Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff

A documentary about the Archers’ most famous cinematographer, bursting with eye-catching film excerpts and interviews with world cinema heavyweights, led by Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker. The inimitable Technicolor cinematography in A Matter of Life and Death, Black Narcissus, and The Red Shoes is perhaps Jack Cardiff’s greatest achievement. He won an Academy Award for the latter (1947) and in 2001, an honorary Oscar dedicated “To Jack Cardiff, master of light and color.” The documentary’s director, Craig McCall, evokes the context of 1940s British film culture, recounting Cardiff’s career in Hollywood and his 1960 directorial success, Sons and Lovers. Not only do we get an insightful lesson in art and painting – a constant source of inspiration for the cinematographer – but also the story of a varied, unpredictable career. Suffice it to say that Cardiff, active in the industry since the 1920s, would go on to be responsible for the cinematography of Conan the Destroyer and Rambo: First Blood Part II in the 1980s.

Sebastian Smoliński

The screenings will be followed by a meeting with Craig McCall, film dirctor.