HENRI ALEKAN

Born: 10 February 1909, Paris [Montmartre], France, as Henri Albert Alakan, son of Bulgarian parents.

Education: Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, Paris; Institut d'Optique, Paris.

Career: Entered film industry in 1928 as c.asst. Became c.op in 1935 and doph in 1940. Was imprisoned by the Germans in 1940, but escaped and formed a resistance group with his younger brother Pierre.

Was member of the AFC. Was member of the Cannes IFF jury in 1963 & 1983. Also active as lighting dir for the stage.

Wrote the books 'Des lumières et des ombres' [1984], 'Le vécu et l'imaginaire' [autobiography], 'Question de lumières' [1993; with still ph Robert Doisneau] & 'La belle et la bête' [1994; with Robert Hammond].

Appearances: Appeared in the doc's 'Cinématon' [1978-2003, Gérard Courant; 2,044 ep of 4m], 'Unser Nazi/Notre nazi/Our Nazi' [1984, Robert Kramer; 94m], 'Henri Alekan, opérateur' [1984, Fernand Moszkowicz; 5m], 'Dorénavant. Tout sera comme d'habitude' [1985, Roland Allard; on the making of 'Wundkanal'], 'Henri Alekan, des lumières et des hommes' [1986, Laurent Roth; ph: Sophie Maintigneux], 'Langlois monumental' [1991, Jacques Richard; ph: Patrick Thibault], 'Le maître de lumière' [1991, Denis Guedj; ph: Dominique Le Rigoleur], 'Der andere Blick/The Other Eye' [1991, Johanna Heer & Werner Schmiedel], 'Carné, vous avez dit Carné?' [1994, Jean-Denis Bonan; ph: Renan Polles; 30m], 'Vivre 120 ans/The Future of Aging' [1994, Carlos Ferrand], '100 ans d'industries techniques du cinéma' [1996, Gilles Adès; ph: Jean-Marie Droisy] & 'Cannes... les 400 coups' [1997, Gilles Nadeau].

Awards: 'Oscar' AA nom [1953; b&w; shared] for 'Roman Holiday'; 'César' Award [1983] for 'La truite'; German Film Award [1988], LAFCA Award [1988], NYFCC Award [1988] & NSFC Award [1989] for 'Der Himmel über Berlin'; ASC International Award [1996]; Brothers Manaki IFF 'Golden Camera 300 for Lifetime Achievement' [2001].

A tribute to Henri Alekan by Wim Wenders

Dear Henri.

Whenever I am asked

which professional collaboration I have cherished the most,

during the 20 films or so that I have done,

or what I am the most proud of from that entire time,

I never hesitate to say:

The two films I had the privilege of shooting with Henri Alekan.

I have learned from you all that I know about lights and shadows,

that's for sure,

but much more than that.

You showed me something unbelievable,

somebody that nobody would even dare to say,

let alone teach,

the most beautiful lesson of cinema:

Every shot done without love,

for its subjects or for film itself,

isn't worth a dime.

Yes, you taught me that,

but probably without being aware of it.

You were the living proof

that every gesture, every little act of our craft,

could be done with tenderness and care.

And with curiosity.

I still see you standing next to the camera,

full of never-ending enthusiasm,

always a smile on your face,

your eyes those of a big kid's…

I see you putting your heads together,

you and your marvelous friend and long-time collaborator,

your gaffer Louis Cochet,

with whom you worked together for sixty years!

You didn't even have to talk about the light,

just a few indications with your hands,

a couple of nods,

and off he went running,

eighty years old,

but younger than all the other electricians on the set

at their age of thirty or forty…

I see you measure the light

just by squinting your eyes.

You trusted them more than your spot-meter.

I see you and it all comes back to me:

YOU yourself,

You were the most beautiful lesson of cinema.

Dear Henri.

