American Cinematographer - February 2018 - 24

and openness to ideas - from his cinematographer as well as the actors - were
a tonic to her. "We had a very free way of
sharing, and it liberated me," she reflects.
Dheepan was her debut feature, and her
work was recognized with a César nomination. "It's funny - when I entered school,
at the final oral in front of 10 people in the
profession, they asked me to name the
French directors I wanted to work with, and
I answered, 'Jacques Audiard.' It's done
now."
Momenceau also points with pride
to Princes Among Men, a documentary
about the Roma people and their music,
which she shot over a year and a half in six
Balkan countries with director Stephan
Crasneanscki of Soundwalk Collective.
Coming up, she has another video and
sound installation with Crasneanscki's
band, a film with Stephen O'Malley and the
musicians of Sunn O, a feature for Chinese
director Wang Quan'an, and a documentary with Jean-Stéphane Bron.
It's the "alchemy" between director
and cinematographer that is most important to Momenceau. "The work of the
cinematographer doesn't exist without the
imagination, the mind, and the spirit of the
director," she muses. "Sometimes I feel
that a cinema crew during shooting is like
an orchestra, and the director is like a
conductor."
Egor Povolotskiy
While working toward a degree in
artificial intelligence at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, Egor Povolotskiy
came to a realization: "I was more interested in photojournalism," he says. So,
after graduating, he started taking photos
for a Russian news agency and the Russian
Association of Motorcyclists.
When that association's president,
Alexander Kisel, invited Povolotskiy to come
to a film shoot to take behind-the-scenes
photos, "I started being interested in being
on set in general," he says. "I enjoyed the
process." As his interest in filmmaking
grew, he was offered a job as a cinematographer on a feature - but he had to
decline. "I had no experience as a director
of photography at all," he reflects. "It's not
just shooting, but visual storytelling and
being the head of the department."
24

February 2018

Povolotskiy credits much of his
success to those surrounding him. "You are
as good as your crew," he says. "I get huge
support from my whole crew, especially
gaffer Kevin Kim; first AC Eugene du
Plessis; and Ara Thomas, my equipment
person, who is always with me. They
believe in me - and they've suffered a lot
to take our work to the best level possible!"
As this issue goes to press, Povolotskiy is prepping River Runs Red, directed by
Wes Miller and starring Taye Diggs, John
Cusack and George Lopez - as well as an
upcoming project with director Cyril Zima.
About the latter, he teases, "It has a very
interesting approach to storytelling. I don't
want to spoil anything, but it's going to be
unique!"

Cinematographer Egor Povolotskiy.

With the encouragement of his wife
and parents, he moved to Los Angeles in
2013, to attend the New York Film Academy. About that time, he recalls, "I said, 'I
don't know anybody, and I have no
connections. What will I do there? How will
I survive?' And my wife said, 'Just go, and it
will happen.'"
Line producer Mariietta Volynska, an
alumna of NYFA, saw a screening of
Povolotskiy's thesis film and offered him a
job right out of school to shoot the horror
feature Bornless Ones, directed by Alexander Babaev. "Now I am on my eighth
feature film and around 60 shorts as a cinematographer," says Povolotskiy, who credits Mike Williamson, the associate chair of
cinematography at NYFA's L.A. campus, as
a mentor.
Another significant break came with
the opportunity to shoot his first feature
with well-known actors: director Kayla
Tabish's Culture of Fear, starring Malcolm
McDowell and Steven Bauer. Povolotskiy
also highlights the comedy feature Gold
Dust, directed by David Wall. "We shot in
the Mojave Desert, and we lived together in
one house," the cinematographer notes.
"Every evening we gathered by the table,
discussing and laughing. It was an amazing
experience of collaboration and friendship."
American Cinematographer

Michal Sobocinski, PSC
One could say director of photography Michal Sobocinski, PSC comes by his
craft honestly. His grandfather, Witold
Sobocinski, PSC, worked as a cinematographer for Andrzej Wajda and Roman Polanski on projects including The Promised Land
and Frantic, respectively; his father, the late
Piotr Sobocinski, PSC, received an Oscar
nomination for Polish compatriot Krzysztof
Kieslowski's Three Colors: Red; and his
brother, Piotr Sobocinski Jr., PSC, is also an
accomplished cinematographer.
"Whenever my dad shot a film, we
would go with him," says Sobocinski. "I
was raised on the set, next to the camera.
But my dad didn't want to push us. I
wanted to be a guitar player, and I got a
guitar from him." When he realized that his
talent for music was not what he hoped, "I
naturally started doing photography and
preparing for film school. I think there was
no other way for me - it's my life, my
dream job."
Sobocinski attended the renowned
Polish National Film School in Lodz, where
his 88-year-old grandfather still teaches. "I
had him as an instructor, and he was
tough," says Sobocinski. "But he's the best
professor because he's very practical about
things; it's not all theory."
After his first year in school,
Sobocinski started operating on features
and shooting commercials. During his third
year, he shot his first feature, Kamchatka,
which became his thesis film and was

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - February 2018