The 2018 Cannes Film Festival once again drew top films and filmmakers from around the globe and of the awarded films in competition Leica cine lenses were used on four of them. The lenses used included the Leica Summilux-C series, the Leica Summicron-C series, and the Leica R and M series. Palme d’Or winner “Shoplifters” took the top festival prize for Japanese director Kore-Eda Hirokazu. The film follows a poverty-stricken family that steals to get by and was shot by cinematographer Ryûto Kondô with Leica Summicron-C lenses on an Arricam ST 35mm film camera. Lukas Dhont’s film “Girl” was awarded the Caméra d’Or prize for best first feature film and follows a 15-year-old on a quest to become a professional ballerina while struggling with her transgender identity. Lead charactor Victor Polster also picked up the Best Actor award for the category “Un certain regard.”Leica Summilux-C and ARRI Alexa Mini were the lenses and camera of choice for DoP Frank van den Eeden, SBC, NSC. The Palme d’Or Spéciale honor went to legendary director Jean-Luc Godard’s film “Le Livre D’image”. The film consists a collage of images, clips from past films, and musings by the director. Much of the new content shot using Leica R series and Leica M series lenses on Sony A7 cameras by Swiss director, producer and cinematographer Fabrice Aragno. “En Liberte!”, the romping crime/romance/comedy from director and co-writer Pierre Salvadori earned the SACD prize in the La Semaine de la Critique competition for its screenplay, but featured the delightful cinematography of Julien Poupard, AFC. Poupard, who has previously shot two films that were awarded the Caméra d’Or prize, paired the Leica Summilux-C lenses with the ARRI Alexa Mini in what he described as “a simple configuration, which I like. Keeps it all human.” In talking about using the T1.4 lenses wide open during night shoots, he said the presented “a really interesting fuzziness and a feeling of both sharpness and softness.” |