Henri Alekan
Personal Info
Known for
Camera
Gender
Male
Birthday
1909-02-10
Day of Death
2001-06-15 (92 years old)
Place of Birth
Paris, France
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.
Acting
(1997)
(1997)
Screening at the Majestic
as Self - Interviewee
(1996)
(1994)
(1993)
Faraway, So Close!
as Captain
(1991)
The Other Eye
as Self
(1990)
(1988)
Alekan, la lumière
as Self
(1984)
Our Nazi
as Self
(1984)
7 False Connections
as Self
(1984)
Cinématon XXXIV
as N°330
(1984)
(1952)
Stranger on the Prowl
as Priest on Bicycle
Crew
(1993)
Golem: The Petrified Garden
Director of Photography
(1992)
Golem, the Spirit of Exile
Director of Photography
(1991)
paint'o jazz
Director of Photography
(1990)
Birth of a Golem
Director of Photography
(1990)
Cézanne: Conversation with Joachim Gasquet
Director of Photography
(1989)
Berlin-Jerusalem
Director of Photography
(1989)
J'écris dans l'espace
Cinematography
(1987)
Wings of Desire
Director of Photography
(1986)
Esther
Director of Photography
(1985)
A Strange Love Affair
Director of Photography
(1984)
Our Nazi
Director of Photography
(1984)
Wundkanal
Director of Photography
(1983)
A Stone in the Mouth
Director of Photography
(1983)
The Beautiful Prisoner
Director of Photography
(1982)
The Trout
Director of Photography
(1982)
The State of Things
Director of Photography
(1982)
On Top of the Whale
Director of Photography
(1982)
En rachâchant
Director of Photography
(1981)
The Territory
Director of Photography
(1979)
La Dame de Monte-Carlo
Cinematography
(1978)
The Divisions of Nature
Director of Photography
(1975)
Gun Moll
Director of Photography
(1971)
Red Sun
Director of Photography
(1970)
Figures in a Landscape
Director of Photography
(1969)
Fun and Games for Everyone
Director of Photography
(1969)
Ici et maintenant
Director of Photography
(1969)
The Christmas Tree
Director of Photography
(1968)
Mayerling
Director of Photography
(1966)
Triple Cross
Director of Photography
(1966)
The Poppy Is Also a Flower
Director of Photography
(1965)
Lady L
Director of Photography
(1964)
Topkapi
Director of Photography
(1964)
The Story of Rebecca
Director of Photography
(1963)
The Other Christopher
Director of Photography
(1962)
Five Miles to Midnight
Director of Photography
(1961)
Black Tights
Director of Photography
(1960)
The Battle of Austerlitz
Director of Photography
(1959)
Twelve Hours by the Clock
Director of Photography
(1959)
Rodin's Hell
Director of Photography, Director
(1959)
The Great Deception
Director of Photography
(1958)
The Magic of the Kite
Director of Photography
(1958)
Would-Be Gentleman
Director of Photography
(1957)
The Case of Dr. Laurent
Director of Photography
(1957)
Paris Casino
Director of Photography
(1957)
Typhoon Over Nagasaki
Director of Photography
(1955)
Heroes and Sinners
Camera Operator
(1955)
The Best Part
Director of Photography
(1955)
Frou-Frou
Director of Photography
(1954)
Les impures
Director of Photography
(1954)
Queen Margot
Director of Photography
(1953)
Roman Holiday
Director of Photography
(1953)
When You Read This Letter
Director of Photography
(1953)
Julietta
Director of Photography
(1952)
Three Women
Director of Photography
(1952)
Stranger on the Prowl
Director of Photography
(1951)
Paris Is Always Paris
Director of Photography
(1951)
Trip to America
Director of Photography
(1951)
Juliette, or Key of Dreams
Director of Photography
(1950)
Just Me
Director of Photography
(1950)
Marie of the Port
Director of Photography
(1949)
The Lovers of Verona
Director of Photography
(1949)
Such a Pretty Little Beach
Director of Photography
(1948)
Anna Karenina
Director of Photography
(1947)
The Damned
Director of Photography
(1947)
Woman of Evil
Director of Photography
(1946)
Beauty and the Beast
Director of Photography
(1946)
The Battle of the Rails
Director of Photography
(1944)
The Little Ones of the Flower Platform
Director of Photography
(1943)
Les Chevaux du Vercors
Camera Operator
(1941)
Blind Venus
Director of Photography
(1938)
Hatred
Camera Operator
(1938)
The Shanghai Drama
Assistant Camera
(1938)
Port of Shadows
Camera Operator
(1937)
Street of Shadows
Assistant Camera
(1936)
Life Is Ours
Director of Photography