Known For
Camera
Born
Feb 10, 1909
Died
Jun 15, 2001
Place of Birth
Paris, France
Credits
96 titles
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.
Known For
Filmography
Jean Cocteau, cinéaste
Self
Jean Cocteau: Lies and Truths
Self
Screening at the Majestic
Self - Interviewee
Le travail d'un cinéaste : Julien Duvivier, 1896-1967
Self
Carné, You Said Carné?
Self
Faraway, So Close!
Captain
Golem: The Petrified Garden
Director of Photography
Golem, the Spirit of Exile
Director of Photography
The Other Eye
Self
paint'o jazz
Director of Photography
Max Ophüls - Den schönen guten Waren
Self
Birth of a Golem
Director of Photography
Cézanne: Conversation with Joachim Gasquet
Director of Photography
J'écris dans l'espace
Director of Photography
Berlin-Jerusalem
Director of Photography
Alekan, la lumière
Self
Wings of Desire
Director of Photography
40° à l'ombre
Self
Esther
Director of Photography
A Strange Love Affair
Director of Photography
7 False Connections
Self
Wundkanal
Director of Photography
Cinématon XXXIV
N°330
Cinématon n°330 : Henri Alekan
Self
Our Nazi
Self
A Stone in the Mouth
Director of Photography
The Beautiful Prisoner
Director of Photography
En rachâchant
Director of Photography
The Trout
Director of Photography
The State of Things
Director of Photography
On Top of the Whale
Director of Photography
The Territory
Director of Photography
La Dame de Monte-Carlo
Cinematography
Ciné regards
Self
The Divisions of Nature
Director of Photography
Gun Moll
Director of Photography
Red Sun
Director of Photography
Figures in a Landscape
Director of Photography
Fun and Games for Everyone
Director of Photography
The Christmas Tree
Director of Photography
Ici et maintenant
Director of Photography
Mayerling
Director of Photography
Triple Cross
Director of Photography
The Poppy Is Also a Flower
Director of Photography
Lady L
Director of Photography
Topkapi
Director of Photography
The Story of Rebecca
Director of Photography
The Other Christopher
Director of Photography
Five Miles to Midnight
Director of Photography
Tales of Paris
Director of Photography