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| Phedon Papamichael with festival founder and director Sandra Lipski, 'It's always nice when there's a festival that's not just about the actors and the commerce and the market but also pays attention to the filmmakers, and young film students can come and get inspired' Photo: Amber Wilkinson |
Among the guests being celebrated at this year’s Evolution Mallorca Film Festival was Phedon Papamichael. The Greek-born cinematographer, who now splits his time between his homeland and the US, received the Cinematography Icon Award, acknowledging his more than 25 years of experience in the business when he has regularly worked with James Mangold on hits including [filmid=46167]A Complete Unknown[/film] and Walk The Line, as well as scoring success with a string of projects with Alexander Payne, including Nebraska and The Descendants. Through the course of a meeting with the press, he also praised Diane Keaton, whose death had been recently announced.
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| Phedon Papamichal with his award Photo: Amber Wilkinson |
Papamichael also said he was surprised to discover the previous evening that he had worked with another recipient of a prize, New Talent winner Swedish-Spanish star Ingrid Garcia-Jonsson, previously.
He recalled: “We were having dinner last night and she goes, ‘You know, we’ve worked together in Spain before, in Seville’. I was doing the Tom Cruise movie Knight And Day and she was Cameron Diaz's stand-in. I was thinking in the line when we were taking the photos, ‘I know this girl from somewhere’.
He also had plenty of praise for the festival itself, which has had a Cinematography Focus section since 2022.
"It's always nice when there's a festival that's not just about the actors and the commerce and the market but also pays attention to the filmmakers, and young film students can come and get inspired. I’m always looking to explore different festivals. I think it's really important for independent film, and you know, that there's an energy that still exists and doesn't get overwhelmed and killed by, you know, Commerce and big studio movies and we really have to try and protect and maintain independent films.”
His latest collaboration with Mangold saw him help to recreate the New York City of 1961 as Bob Dylan’s star was on the rise.
“I grew up listening to Bob Dylan and so when this came and with James Mangold, it was our seventh film together and we had done Walk The Line. I feel very lucky in having done a Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan film.”
Papamichael also praised Walk The Line star Timothée Chalamet.
“You think he’s young… he's so professional and so focused and so dedicated to his craft, it was really challenging and inspirational to watch his process and the same with all the other cast members.
“Whenever you have somebody that has put so much work and effort into it, everybody needs to bring the best to match him.”
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| Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. Phedon Papamichael: 'He's so professional and so focused and so dedicated to his craft' Photo: Searchlight Pictures |
“She even bought me this leather jacket because I would ride a motorcycle to work and she got me this vintage amazing leather jacket.”
Noting she also bought him a shirt, he said: “She even styled me to fit her aesthetics. she was so incredibly intense and focused on everything.”
Asked if he develops a sort of shorthand with directors he has collaborated with multiple times, he says: I do like the repeat collaboration with certain directors and there is definitely a shorthand. With James Mangold, we’re very similar, we’re kind of the same generation, both our fathers are painters and he's a photographer. Also we have a lot of the same sense for composition and storytelling.
“It’s kind of classic Hollywood in a way but it's very hard to find in America a guy who can work in the studio system, but is also a filmmaker and Mangold is one of these people. We’re like brothers, we don’t even prep that much – he doesn’t like it when I say that. Of course, on movies like Ford Vs Ferrari we do storyboard, you have to. You have to be able to budget the effects and all that. Then we look at rehearsal and we’re very quick at figuring out shots. It’s helpful when you and the director have similar sensibilities and taste.”
Looking ahead, Papamichael says: “It’s been an odd year, meaning that with the directors I typically work with we haven’t really found a nice project yet. But with Mangold we’re preparing a heist film and it’s going to be with Timothée Chalamet. It’s based on a book and I’ve heard it’s kind of like a mix of Hell Or High Water meets Heat. It’s about an ex-motocross racer who has a back injury.”
The Paramount film, called High Side, will be adapted by Jaimie Oliveira from his own book and is due to shoot in spring.
