Chef Op’ en Lumière
From February 28 to March 8, 2026, the 8th edition of the “Chef Op’ en Lumière” festival took place, which honors European directors of photography with various selections.
– An official selection included 8 European films, presented as premieres, including “À bras le corps” directed by Marie-Elsa Sgualdo, with cinematography by Benoit Dervaux (SBC).
– 22 European films, presented out of competition as premieres, were also shown, including 2 with cinematography by SBC members: “Nino dans la nuit” by Laurent Micheli, with cinematography by Florian Berutti (SBC), and the documentary “Le Veilleur” directed by Lou Du Pontavice and Victoire Bonin Grais, with cinematography by Victoire Bonin Grais (SBC rookie). It should be noted that a first Belgian film was also featured: “The Dance of the Foxes,” directed by Valérie Carnoy and cinematographed by Arnaud Guez, both graduates of INSAS with a degree in cinematography.
The festival attracted 16,000 spectators this year and took place in a friendly, informal atmosphere, blending professional meetings and events, such as a roundtable discussion on “Music in Film, Filming Music” organized by the AFC and UCO, meetings on the use of AI, and a conference on “Video Games and Cinema,” as well as tastings of wonderful Burgundy wines and informal gatherings between young and old around the films being screened.
It should also be noted that TSF came to present its Parisian backlot.
The organizing team, more united than ever around Janick Leconte, the festival director, offered a very warm and welcoming atmosphere. It’s an enormous undertaking that this team of 22 volunteers carries out each year to raise funds from partners: the city of Chalon, Greater Chalon, the departmental and regional councils, the DRAC (Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs), and for the past two years, the CNC (National Center for Cinema and the Moving Image) for technical resources, in order to bring in a large number of guests.
The AFC (French Association of Cinematographers) is also an essential partner in the organization of the festival, thanks in particular to its president, Jean-Marie Dreujou.
The festival also allows cinematographers to meet with other AFC members and French-speaking members of the SBC (French Society of Cinematographers).
This year’s jury consisted of:
– Agnès Godard AFC: renowned French cinematographer known, among other things, for her collaboration with director Claire Denis
– N. T. Binh: critic for the magazine Positif and a long-time collaborator of the festival
– David Quesemand AFC: French cinematographer
– Fiona Braillon SBC: Franco-Belgian cinematographer
– Alexe Poukine: Belgian director whose first feature film, “Kika,” was released this year.
Among the events that took place this year, it is important to note that Manu Dacosse SBC
came to give a masterclass on his entire career, which is the subject of a separate article
on the site.
The SBC was, once again, very well represented at this event celebrating our profession!
It should be noted that for the first time this year, a short film competition was organized,
with a dedicated jury, featuring the screening of 11 short films, highlighting the work of
young female directors of photography.
A photo exhibition entitled “The Cunning of the Visible” was held in the renowned and very interesting Nicéphore Niépce Museum of Photography.
In every photograph, there is what is visible to the eye and what lies underneath enclosed within
a frame. This frame, this field of view, makes a choice of composition, of balance, of a possible world. But it confines as much as it reveals. The art of composition, according to cinematographer Henri Alekan,
is the “feeling of balance of an image in relation to its confinement.” Perhaps this is where
the off-screen space begins: in what escapes the confines of the frame, this imprisonment. In what
photography chooses to leave out, in what it silences, ignores, rejects, or evokes without
showing it. Photography knows how to suggest by implication, to play cat and mouse with what it doesn’t say. It knows how to outwit the visible.
Exhibition in partnership with the Chefs Op’ en Lumière Festival and the French Association of Cinematographers (AFC)
A mix of photographs by AFC members and photographs by renowned photographers
such as Robert Doisneau and Alexandre Rotchenko, to name just a few, were brought together thanks
to the collection of the photography museum, which provided access to original prints of very high
quality.
The AFC had previously invited its members to submit photos related to the theme, which
were sent and selected by the curators of the exhibition in Chalon-sur-Saône. The prints
were paid for by the museum and the Chef Op’ Festival.
This year, the jury unanimously awarded the prize to the Spanish film “Sorda,” directed by Eva Libertad and cinematographed by Gina Ferrer Garcia.
Roundtables and professional meetings are also being organized. You can find all the information and videos at https://www.festivalchefsop.fr