Henri Alekan
Biography: Henri Alekan (10 February 1909, Paris – 15 June 2001, Auxerre, Bourgogne) was a French cinematographer. Alekan was born in Montmartre in 1909. At the age of sixteen he and his brother became travelling puppeteers. A little later he started work as third assistant cameraman at the Billancourt Studios. He then spent a short time in the army, returning to Billancourt in 1931. In the late 1930s he was the camera operator to Eugene Shufftan on Marcel Carné's Quai des Brumes and Drôle de drame. He was greatly influenced by Schufftan's non-naturalistic style. His first success as a director of photography was René Clément's realistic war drama La Bataille du Rail of 1946. In the same year he worked on Jean Cocteau's fable La Belle et la Bête. He found himself out of sympathy with the French New Wave cinema which emerged in the late 1950s and Alekan shot some rather conventional films in Hollywood. A new generation of directors appreciated his visionary style, however, and he worked with Raúl Ruiz on The Territory and On Top of the Whale, with Joseph Losey on Figures in a Landscape and The Trout, and with Wim Wenders on The State Of Things and Wings of Desire. His last films were made with the Israeli director Amos Gitai. He wrote one of the best books about cinematography Des lumières et des ombres (1984, Éditions du Collectionneur). Alekan died from leukemia on 15 June 2001 in Auxerre, Bourgogne, aged 92. Source: Article "Henri Alekan" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Place of Birth: Not available
Birthday: February 10, 1909
Deathday: June 15, 2001
Popularity:
Known For
Le travail d'un cinéaste : Julien Duvivier, 1896-1967
1996-08-13
Le travail d'un cinéaste : Julien Duvivier, 1896-1967
Overview:
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1996-08-13
Popularity:
The Other Eye
1991-09-25
The Other Eye
Overview: This film essay explores the strange case of G.W. Pabst, the Austrian filmmaker who was considered a giant of early cinema before his reputation went behind a cloud.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1991-09-25
Popularity:
Our Nazi
1984-01-27
Our Nazi
Overview: In Our Nazi, we are plunged into a situation we barely, and only slowly, understand: the filming of Thomas Harlan’s experimental feature Wundkanal (1984), in which true-life ex-SS officer Alfred Filbert, now very old, is ‘put on trial’ for the camera, without him suspecting what is to come or why he is really there. Kramer’s confronting film is an essay about the sticky complicity of everyone present at this event, each bringing their own history, their own political ideology, their own desires to take revenge, to seek redemption or compassion, or just to put their heads down and ‘get the job done’ professionally, or (in the case of Filbert) to be a star, a part of the magnificent, magical, seductive world of cinema, even if it kills him.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: de
Release Date: 1984-01-27
Popularity:
Carné, You Said Carné?
1994-12-31
Carné, You Said Carné?
Overview: A primer on French film director Marcel Carne's career through interviews with critics and close creative collaborators.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1994-12-31
Popularity:
Jean Cocteau: Lies and Truths
1997-02-22
Jean Cocteau: Lies and Truths
Overview: This documentary consists mainly of archive interviews of Jean Cocteau, and it features interesting contributions by Jean Marais and especially Jean-Luc Godard, who discusses Cocteau's foray into cinema. The film documents all the artistic media explored by a man who defined himself, first and foremost, as a poet.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1997-02-22
Popularity:
Screening at the Majestic
1997-01-01
Screening at the Majestic
Overview: More than fifty years after its making, we return to the set of Jean Cocteau's 1946 film "La Belle et la Bete" (Beauty and the Beast). Included are interviews with the the lead actors, the cinematographer, along with excerpts read from the director's journal.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1997-01-01
Popularity:
Alekan, la lumière
1988-08-04
Alekan, la lumière
Overview: An episode of the show "Océaniques " about the craft and lighting techniques of the legendary French cinematographer Henri Alekan
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1988-08-04
Popularity:
Max Ophüls - Den schönen guten Waren
1990-09-03
Max Ophüls - Den schönen guten Waren
Overview:
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: de
Release Date: 1990-09-03
Popularity:
7 False Connections
1984-12-05
7 False Connections
Overview: Short film showing cinematographer Henri Alekan, director Raúl Ruiz and actress Olimpia Carlisi at work creating sublime visual effects of the sort seen in City of Pirates.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1984-12-05
Popularity:
Cinématon XXXIV
1984-06-21
Cinématon XXXIV
Overview: Reel 34 of Gérard Courant’s on-going Cinematon series.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1984-06-21
Popularity:
Stranger on the Prowl
1952-03-12
Stranger on the Prowl
Overview: A down-and-out crook on the lam befriends a young street urchin, in an Italian port city. At first amused that the boy is a sneak thief, he tries to deflects the kid from a life of crime. Tipped off by a woman anxious to collect the reward for him (who is wanted for murder), the police pursue the two lost souls.
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: it
Release Date: 1952-03-12
Popularity:
Faraway, So Close!
1993-09-01
Faraway, So Close!
Overview: Damiel is now married to Marion, runs the pizzeria “Da Angelo” and the two have a child. The solitarily remaining angel Cassiel is more and more dissatisfied with his destiny as a mere observer of human life and finally decides to take the great leap. As Karl Engel he soon gets into a dubious milieu and finds himself as the assistant of the German American Baker, who makes his money with shady arms deals and sends films east in exchange for weapons. Cassiel’s adventure turns into a “thriller” when he decides to put a stop to Baker’s game.
Genres: Drama Fantasy
Original Language: de
Release Date: 1993-09-01
Popularity:
Cinématon n°330 : Henri Alekan
1984-05-25
Cinématon n°330 : Henri Alekan
Overview:
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 1984-05-25
Popularity: