AFC-related activities

A steroid-enhanced variation on a classic piece of fantastic literature (Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray or Balzac’s La Peau de chagrin), The Substance offers director Coralie Fargeat the opportunity to bring two 1980s superstars back into the limelight—and to pour thousands of blood gallons onto the Grand Théâtre Lumière screen. While homages to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo are instantly recognizable, British cinematographer Benjamin Kračun also cites Roman Polanski’s Repulsion and Paul Verhoeven’s Total Recall, two other major studio films. He further explains how this strange film, which every single shot smells California , was entirely made in France, between Paris and Nice. The Substance is in competition for the 77^th Palme d’Or. (FR)

After graduating from the Image department of The Fémis school in 2010, Michaël Capron signs his sixth feature film as director of photography with Mongrel, by Wei Liang Chiang - co-directed by You Qiao Yin -, a film selected for the Director’s Fortnight at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. Having previously been on the Croisette, he also served as cinematographer on Vincent Le Port’s film Bruno Reidal, selected for the Critics’ Week in 2021. (Editor’s note)

With The Girl with the Needle, Swedish filmmaker Magnus Von Horn (who studied in Łódź and lives in Warsaw) delves into a harsh depiction of poverty in 1920s Denmark. This frightening black-and-white tale draws parallels with certain aspects and characters (notably the circus scene) from The Elephant Man, David Lynch’s 1980 Gothic monument (photographed by the great cinematographer and director Freddie Francis, BSC). Behind the camera is Michal Dymek, PSC, the young Polish cinematographer (noted for EO, which competed in 2022). He talks to us about black-and-white filmmaking, relative authenticity, and the unforeseen events on set that can sometimes turn into assets for the film... (FR)

After more than 10 years of absence, the filmmaker behind The Godfather and Apocalypse Now returns with an extremely personal project in which he has invested a significant portion of his fortune. This is Megalopolis, a fable aimed at younger generations that reinterprets classical texts from ancient Rome in the context of a futuristic city reminiscent at times of Batman’s Gotham. It is also a family film with many main roles, featuring extensive sets and special effects to immerse the audience in this anticipatory atmosphere. The film is shot by Romanian-born cinematographer Mihai Malaimare Jr., ASC, a loyal collaborator of the director for nearly 20 years. The film is in Official competition for the 77^th Palme d’Or.

Opening Un Certain Regard competition, Icelandic director Rúnar Rúnarsson’s new film is about grief and lies. The young Icelandic actress and singer Elin Hall plays an ambiguous character, torn between the pain of losing her man and the impossibility of revealing him to others... Swedish cinematographer Sophia Olsson shot the film, which is almost entirely shot in Iceland’s capital, and whose iconic locations will undoubtedly evoke memories for lovers of this timeless city. (FR)

2055: Youtuber Steevy Shady recounts for his followers the tormented passion between Mimi Madamour, a starlet born of a Star Academy-type TV talent show, and Billie, a punk rocker who performs in lesbian clubs, from the early 2000s to 2015, then 2055. From the meteoric rise to the disgrace of each of them successively, this glittering musical comedy draws on flashy pop references and playfully mixes eras and image regimes to paint, under its parodic guise, a most political love story. (HdR)

Vingt Dieux, the first feature film by Louise Courvoisier, a graduate of the first CinéFabrique class, has been selected for Un Certain Regard. At Cannes in 2019, the Cinéfondation had rewarded the director by awarding First Prize to her short film Mano a mano. Cinematographer Elio Balézeaux, who also graduated from the CinéFabrique in 2019 - and who has since worked as cinematographer on documentaries such as Sébastien Lifshitz’s Madame Hoffman - was responsible for bringing Vingt Dieux to life. In the text below, he talks about their work together on the film, which is also his first feature-length fiction.

