Polish Cinematography Fest EnergaCamerimage to Honor Oscar Winner Philippe Rousselot
Poland’s EnergaCamerimage Intl. Film Festival is honoring Oscar-winning French cinematographer Philippe Rousselot this year with its Camerimage Lifetime Achievement Award.
Celebrating the art of cinematography and its creators, the festival described Rousselot as “an incredibly versatile cinematographer whose body of work encompasses a wide variety of genres and styles.”
Rousselot, who received an Academy Award for his work on Robert Redford’s “A River Runs Through It” in 1993, has worked with such acclaimed filmmakers as John Boorman (“Emerald Forest”), Neil Jordan (“Interview with the Vampire”), Stephen Frears (“Dangerous Liaisons”), Miloš Forman (“The People vs. Larry Flynt”), Tim Burton (“Big Fish”), Guy Ritchie (“Sherlock Holmes”), Patrice Chéreau (“Queen Margot”), David Yates (“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”), Philip Kaufman (“Henry & June”), Jean-Jacques Annaud (“The Bear”) and Shane Black (“The Nice Guys”).
“He has shot independent European artistic films as well as visually impressive Hollywood blockbusters,” the festival added. “He has worked on gothic horrors and imaginative fantasy tales, he has lensed poignant courtroom dramas and charming little comedy films.”
Rousselot is set to attend the 28th edition of Camerimage, which runs Nov. 14-21 in Toruń, to receive the prize and take part in a number of conferences at the event.
The cinematographer has said that he would always work with a director with whom he had already established a good relationship, but that he personally craved new endeavors to keep a fresh perspective and a sharp mind, something evident in his extensive body of work.
Before winning an Oscar, Rousselot was nominated for Boorman’s “Hope and Glory” and Kaufman’s “Henry & June.”
Rousselot first worked with Burton on the big-budgeted 2000 remake of “Planet of the Apes” and continued the collaboration on “Big Fish” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”
Moving increasingly into big-budget and visual effects-heavy films, Rousselot collaborated with Ritchie on 2009’s “Sherlock Holmes” and 2011’s “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.”
The cinematographer’s confident approach to big-budgeted Hollywood spectacle led to another major franchise, Yates’ “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” and “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” works that visually redefined the Harry Potter cinematic universe.
It was on Black’s “The Nice Guys” that Rousselot shot his first feature film entirely with digital cameras.
Rousselot has tried his hand at directing – his first and only feature film, 1997’s “The Serpent’s Kiss,” was met with positive reviews when it premiered in competition in Cannes — but he has remained largely committed to cinematography.
“Philippe Rousselot has had a long and fruitful career during which he has collaborated with a number of talented directors, though he has never shot the same film twice,” the festival said. “He always was and still is in search of new ways of artistic expression, and likes to experiment with technology to surprise the viewers. Sometimes with a beautiful, lyrical shot in full sunlight, and sometimes with a scene shot almost entirely in the dark – something he had never been afraid of in his work.”
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