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American Cinematographer (1974) - International cinematographers conference to be featured highlight of Filmex 1974

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The Third Los Angeles International Film Exposition, in Association with the American Society of Cinematographers, will stage a conference on the creative role of the cinematographer during the final week of the Festival

One of the highlights of the second Los Angeles International Film Exposition, held in November, 1972, was an extraordinary luncheon sponsored by FILMEX to honor famed Spanish director Luis Buñel. Many of Hollywood's top directors turned out for the occasion. (Rear row, left to right:) Robert Mulligan, William Wyler, George Cukor, Robert Wise, Jean‑Claude Carriere and Serge Silberman. (Front row, left to right:) Billy Wilder, George Stevens, Luis Buñuel, Alfred Hitchcock and Rouben Mamoulian. (Photograph by Marv Newton‑Los Angeles Times.)

(LEFT) Canadian director Paul Almond with veteran Hollywood directors George Stevens and William Wy 1er at FILMEX, November, 1972. (RIGHT) Charles Lippincott, Philip Chamberlain, Gary Essert and Gary Abrahams at a press conference closing the Exposition in November, 1972.

This March 28 through April 9, at the Paramount Theater in Hollywood, FILMEX will present the 1974 Los Angeles International Film Exposition. The opening night presentation will be the American première of "THE THREE MUSKETEERS", a 20th Century‑Fox film directed by Richard Lester. For the first time, the thirteen‑day, non‑competitive international film event heads the international festival calendar (a position traditionally held by the Cannes festival).

The purpose of the Exposition is to offer to the general public motion pictures representing the entire cinematic spectrum, most of which aren't readily available for viewing. But, FILMEX is more than a film festival, it is also an important cultural forum for the presentation of programs which contribute to the growth, understanding, and enrichment of the motion picture art, the only art form indigenous to the United States.

This year, in order to highlight the creative role of the cinematographer, FILMEX, in association with the American Society of Cinematographers will stage an INTERNATIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHERS CONFERENCE on the final week of the Exposition.

(LEFT) Directors Fritz Lang and Luis Bunuel, with producer Serge Silberman at the last FILMEX, which featured a conference dedicated to the creativity of the director. (RIGHT) Director George Cukor (a member of the FILMEX Board of Trustees) talks with FILMEX Director Gary Essert at the last Los Angeles International Film Exposition, held in November, 1972.

In conjunction with the conference, the Exposition will present nine free morning films, representing outstanding achievement in cinematography. The cinematographer of each film will be in attendance, when possible, for questions and discussion.

The conference will begin on April 6 and will last four days. It is presented free of charge to the general public.

Often the cinematographer's contribution to the art of film is surprisingly underrated. Not long ago, the star's publicity pre-empted recognition of other artistic achievement in the cinema. Today, this situation has changed somewhat; now the director often shares the spotlight with, or even upstages, many stars. But the cinematographer, he has been the quiet one, staying behind the spotlights, away from the publicity and being content with the recognition accorded him by the very people who occupy the spotlight. They know the gift his artistry has brought them and they appreciate it, though not often publicly.

Cecil B. De Mille dedicated the following tribute to the cinematographer:

He is the custodian of the heart of film making as the writers are of its soul....

His tool is a box with a glass window, lifeless until he breathes into it his creative spirit and injects into its steel veins the plasma of his imagination ....

The product of his camera, and therefore of his magic, means many things to many persons‑fulfillment of an idea, an ambition . .. realisation of dreams....

He is the judge who applies the laws of dramatic effect in complete coordination and fellowship with the director who interprets those laws....

Light, composition, treatment are his instruments of power, which he wields with intelligence and sensitiveness to bring to full bloom the meaning of his art....

His versatile management of an intricate mechanism yields astonishing results in mood, emotion, dramatic effect....

A slanting shadow becomes a shattering portent of doom ....

A lifeless chair instills the feeling of infinite sorrow....

A dead wail wakens a foreboding of plunging terror....

A flash of a man's face rises to the grandeur of drama, inspiring and ennobling....

Before his, wizardry, wrinkles fade from the faces of Hollywood's ageless, imperishable beauties. . . .

For his patience and singleness of purpose in a most arduous work, he is eminently deserving of that which is justly said of few men, "He is a true artist. "

Mr. De Mille recognized the indispensable worth of the cinematographer, many others did not, but countless directors were saved or launched into careers because of the excellent photographic quality of their film. Countless stars were likewise sawed or launched into careers because of the sensitivity of the cameraman's eyes.

Some cinematographers contributed much to the art of cinema through a long and vital partnership with a director, thereby enabling him to develop a deep‑rooted faith in the appearance of his film's visual quality and greater freedom to develop his own craft. Sven Nykvist working with lngmar Bergman, Robert Burks with Alfred Hitchcock, Raoul Coutard with Jean‑Luc Godard, ‑and others, grew with and enhanced the growth of these and other noteworthy directors.

One of the old Hollywood clichés says, "When a director dies, he becomes, a cameraman." Well, it so happens that some directors were born as cameramen. Stanley Kubrick, George Stevens, Lee Garnies, Nicolas Roeg, Toichiro Narushima, Joris Ivens, and others started their careers as cinematographers and went on to direct films, some to stay in directing and others to return to the camera.

The INTERNATIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHERS CONFERENCE aims to explore the artistic and technological gifts that these men from all over the world have given to us who appreciate motion pictures. It will examine the history and the future of cinematography, the challenges of the new media, such as video tape, and the differing styles of camerawork and lighting which are as varied as the individual masters themselves.

It will explore specialized forms of cinematography, such as animation and special effects, and it will provide workshop seminars for those aspiring to a career 1'n this art form. Men whose careers have spanned almost the entire breadth of our 20th‑century art form will be gathered with younger generations of artists to share and impart their knowledge.

To these men and their proteges, the Conference is dedicated, with the belief that their standards of artistic excellence will be emulated in the present and future.

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