American Cinematographer - September 2008 - (Page 54) Cinematographers A Tale of 2 No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo and Vilmos, directed by James Chressanthis, ASC, recounts the colorful history of a pair of filmmaking icons. by Benjamin B Unit photography by Peter Sorel, SMPSP, Tony Frere and Zachary Kranzler 54 September 2008 ntil now, only two documentaries about cinematography have truly stood out: Visions of Light (1992) by Arnold Glassman, Todd McCarthy and Stuart Samuels, and Cinematographer Style (2006) by Jon Fauer, ASC. This year, however, cinematographer James Chressanthis, ASC became a director and producer to add a valuable new work to this sparse genre: No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo and Vilmos, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The title characters are, of course, the late Laszlo Kovacs, ASC, who died in July 2007, and his lifelong friend and fellow countryman Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC. The Hungarians made a daunting pilgrimage to America to take Hollywood by storm, and along the U way, they helped define a movement sometimes called the American New Wave. During his career, Kovacs amassed more than 60 feature credits, including Easy Rider; Five Easy Pieces; What’s Up, Doc?; The King of Marvin Gardens; Paper Moon; Shampoo; New York, New York; Frances; Ghostbusters; Mask and My Best Friend’s Wedding. He earned lifetime-achievement awards from the Camerimage Festival in 1998 and the ASC in 2002. As a tribute to his commitment to teaching, the student award at Camerimage was renamed the Laszlo Kovacs Award in 2008. Zsigmond continues his distinguished career behind the camera, expanding a résumé that includes the features McCabe & Mrs.
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