AFC Seminar "Anamorphic Traditions and Variations"

By Benjamin B
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When I proposed this seminar to the AFC, I realized it was very ambitious. The idea was to give a two-and-a-half-hour overview of the anamorphic format, with a dozen clips ranging from 1959 to 2022. I was first joined by Thomas Favel, AFC, and we worked and discussed the themes and “playlist” in meetings over the course of six weeks. We were then joined two weeks ago by Pascale Marin, AFC, and Steeven Petitteville, AFC, who helped us finetune the presentation, adding a couple of other clips. Our meetings were the occasion for spirited discussions about anamorphic, cinematography, cinema … (BB)

The result of this communal work is the Seminar we are presenting Thursday 16 at 5 pm in Cinema City screening room 10. To be clear this is not a Master Class; the clips shown are from works by famous filmmakers, commented on by a new generation of cinematographers, and by the knowledgeable Camerimage audience.

We want to avoid revealing too much about the seminar, as we hope you will come to see for yourselves! Let’s simply say that our excerpts will go from Ben-Hur, shot in anamorphic 65mm in 1959, to European filmmakers who pioneered anamorphic in the Sixties, to the New Hollywood of the Seventies and Eighties, and then to modern anamorphic “variations” in the current period after the twin revolutions of digital projection and cameras. The Seminar will end with questions and comments from the audience about their practice of anamorphic, including a brief presentation by Matthieu-David Cournot, AFC.

I must thank the many people who made the event possible: Jean-Marie Dreujou, my first contact about the project; Eric Guichard who ripped most of the Blu-rays; Agnès Godard who shared her insights; Ludovic Bosquillon, Elsa Perrin and Tommaso Vergallo from Noir Lumière who prepared the DCPs for us; Marc Salomon who designed the two beautiful posters; Clémence Thuringer who organized the posters and liaised with Cinema City; Kazik Suwała, Dominika Kruzińska from the Festival; Julia Pawłowska and her team at Cinema City including Piotr Kumor and Jakub Jablonski the projectionist; my friend Jakub “Kuba” Szymczak for his help with audio and video; and, last but not least, Thomas Favel, Pascale Marin and Steeven Petitteville for all the time, energy and intelligence they dedicated to the AFC Seminar.
If you are at Camerimage we hope to see you tomorrow at 5 pm in screening room 10!