January 13, 2021
Virtual
Watch
TAF artistic director and co-founder, Rolla Tahir, interviews Berlin-based, Lebanese cinematographer Christopher Aoun.
Host:
Rolla Tahir
Rolla Tahir is a filmmaker and director of photography based in Toronto. She’s lensed short, narrative and experimental films, which screened across Canada and internationally, including the UK, Germany, and the United States. Obsessed with the durability, longevity and spontaneity of the analog film medium, Rolla has worked with Super 8, 16mm and 35mm to explore the analog process and its possibilities.
Guest:
Christopher Aoun
Christopher Aoun was born in Beirut, where he studied cinematography at USJ de Beyrouth before continuing his studies at the HFF Munich.
He won the German Cinematography Award in 2019, was named one of ‘10 Cinematographers to watch’ by Variety and a ‘Rising Star of Cinematography‘ by American Cinematographer magazine and became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science.
He lensed Philippe Aractingi’s ‘Listen’ and Nadine Labaki’s Oscar-nominated ‘Capernaum’ in his native Beirut, as well as dozens of commercials and music videos worldwide for renowned artists including Selena Gomez, Lou Doillon and Rina Sawayama.
In 2020, ‘The Man Who Sold His Skin’ (Dir: Kaouther Ben Hanias) premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the Orizzonti Award for Best Actor. It was nominated at the 93rd Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film and Christopher’s work earned him his second nomination for the German Cinematography Award.
His most recent film, ‘Co-Pilot’ (Dir: Anne Zohra Berrached), produced by Razor Film premiered at the 2021 Berlinale. In 2022, the historic series ‘The Empress’ (Dir: Florian Cossen) produced by Sommerhaus will premiere on Netflix.