4th Annual Caméflex-AFC

AFC newsletter n°260

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The Fourth Annual Caméflex-AFC will take place from 6-10 February 2016 in the Cinema Le Grand Action in Paris, and will honour Iranian cinematographer Mahmoud Kalari. Mahmoud Kalari, born in Teheran in 1951, films three, four, or even six films a year with a simple style and small budgets, in a country, Iran, where the lack of resources hasn’t stopped the blossoming of cinematographic talents recognized the world over.

Through the composition of his frames and a subtle arrangement of shadow, taking maximum advantage of natural light sources and rays of light, and using mobile backdrops, Mahmoud Kalari creates magic.
Fiction or reality? The viewer gets lost trying to answer that question, and the director’s message takes on strength thanks to the (false) simplicity of a language that is most often sparingly used. Mahmoud knows how to transpose into a fictional story both the tenderness of a face and violent shots that look like they’ve been taken from a documentary. His images are so true that the fiction invented by the director becomes real in our eyes.

He delights us by recomposing the purity of daily life. His choice of places, of angles, of position, of colours, of natural light sources rather than traditional cinematographic lighting. The viewer cannot help but be won over by this language.

Caméflex-AFC will feature a choice of movies filmed by Mahmoud Kalari and directed by some of the greatest names in Iranian cinema: Abbas Kiarostami, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Hasghar Farhadi, Necer Khemir…

There are some well-known films in our selection, as well: The Wind Will Carry Us (Abbas Kiarostami – 1999), Gabbeh (Mohsen Makhmalbaf – 1995), The Past (Hasghar Farhadi – 2013), Bab Aziz (Nacer Khemir – 2006). Other titles have not yet been released in France: Smell of Camphor, Fragrance of Jasmine (Bahman Farmanara – 2000), Death of the Fish (Ruhollah Hejazi – 2015), The Cloud of the Rising Sun (1997), directed by Mahmoud Kalari, who acted as director on this film.

Mahmoud Kalari Master Class
The highlight of the 2016 Caméflex-AFC will be Mahmoud Kalari’s Master Class at the Grand Action, on Tuesday, 9 February at 8 pm. He will teach this class along with guest lectures of his choice.

The best Short Film of International Film Students – Grand Prize of the AFC
Once again this year partnering with the 14th Annual San Sebastián Festival’s International Film Students Meeting, seven short films directed by students from Film Schools across the globe will be screened.
A jury presided over by Gérard de Battista, Rémy Chevrin, and Dominique Gentil, AFC members, will award a prize to the best of them.

The AFC and the transmission of knowledge
Rakhshan Banietemad’s film Tales will be shown as part of an approach promoting the transmission of knowledge. This film won the award for Best Screenplay at the 2014 Venice Film Festival. The cinematography of this film was done by Koohyar Kalari, Mahmood Kalari’s son, who was introduced to cinema by his father.

Cinema and Patrimony
The closing ceremony of this year’s Caméflex-AFC will feature Jacques Bral, who will present the restored version of his film Exterior Night, cinematography by Pierre William Glenn, AFC, and shot in 1980.

A warm welcome to all attendees of Caméflex-AFC 2016!

Alain Coiffier, General Delegate.

Caméflex-AFC
6-10 February 2016
Cinéma Le Grand Action
5, rue des Ecoles, Paris 5th arrondissement

Caméflex-AFC 2016 in partnership with Le Grand Action, K 5600 Lighting, Panavision Alga, Éclair – Groupe Ymagis, and with the support of the CNC, the CST, and the San Sebastián Festival.