A look back at the Chef Op’ en Lumière Festival in Chalon-sur-Saône
The 7th edition of the Chef Op’ en Lumière festival took place from January 27 to February 2, 2025. It is
dedicated to cinematographers, but also more broadly to anyone involved in making images at all stages of creation. This year’s festival featured eight European films in competition. This year’s Jury Prize went to the Romanian film New Year that Never Happened, by Bogdan Muresanu, photographed by Boróka Biró and Tudor Platon. A special mention was also given, for the audacity and singularity of the image in the service of the staging, to the film Flemish film Julie keeps quiet by Leonardo Van Dijl, photographed by Nicolas Karakatsanis. The Audience Award went to Village aux portes du Paradis by Mo Harawe, directed by Mostafa El Kashef; and the high school prize went to the Danish film La jeune femme à l’aiguille by Magnus Von Horn, photographed by Michal Dymek.
The jury was chaired by Rémy Chevrin AFC, accompanied by Sarah Blum AFC and Colin
Levêque SBC, as well as journalist Anne-Claire Cieutat, actress Marianne Denicourt
and screenwriter François Favrat.
Among the twenty or so films presented, several Belgian cinematographers were in the spotlight with
six films photographed by: Léo Lefèvre, Colin Levêque,
Elin Kirshfink, Virgine Surdej, Pieter Van Campe and Nicolas Karakatsanis.
The selection committee consists of four or five people, and selects “according to individual affinities.
There are those who love experimental cinema, for example! And it’s also about
relationship with people. With Florine Bel (guest color scientist), things went really well, and
and it was a stroke of luck that she worked on Vermiglio ou la mariée des montagnes (a film in this year’s
competition this year). It was very enlightening about the film. confides Janick Leconte, Festival
director of the festival.
The masterclasses and meetings also succeeded in attracting a very wide and varied audience.
from film professionals and students to novices, high-school students
and residents of the greater Chalon area. The director continues: “I wanted the festival to be a place
for exchange, for several generations to come together, for people to have different practices and
different points of view. That’s what motivates me. A passion for cinema on the one hand, and the fact that people meet and talk to each other. Exchanging values.” He has also set up
a selection of recently restored old films, lighting workshops, carte blanche with Rémy Chevrin…
Janick Leconte, “There’s no other cinematography festival in Western Europe.
Before organizing the first Edition of the festival, William Glenn reminded me that we were lucky enough to be located near the birthplace of cinema : between Lyon and Beaune there was Nièpce, the
Lumière brothers, Roger Cuvillier (inventor of the zoom lens), and Étienne-Jules Marey. And of course
the Kodak factories! The festival draws its strength from its location, but also from the passion
that drives the people who make it happen. It’s the Chef Op’ en Lumière association, bringing together twenty-five all volunteers, who work with great motivation and sympathy to ensure the
the existence of this festival. Their modest economy calls for a redoubling of inventiveness and a constant exchanges and partnerships with the city’s other institutions (the conservatory
museum of photography) and with outside companies (Nikon, Transpalux, Leitz…). It’s partnerships like these that I’m putting in place, where everyone can benefit. This way, we can expand a little further, but it mustn’t get too big. I want to keep it small-scale, and that’s how I sell the festival.”
Each year, a film school is also invited to attend: three students from the Fémis came to present their film and thesis. “Brussels also has some great schools, so I’m thinking about it inviting them
There’s also something new this year”, Janick Leconte tells us.
“The festival team’s future plans include a short-film competition and “internationalizing the festival”.
by inviting foreign cinematographers. This will require more money, but if we had a well-equipped hall, we could do things by videoconference. The idea is still for people to meet. But for someone coming from far away, it could be a solution rather than flying. We also want to
to remain as environmentally friendly as possible.”
