AFC films in festivals

For the past twenty years, Christophe Beaucarne has been working on features steadily, collaborating with many directors, including Bruno Podalydès, Cedric Klapish, Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu, Jaco Van Dormael... So it was fitting to see his cinematography credit on not one but two films at Cannes this year: Outside the Law, by Rachid Bouchareb and On Tour, by Mathieu Amalric.

Laurent Brunet, who has photographed all of Raphael Nadjari’s films (including Tehilim, selected at Cannes in 2007), has a lot of experience filming abroad. But he didn’t know Africa, which he discovered while collaborating for the first time with Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, the only African to compete at Cannes 2010, with his fourth feature film, A Screaming Man. The original title was A Screaming Man is not a Dancing Bear a quote from The Notebook, Returning Home by the poet Aimé Césaire.

Presided by director Tim Burton, the jury of the 63^rd Cannes Film Festival awarded the Palme d’Or to the Thai film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, with cinematography by Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Yukontorn Mingmongkon and Charin Pengpanich.

During the last Cannes Film Festival, the AFC published on its website a series of interviews with directors of photography, some members of the association some not, who had a film in one of the selections.
On the occasion of the film’s release in theaters, we offer an interview with Guillaume Deffontaines about his work on The Voyage aux Pyrenees by Arnaud and Jean-Marie Larrieu.
With Sabine Azema, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Arly Jover, Gurgon Kyap

In a playful homage to the fantastic genre, The Border of Dawn reunites a young photographer who falls in love with a star who commits suicide, and then reappears in the life of the young man. This second film with Philippe Garrel confirms an effective and serene collaboration. Garrel’s working method and William Lubtchansky’s vast experience (a hundred feature films in forty years) combine to create a free and efficient mise en scène. Their association allows for artistic expression without artifice or showiness.

From Wednesday May 14^th to Saturday May 24^th, the new Image Pavilion marked the AFC’s presence at the 61^st edition of the Cannes Film Festival. The Image Pavilion was made possible by the financial support of some of our associate members: Agfa, Cininter, Fujifilm, K5600, Kodak, Mikros Image, Panavision, Quinta and TSF. We would like to express our hearty thanks, with a special mention of our three "film stock fairy godmothers" who facilitated the lodging of AFC DPs. The Image Pavilion was also made possible by the generosity and dedication of AFC members.

Awarded the Palme d’Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival

Pierre Milon, AFC, was in the penultimate class of the IDHEC, the French national film school that was the ancestor of the Femis. Among his classmates was director Dominik Moll. Milon lit Moll’s first film, Intimacy.

Milon quickly began working as a cinematographer on documentaries and short films. His transition to fiction came when director Philippe Faucon entrusted him with lighting three television films. Since then he has worked with Eric Zonca (The Little Thief), Lucas Belvaux (The Trilogy and The Right of the Weakest), and Robert Guédiguian (Lady Jane). He came to the Cannes Festival this year with The Classroom, his third feature film with Laurent Cantet.

Adapted from a Barbey d’Aurevilly novel, Une vieille maîtresse takes place in 1835. It is a story of passion, love, betrayal, bodies mingling and killing each other; a story of fire, blood and flesh… Yorgos Arvanitis, AFC, speaks of his collaboration with Catherine Breillat.

Raphaël Nadjari and Laurent Brunet worked together for the first time in 1998. It was their first experience, respectively as a director and a photographer. The Shade was selected for the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival.
Tehilim (Psalms) marks the fifth collaboration of a duo who never parted since and now ends up on the Croisette. Entirely shot in Jerusalem and in hebrew, Tehilim tells of the mysterious disappearance of a father that leaves the family dumbfounded.

Two years ago, as I was grading Paradise Now, Israeli coproducer Amir Harel approached me. He wanted us to meet in Cannes to talk about Meduzot (Jellyfish).
He was looking for a foreign cinematographer to film the city of Tel-Aviv with what he called a “different” view. The script immediately charmed me with its whimsy tone.

A story about boxes: boxes to put away our memories, boxes to transport them, boxes that sit in the middle of the living-room, waiting to be eventually unpacked. All these memory boxes were being staged by Jane Birkin. Loads of actors accompanied her on this journey, into the past, into the present. A single location – a family house in Brittany – and Jane as herself, in her own house.
François Catonné, AFC, was among those who embarked on this ever so personal and timeless journey with her.

L’Avocat de la terreur was shot discontinuously over several months.
With the ongoing investigation, informations would keep coming in, which made for incredibly suspenseful meetings and constantly provoked new encounters.
Two lengthy interviews were conducted with Jacques Vergès at a few months interval, but the high point of the shooting was the trip to Algiers.

A daily column was put on line on our site www.afcinema.com during the entire Festival.
Nathalie d’Outreligne and AFC directors of photography will be present at Cannes during the entire time and will welcome you at the Panitiero International Village, in the booth of the French National Film Commission.
The jury of the Caméra d’Or will be presided this year by Abbas Kiarostami. He will be shouldered by Romain Winding, AFC, Patrick Chamoiseau, writer, Malik Chibane, director, Scott Foudas, critic, Luc Pourrinet, Arane-Gulliver Laboratory, Roberto Turigliatto, Turin Festival, Yves Allion, critic.

• The AFC Films at Cannes