On Screen

Production Designer Jan Roelfs, who won an award at Camerimage 2019, discusses his relationship to the lighting in films

Camerimage interviews

The partner of directors such as Peter Greenaway (Murder by Numbers, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover), Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, S1m0ne), and Oliver Stone (Alexander, World Trade Center), Dutch production designer Jan Roelfs is at Camerimage 2019 to receive the special annual prize for Unique Visual Sensitivity. He tells us about his perspective on working with cinematographers on projects and shares a few memories from the shooting of his greatest films…

Interview with cinematographer Tristan Chenais about his work on the music video for "New Start"

Camerimage interviews

Tristan Chenais works in both France and the UK, where he studied at the National Film and TV School. It is there that he met director Richard Hall, with whom he has been working ever since on advertisements and music videos. "New Start", for singer Moss Kena, is one of them, produced by Riff Raff Films, one of the most prestigious advertising and music video firms in London.

Piano lessons for penalty shots
Video interview with cinematographer César Charlone, ABC, about her work on Fernando Meirelles’s film “The Two Popes", conducted by François Reumont for the AFC

Camerimage interviews

By beginning his film with a very funny story (Pope Francis tries to make an airplane reservation himself, but the travel agent hangs up on him when he says his name), Fernando Meireiles gives his story a humourous tone. This is also a film that describes the intimacy of papal life with a great deal of realism, which gives way to moments of great warmth on screen between Anthony Hopkins (Joseph Ratzinger) and Jonathan Price (Jorge Mario Bergoglio). Cesar Charlone, the Brazilian filmmaker’s faithful collaborator, is at Camerimage to present this Netflix film.

The Light is Mine
Video interview with cinematographer Jarin Blaschke about his work on Robert Eggers’s film "The Lighthouse", conducted by François Reumont for the AFC

Camerimage interviews

After their first success with a film whose meticulous recreation of a 17th-century community caused a sensation (The Witch, 2015), the duo composed of Robert Egger (director) and Jarin Blaschke (cinematographer) has taken on another, even more concentrated historical fantasy project. Namely, the meeting between two men (Robert Pattinson and Wilhelm Dafoe) alone on an island where they are the caretakers of a lighthouse in the early 19th century. The film was shot in Nova Scotia and has very dense visuals evocative both of silent film and period fantastic engravings. The film was presented in the Directors’ Debuts competition at Camerimage 2019.

Checco’s Recipes
Video interview with cinematographer Checco Varese’s about his work on Paxton Winter’s film “It: Chapter 2”, conducted by François Reumont for the AFC

Camerimage interviews

During his visit to Camerimage to present the second film adaptation of Stephen King’s bestselling novel (It: Chapter 2), Peruvian cinematographer Checco Varese, ASC, discussed with us his unique way of approaching the shooting of this film. In no particular order, he discussed his passion for doing things directly on set as well as his vision of the profession in the age of special effects. With his calm and clever smile, welcome to the chef’s kitchen!

Norwegian Cinematographer Pål Ulvik Rokseth, FNF, on Challenges of Shooting "Amundsen", "22 July"
To read on "Variety" website

Camerimage 2019

Norwegian cinematographer Pål Ulvik Rokseth, FNF, is making his mark with such recent high-profile films as Paul Greengrass’ 22 July and Espen Sandberg’s Amundsen both of which landed him in the main competition at the EnergaCamerimage Intl. Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography in Toruń, Poland. Rokseth spoke to Variety about the challenges of shooting Amundsen, working with Sandberg and the difficult experience that was 22 July.

