On Screen

Cinematographer Tom Erisman, NSC, discusses his work on "Borgman", directed by Alex van Warmerdam

Interviews at Cannes

Tom Erisman, NSC, is a Dutch cinematographer who received his cinema training during his work as a gaffer between 1976 and 1987. After his shift to filming, he was behind the photography on a number of television series and films in the Netherlands. Amongst the directors with whom he has worked is Alex Van Warmerdam, with whom he worked in the past on The Northerners in 1992 (2nd unit) and more recently on The Last Days of Emma Blank in 2009. Borgman is his latest film. (FR).

The 66th Cannes Film Festival has announced its selection

Cannes Film Festival 2013

Less than a month before the beginning of the festivities, the Cannes Film Festival has announced the 66th Official Selection through its President, Gilles Jacob, and Thierry Frémaux, Managing Director, at the usual press conference. Before the release of the announcement of the films chosen by the parallel sections, there are already 11 AFC member directors of photography who were responsible for the cinematography of 12 films in the selection.

The 66th Cannes Film Festival’s parallel sections unveil their selection
The films from the Directors’ Fortnight and the International Critics Week

Cannes Film Festival 2013

Although the Cannes Film Festival’s Official Selection included not less than 12 films whose directors of photography are AFC members (11 exactly), the parallel sections, meaning the Directors’ Fortnight and the International Critics’ Week, have been, a s far as we can tell, less generous towards our members...

The Seven Cinematographical Lives of Willy Kurant
By Bernard Payen

Cinémathèque française

Cinematographer for Godard, Welles, Skolimowski, Pialat, Gainsbourg and more recently Garrel, Willy Kurant has had a prolific, eclectic, yet coherent career since his early days as a cameraman for television news reports in the 1950’s. In order to synthesize his career, we have made the (of course) arbitrary choice of describing it as seven cinematographical lives, each of them related to the others

Impressions from the International Ostrava Kamera Oko Festival
By Willy Kurant, AFC, SBC, ASC, member of the jury

Academies, Awards, Best Cinematography

The Ostrava Kamera Oko Festival is a small event created by Jacub Felcman, a young film lover who is an active participant in juries at international festivals. This is a festival dedicated to our profession. Jacub is a former student of the Famu, the famous Prague school whose graduates we can thank for the funny and creative Czech New Wave.

DoP Guillaume Schiffman, AFC, "BSC Best Cinematographer Award 2011"

BSC Awards

During its Summer Luncheon at Pinewood on Sunday 22nd July 2012, the BSC was delighted to announce the winner of the Best Cinematographer Award for 2011 : Guillaume Schiffman, AFC for The Artist, directed by Michel Hazanavicius. The award was presented in presence of Guillaume himself.

Cinematographer Caroline Champetier, AFC, discusses her work on "Holy Motors" by Léos Carax

Interviews at Cannes

Caroline Champetier, AFC, has worked alongside Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Lanzmann, Benoît Jacquot, Jacques Doillon, Amos Gitai, Arnaud Desplechin and Xavier Beauvois, to name a few. It was thanks to the success of Of Gods and Men (Des hommes et des dieux) that she won the César award for Best Cinematography in 2001. Her work has been frequently selected for competition in the Cannes Film Festival (The Sentinel, Don’t Forget You’re Going to Die, The School of Flesh, H Story, Tokyo, Of Gods and Men), she is back this year with Holy Motors, the first new feature-length film by Léos Carax in eleven years. This film reprises ten characters, including the character invented during their 2008 collaboration on the Merde segment from the skit-based film Tokyo, also directed by Michel Gondry and Bong Joon Ho).

Cinematographer Darius Khondji, AFC, ASC, discusses his work on "Love" by Michael Haneke

Interviews at Cannes

Since his beginnings as a director of photography in the early 1990’s alongside Jean-Pierre Jeunet and FJ Hossang, Darius Khondji, AFC, ASC, has developed an international reputation through his work on films by some of the greatest directors on both sides of the Atlantic. His impressive filmography includes David Fincher’s Seven, Roman Polanski’s The Ninth Gate, Wong Kar-wai’s My Blueberry Nights, or Midnight in Paris by Woody Allen. Today, he is competing in the 65th Cannes Film Festival with his film Love, directed by Michael Haneke.
This is his second film with this great director, following Funny Games in 2007.

