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 7th time at Cannes, this year with Ismaël’s Ghosts, the film chosen to open the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival, and whose director of photography was Irina Lubtchansky.
Before he was fêted within the temple of French cinephilia, Darius Khondji agreed to participate in a particular sort of interview during which we asked him to react to a series of surprise images. The DoP of Delicatessen and Seven discussed some of his memories, inspirations, anxieties, and passions with us. (FR)
In honor of the French release on 25 January 2017 of Damien Chazelle’s La La Land (cinematography by Linus Sandgren, FSF), the Swedish director of photography granted us an interview about his work on this film, which was recently given an award by the foreign press association in Hollywood.
Although the special effects and post-production are still being worked on, the first trailers and on-set stories have begun to appear on the Internet from Luc Besson’s adaptation of Christin and Merières cult comic. Thierry Arbogast, AFC, a member of Besson’s innermost circle (and of EuropaCorp, the production company he founded), is, of course, this film’s director of photography. He first worked as a director of photography on a Besson film 20 years ago on The Fifth Element, and is here to discuss with us the particularities of this new “space opera”.
Since Slumdog Millionnaire, in 2008, opened the doors of Hollywood to him, Anthony Dod Mantle, DFF, BSC, ASC, has been alternating between movies with directors the likes of Ron Howard, Kevin Mc Donald, or his faithful accomplice Danny Boyle. Always looking for new forms of visual expression, as in his past films with Lars Von Trier and Harmony Korine, he has just signed off on the visuals of Snowden, directed by Oliver Stone.
Following in the footsteps of the likes of Roger Deakins, BSC, ASC, it is now Bradford Young’s turn to work alongside director Denis Villeneuve (Incendies, Prisoners, Sicario). Arrival is a daring exercise in style that focuses on the arrival of a fleet of extraterrestrial spaceships on Earth and the way in which the global community must react. The story hones in on a young female specialist in linguistics who is sent by the military officials to attempt to communicate with the creatures. Bradford Young, the radiant cinematographer from Baltimore, who is preparing a new Star Wars, shares his vision of this film with us.
Ari Wegner is an Australian cinematographer who worked on a number of short films before moving on to feature-length productions in 2011. She presents, in the Directors’ Debuts competition, Lady Macbeth, a film by British director William Oldroyd. A feminine tale set in the Victorian period that is as sombre and tragic as it is rigorous in its form. A look at this project that is at the crossroads between painting and cinematographic imagery.
Avi Nesher’s latest film, shot between Łódź and Jerusalem, is in competition for the Golden Frog at Camerimage this year. Michel Abramowicz, AFC, discusses the making of this period film that plunges viewers into Israeli society of the 1970s.
Nicolas Loir has become a regular in Camerimage’s Video Clips competition. He won a double prize in 2013, and this year he’s back in competition with KCPK "Who Wants It". (FR)
In a video interview, the cinematographer James Laxton talks about his work on Barry Jenkins’ movie, Moonlight, in Main competition. On movie mates, isolation, swiming lesson, moonlight on the beach, dark skins lighting...
The Innocents, directed by Anne Fontaine, recounts the meeting of a young Red Cross volunteer with a group of nuns, in the Polish countryside, just after the War. The occupants of the convent, victims of rape by Red Army soldiers during the liberation of Poland, are confronting the ensuing pregnancies, which they do not want disclosed to the outside world. Torn between religious obligation and maternal instinct, the destiny of these women, who have taken vows of celibacy, is suddenly in question...
Apprentice is the second feature-length film by young Singaporean director Boo Junfeng. It deals with a subject that is taboo in the small, prosperous Southeast-Asian city-state: the death penalty.