Part experimental film, part documentary, part fantasy, Camila Beltrán’s Mi Bestia portrays a young girl transitioning from childhood in 1990s Bogotá. Sylvain Verdet shot the images for this first original feature film, having previously collaborated on Beltrán’s short film Pacifico Obscuro four years prior. Mi Bestia has been selected at ACID. (FR)

Josée and I have a "little history", as she likes to remind me, since she was on the jury that validated my diploma at "La Fémis" [French Film School, NDLR]. She followed my early work as a cinematographer in the years that followed, and here we are, eleven years later, on the phone, her shooting in London, me in Paris, talking about her collaboration with Thierry de Peretti. (LB)

Writer, director and photographer Agathe Riedinger, a graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Paris (ENSAD), directed two short films before embarking on the production of her first feature-length film, Diamant Brut. She explores the same themes as in her short films: denouncing the overload of societal norms for women and thus addressing the question of female emancipation. Noé Bach, AFC, worked with the young director to bring this ultra-modern story to life visually. He offers an exhilarating contemporaneity of the framing and texture that meticulously complements the script. Diamant Brut is the only debut film selected for the Official Competition at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. (BB)

Sophie Fillières’ filming of Agnès Jaoui, who plays Barberie Bichette in Ma vie, ma gueule (This Life of Mine), tells the story of a woman in her mid-fifties. Her loyal collaborator, Emmanuelle Collinot, shot the director’s last film before she died just a few weeks after shooting ended. The pitch of the film "how to deal with oneself, with death, with life in short..." particularly resonates for Ma vie, ma gueule, which opens the 2024 Quinzaine des Cinéastes. (BB)

At the first edition of the AFC Awards for excellence in cinematography, held on Wednesday February 7, 2024, as part of the 24^th Micro Salon, Yves Cape, AFC, took the prize for Best Cinematography in a feature film, with Michel Franco’s Sundown. In this lengthy interview, published in two parts, Caroline Champetier, AFC, asks Yves Cape about his loyal (six films to date) and original collaboration with Mexican director Michel Franco.

With Black Tea, the Franco-Mauritanian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako (awarded a César in 2015 for his film Timbuktu) tells a story that is both romantic and dreamlike, exploring the encounter between African and East Asian cultures. The main character is a young woman who refused to say “I do” to her future husband at the last minute. She leaves straight for China to live a very different life than the one promised to her in Abidjan. Aymerick Pilarski, AFC, is the cinematographer who crafted the images for this filmic tale that spans Africa and Taiwan, and he was able to offer the director a significant asset in his knowledge of Mandarin, the language in which the film is almost entirely performed. The film is in the running for the Golden Bear. (FR)

Fred Grivois’ "Machine", co-written with Thomas Bidegain and Valentine Monteil, is a bit of a baroque concept. An intimate mixture of the kung-fu movie (with its codes and combat scenes) and a pure social drama, this series shows us a fugitive ex-solider who returns to her ancestors’ small town to escape the GIGN police forces that are hunting her down… When she gets a job as a temporary factory worker, she meets a charismatic Marxist foreman — and former heroin addict — who is facing a takeover by a large Korean firm. Played by Margot Brancilhon and Joey Starr, the project takes on an unexpected plot and visual journey under the guidance of Martin Roux, AFC. He shares with us his experience on this 6 48-minute episode series (soon to be broadcast on Arte) whose two first episodes were presented in the official competition at Series Mania*. (FR)

DoP Marco Graziaplena was recently admitted to the association as an active member. Renato Berta, AFC, and Laurent Tangy, AFC, share below their introduction as written in support of his application for membership.

Cinematographer Martin Roux has just joined the AFC as an active member. His sponsors, cinematographers Céline Bozon, AFC and Caroline Champetier, AFC, introduce the newcomer to our association in the following paragraphs.

"True Love" is one of the series screened in Lille as part of the International Panorama. Co-created by actress and writer Charlie Covell (known for "The End of the Fuck*ing World" on Netflix, 2017-2019) and Iain Weatherby, it deals with euthanasia with both suspense and a sharp British humor. Leading this project is actress Lindsay Duncan, who delivers a lively and deeply moving performance next to her four other septuagenarian co-stars. Cinematographer Alistair Little captures the visuals of the first three out of six episodes, directed by Chloe Wicks whose credits include the recent "The Flatshare" for Paramount Plus."True Love" was aired on Channel 4 in the UK from January 2024 and can be streamed on their VOD platform. (FR)

The Annual General Assembly of Imago (IAGA) – the International Federation of Cinematographers – was held in London from 14-15 February 2024, hosted by the BSC. Richard Andry, who represented the AFC alongside Jean-Marie Dreujou, Eric Guichard (Imago’s Controller) and Denis Lenoir (Board member), has written the following detailed and illustrated recap of this event.