Cinematographer JF Hensgens AFC, SBC talks about his collaboration on Joachim Lafosse’s last movie “A perdre la raison”

Conversations with cinematographers

Jean François Hensgens SBC, who joined the AFC in 2010, began his career as First AC on the Dardenne’s brothers movies La Promesse, Rosetta and Le Fils. He was then assisting Alain Marcoen SBC, long time cinematographer of the famous directors.
He photographed his first movie in 2004: Fratricide a film by Yelmas Arslan and then started his collaboration with Olivier Van Hoofstad on the 2 movies: Dikkenek and Go Fast.
Later he shot Banlieue 13-Ultimatum by Patrick Alessandrin, Tête de Turc by Pascal Elbé, Cat Run and Darktide by John Stockwell.
Joachim Lafosse’s last script is based on a real tragic story: a mother of five, killed her children by cutting their throat. This horrible story shocked whole Belgium five years ago.
For this drama, Emilie Dequenne ( Rosetta in the Dardenne’s film) and the partners from Le Prophète , Jacques Audiard’s actors , Niels Arestrup and Tahar Rahim joined the casting.

Cinematographer Benoît Delhomme, AFC, discusses his work on Jon Hillcoat’s "Lawless"

Interviews at Cannes

After working on Wilde Salome directed by Al Pacino, which was screened at the last Venice Film Festival, Benoît Delhomme, AFC, continues his career in the USA by filming Lawless. Following The Proposition in 2005, this is his second collaboration with Australian director John Hillcoat and his fellow countryman Nick Cave, singer and screenwriter.
This film has one of the most prestigious casts of any presented at the 65th Cannes Film Festival (Guy Pearce, Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska et Gary Oldman). (F. R.)

The AFC at the 65th Cannes Film Festival

65th Cannes Film Festival

As is the case every year, the AFC will be present at the Cannes Film Festival first and foremost by the films that have been chosen for the Official Selection (In Competition and Un certain regard), the Directors’ Fortnight and the Critics’ Week, that were filmed by some of its member directors of photography. Ten “AFC” films will be screened this year in these selections. An eleventh film will also be added with a restored classic to be screened at Cannes Classics (see the detail of the “AFC” films in the Official Selection and in the Parallel Selections).

Carlo Di Palma European Cinematographer Award 2011

European Film Awards

At the Seville European Film Festival the European Film Academy and EFA Productions announced the nominations for the European Film Awards 2011. The more than 2,500 EFA Members will now vote for the winners which will be presented during the awards ceremony on 3 December in Berlin.

Cinematographer Yves Cape, AFC, SBC, speaks about his work on "Hors Satan" directed by Bruno Dumont
64th Cannes Film Festival, Un Certain Regard

Conversations with cinematographers

Yves Cape studied at the INSAS film school in Brussels. After having started out as an assistant he made his debut as DoP on short films in the 90’s. His encounter with Alain Berliner on the short film Rose (1993) led to the signing for the photography of the successful feature Ma vie en rose.
Since then his filmography has included films in France (Persécution by Patrice Chéreau, White material by Claire Denis) and abroad (Le Gardien des buffles in Vietnam, L’amore inperfetto in Italy or In Gods Hands in the US). A close collaborator of director Bruno Dumont he is at his side for the fourth time at this years Cannes Film Festival with the film Hors Satan.

Cinematographer Alain Marcoen, SBC, speaks about his work on "Le Gamin au vélo (The Kid with a Bike)" directed by Jean-Pierre et Luc Dardenne
64th Cannes Film Festival, Competition

Conversations with cinematographers

Alain Marcoen, SBC, studied at the IAD Brussels, but not being very attracted to the pressures a camera assistant has to face, he preferred to start out as a lighting technician. Getting some work on documentaries and drama, he met Jean-Claude Riga for whom he started to operate.
Being from Liège, he quickly got accustomed to shooting films that deal with the social problems of large steel city. In collaboration with operator Benoît Dervaux, another long time crew member of the Dardenne brothers, they signed for the photography of all their films since La Promesse.