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Member LoginAn evening with Darius Khondji ASC AFC
18 May 2007
Friday evening, May the 18th saw the ACS along with Bond University host the very esteemed guest Darius Khondji ASC AFC for a screening followed by a question and answer session. Darius is a very successful DP on a global level and has shot work for directors David Fincher, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Bernardo Bertolucci, Sydney Pollack and most recently Wong Kar-Wai. He is currently on the Gold Coast shooting a horror/thriller titled The Ruins. The film chosen by Khondji to be screened on the night was a print of Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, which he shot in April 2005. The film is an abstract piece of video art that focused exclusively on the character of soccer hero Zinedine Zidane during a single match between powerhouse Spanish La Liga clubs Real Madrid and Villareal. The 90-minute match was covered by 17 cameras scattered throughout the vast stadium. These mainly consisted of Super 35mm cameras, but there were a couple of handheld Super 16mm cameras amongst the crowd and even two prototype Panavision HD cameras with 300x Zoom lenses developed for the US Military. The film proved to be a marvelous effort in terms of camera operating at extremely long focal lengths and maintaining focus all the while. Afterwards, Darius noted that he employed the very best sports camera operators from around the world and had particular praise for a group of American operators from NFL Films. It was amazing how introspective the work proved, as we continually were allowed to gaze at Zidane in extreme close-up throughout the match. He was presented as a beastlike creature on screen complete with animalistic whispers and murmurs, defending his territory and going in for the attack. Rather than getting too technical in the question session that followed, Darius urged the aspiring DPs to travel and learn to appreciate and interpret the quality of light of different places throughout the world. The evening concluded with Nino Martinetti ACS presenting Darius with an honorary ACS membership for the Queensland branch.