A blockbuster between friends
Video interview with cinematographer Lawrence Sher, ASC, about his work on Todd Phillips’ film “Joker”, conducted by François Reumont for the AFC

Camerimage interviews

With Joker, Todd Phillips has confirmed his great talent as a director, a writer, and a producer, which was already evident on the Very Good Trip franchise (2009) or the incredible Project X (2012). This film was created in an atmosphere of mutual trust, which makes daring experimentation possible: the producer was his actor/director friend Bradley Cooper, his editor was Jeff Groth (Project X), and the cinematography was by Lawrence Sher, who has been his faithful companion since the start of his career. Joaquin Phoenix’s performance has already been acclaimed several times (likely opening the pathway to his first Oscar), and the film has enjoyed enormous success with audiences since its release, unleashing polemics and passions in an international social context which sometimes makes reality into fiction. Lawrence Sher, ASC, joins us for an in-depth interview on the creation of this classic yet unique film about insanity.

Stairway to heaven
Video interview with cinematographer Laura Merians about her work on Paxton Winter’s film “Pacified”, conducted by François Reumont for the AFC

Camerimage interviews

Teenage girl Tati lives at the very top of a flight of stairs in a favela in Rio de Janeiro with her mother, who is almost young enough to be her older sister. Her father is the former local crime boss and has been in prison since before she was born. But one day, he returns. For her first film, Laura Merians has created an image full of strength and colors at the heart of a classic tale of redemption whose visual narration elegantly takes over from the literary narration of the script. The strong and endearing characters round off this dizzying dive into contemporary Brazil, where violence has become totally normalized and is a part of the daily lives of millions of people.

Rebel without a cause
Interview with cinematographer Marcell Rév, HSC, about his work on the TV Pilot "Euphoria"

Camerimage interviews

For the purposes of HBO’s teen series “Euphoria”, Hungarian cinematographer Marcell Rév (Jupiter’s Moon, White God) went down a visual path that mixes the realism of dramatic situations with a sometimes-baroque stylization of the lighting. The result on the screen is the recreation of an entire universe, that of young people in 2019, whose thirst for life, whose free and sometimes destructive passions, are not so dissimilar to a famous Californian portrait painted by director Nicholas Ray in 1955… (FR)

Sreenning of a blind film lens test made by the AFC
With the ENS Louis-Lumière Film School

Camerimage 2019

In late 2018, the AFC, with ENS Louis-Lumière Film School, performed a comparative test of sixty-six lenses from thirty-three different spherical and anamorphic series. We are organizing a blind screening of the results on Tuesday 12 November at 16:00 at the Cinema City, Screening Room N° 12, and Friday 15 November at 13:30 at the Cinema City, Screening Room N° 6.

Watts in the Wadding
Interview with cinematographer Gilles Porte, AFC, about his work on Safy Nebbou’s film "Who Do You Think I Am"

Camerimage interviews

Gilles Porte, AFC is an operator who likes changing visual universes on each project. For example, in 2017, on The Royal Exchange [1], by Marc Dugain, a film set in the French royal court during the 18th century, or the following year on Budapest [2], by Xavier Gens, a much more festive contemporary comedy. For this 2019 edition of Camerimage, he is presenting Who Do You Think I Am? [3], the latest film by Safy Nebbou, starring Juliette Binoche (released in Paris in February 2019). This is a film about the lies and the dangers of social networks which has been a hit abroad [4] since its release (ranked 3rd-highest French film by ticket sales abroad). (FR)

"An Officer and a Spy", a (true) film about a false verdict
Interview with cinematographer Paweł Edelman, PSC, about his work on Roman Polanski’s film "An Officer and A Spy"

Camerimage interviews

For his latest film, director Roman Polanski decided to create an extremely historically accurate adaptation of a major event of the late 19th century: the Dreyfus Affair. Despite the very large number of characters and the frequent shifts between different time periods, the Franco-Polish filmmaker shows his excellence as a director and editor with this simple and captivating story. At the camera, once again, his Polish countryman Paweł Edelman officiates (his sixth film with Polanski, starting with The Pianist in 2002). A film in glacial tones, shot in large part in the authentic locations of the story. This film will open the new EnergaCamerimage 2019 Festival in Toruń. (FR)