rural life in 1920s America depicts the lives of two brothers, played by Brad Pitt and Craig Scheffer. The cinematographer, who is currently preparing for the second instalment of David Yates’ Fantastic Beasts franchise, discussed this noteworthy film from his prestigious career with us. (FR)

Barbara, which isn’t a biopic on “La Dame en noir”, releases in theaters for the twentieth anniversary of the singer’s death. Mathieu Almaric shoots his sixth long feature film and comes back on la Croisette, where he won the “Prix de la mise en scène” in 2010 for Tournée. Christophe Beaucarne, AFC, SBC, Almaric’s Director of Photography for all his films, signs a glamorous photography and tries to transcend the image of the mythical singer, played by Jeanne Balibar. Barbara opens the Un Certain Regard for this seventieth Festival de Cannes. (BB)

After the astounding White God, in which dog hounds take control over town, the duet Kornél Mundruczó (director) - Marcell Rév (DoP) is back on the Croisette to present a strange political and religious allegory, that gives rise to an uplifting filmed visuals, shot on Kodak Vision3 5219 500T . Jupiter’s Moon is in official selection for the Palme d’Or.

This unexpected biopic on Jean-Luc Godard’s life was a brave project by Michel Hazanavicius. The movie lover and director of hit comedies OSS 117 and The Artist decided to pay a trenchant tribute to the internationally-renowned symbol of the Nouvelle Vague.
Shooting this out-of-the-ordinary film suddenly took on a personal and emotional dimension for Guillaume Schiffman, AFC, because of the family relationship between him and the emblematic director of the Nouvelle Vague.

New York based cinematographer Frankie DeMarco began his career on commercials, documentaries and independent films and worked his way up through the grades in the industry to became director of photography on documentaries, feature films, commercials, and television. He received three Independent Spirit Award nominations for his work. How to Talk to Girls at Parties is his fourth film with John Cameron Mitchell.

For A Prayer Before Dawn, the latest film by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire (author of the much remarked-upon 2008 film Johnny Mad Dog), David Ungaro, AFC, immersed himself into the universes of prisons and of Thai boxing. This powerful punch of a film is on the true story of Billy Moore, a young delinquent from Liverpool, who was imprisoned in Thailand’s Klong Prem prison for drug trafficking. Thai boxing gradually helped him to survive and get out of this hell alive... A look back on this film shot between Thailand and the Philippines, and which will be screened this year during Cannes’ Midnight Screenings. (FR)

Some directors are regulars on the Croisette and Arnaud Desplechin is one of them, as this is his 7^th time at Cannes, this year with Ismaël’s Ghosts, the film chosen to open the 70^th annual Cannes Film Festival, and whose director of photography was Irina Lubtchansky.

Once again this year, the films screened at the Cannes Film Festival made by our member cinematographers will be the sign of our association’s presence at this great festival of cinema. This year is the 70^th annual Cannes Film Festival, and fourteen “AFC” films will be screened (barring an error or oversight on our behalf) in the various sections and in either of the Croisette’s theatres.

For his seventh feature film, the Belgian director Joachim Lafosse meets again the cinematographer Jean-François Hensgens, AFC, SBC, with whom he already worked on Avant les mots, Our children and The White Knights.

Following 17 Girls, which garnered attention at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, Delphine and Muriel Coulin are once again in selection for Un Certain Regard with Stopover. This film explores a little-known facet of the French Army: the decompression sessions that take place at the end of each mission and allow soldiers to return to “normal” life, far from the theatre of operations. Their faithful cinematographer, Jean-Louis Vialard, AFC, explains the challenges of this film that was principally shot under the sunlight of the Island of Rhodes.

Peter Suschitzky, ASC, was awarded this year’s Pierre Angénieux ExcelLens in Cinematography Prize at Cannes. This was the opportunity for us to meet with David Cronenberg’s faithful fellow traveller for a filmed interview in English. His high-profile filmography also contains a few cult classics like The Empire Strikes Back, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Mars Attacks.

Somewhere in Canada’s Great North, Sam and Lucy are passionately in love with each other. But when she decides to leave their small town for her studies, Sam considers breaking up. Their love will be put to the test… In this video interview, Cinematographer Nicolas Bolduc, CSC, discusses the cinematography of this romantic story filmed at -40°C with snowmobiles, a rifle, the aurora borealis… and a whisky-loving white bear.

Natasha Brier was very much in view at Cannes in 2014 for her work on the Australian suspense film The Rover, and she is back at Cannes this year with Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn. The Neon Demon is set within the fashion industry, and portrays Elle Fanning in the role of a young woman who arrives in Los Angeles to work as a model. The ambiance mixes horror and sophistication for a film that seems to be one of the craziest by the director of Drive, which won the award for Best Director at Cannes in 2011. (FR)