[From www.wim-wenders.com, the website of Wim Wenders Productions]

1939	Les usines Ford à Poissy [Yves Allégret] unfinished doc
1940	Vénus aveugle/Blind Venus [Abel Gance] b&w; 2uc (+ c.op); ph: Léonce-Henri Burel
1940	Tobie est un ange [Yves Allégret] b&w; film destroyed in a fire
1941	Bel ouvrage [Maurice Cloche] b&w; doc/11m; see 1943
1941	Le chariot de Thespis [Jean Canolle] b&w; short/?m
1941	Chefs de demain [René Clément] b&w; doc/40m
1942	Traditions [Maurice Cloche] b&w; doc/?m
1942	Les chevaux du Vercors [Jacqueline Audry] b&w; doc/20m; cph: André Thomas
1942	Tu seras vedette [Jean Mineur] b&w; short/15m
1942	Les deux timides/Jeunes timides [Yves Champlain = Yves Allégret] b&w; cph: Philippe Agostini
1942	Ceux du rail [René Clément] b&w; doc/18m
1943	Les petites du Quai-aux-Fleurs [Marc Allégret] b&w
1943	Échec au roi/Échec au roy [Jean-Paul Paulin] b&w
1943	La grande pastorale [René Clément] b&w; doc/26m
1943	La symphonie du travail [Maurice Cloche] b&w; 3 shorts: 'Bel ouvrage' (see 1941), 'La cordée' & 'La ronde sur les toits' (13m)
1945	La bataille du rail/The Battle of the Rails [René Clément] b&w
1945	Pour une nuit d'amour [Edmond T. Gréville] b&w; uncred cph; ph: Jacques Lemare
1945	Comédiens ambulants [Jean Canolle] b&w; short/20m; cph: Raymond Picon-Borel & Raymond Clunie
1945	La belle et la bête/Beauty and the Beast [Jean Cocteau & René Clément (uncred)] b&w
1946	La femme en rouge [[Louis Cuny] b&w; uncred cph; ph: Pierre Montazel
1946	Les maudits/The Damned [René Clément] b&w
1946	Arch of Triumph [Lewis Milestone] b&w; 2uc; ph: Russell Metty
1947	Le diable souffle [Edmond T. Gréville] b&w

1929	Deux balles au coeur [Jean Milva & Claude Heymann] c.asst; ph: Marcel Lucien; unreleased
1931	La petite chocolatière/The Chocolate Girl [Marc Allégret] c.asst; ph: Roger Hubert, Georges Périnal & Nikolai Toporkoff
1931	Amour à l'américaine/American Love [Claude Heymann] c.asst; ph: Roger Hubert & Theodore Sparkuhl
1931	Pourquoi, parce que [Robert Bossis; short] c.asst; ph: ?
1931	Fantômas [Paul Fejos] c.asst; ph: J. Peverell Marley
1932	Fanny [Marc Allégret] c.asst; ph: Roger Hubert & Nikolai Toporkoff
1932	Direct au coeur [Roger Lion & Antoine Arnaudy] c.asst; ph: Enzo Riccioni & Marcel Franchi
1932	Les bleus de l'amour [Jean de Marguenat] c.asst; ph: ?
1932	Le martyre de l'obèse/Fat Man's Worries [Pierre Chenal] c.asst; ph: Roger Hubert
1934	Roi de Camargue [Jacques de Baroncelli] c.asst; ph: Nikolai Toporkoff
1934	Le voyage imprévu/Les pantoufles/Slipper Episode [Jean de Limur] c.asst (+ sound asst); ph: Fédote Bourgasoff
1935	Jeunes filles à marier [Jean Vallée] c.asst; ph: Nikolai Toporkoff
1936	La vie est à nous/The People of France [director's collective] co-c.asst; ph: Jean-Serge Bourgoin, Claude Renoir & Louis Page
1936	La tendre ennemie [Max Ophüls] c.asst; ph: Eugen Schüfftan
1936	Maria de la nuit [Willy Rozier] sound asst; ph: Georges Lucas
1936	Les jumeaux de Brighton [Claude Heymann] c.asst; ph: Armand Thirard
1936	Au service du tsar [Pierre Billon] c.asst; ph: Nikolai Toporkoff
1936	L'homme du jour/The Man of the Hour [Julien Duvivier] c.asst; ph: Roger Hubert
1937	Trois artilleurs au pensionnat [René Pujol] c.asst; ph: Nikolai Toporkoff
1937	La bataille silencieuse [Pierre Billon] c.asst; ph: Joseph-Louis Mundwiller & Louis Page
1937	Ramuntcho [René Barberis] c.asst; ph: Nikolai Toporkoff
1937	Mademoiselle Docteur/Salonique nid d'espions/Street of Shadows/Spies from Salonika [G.W. Pabst] c.op; ph: Eugen Schüfftan
1937	La danseuse rouge/La chèvre aux pieds d'or [Jean-Paul Paulin] c.op; ph: Nikolai Toporkoff
1937	Drôle de drame [ou L'étrange aventure de Docteur Molyneux]/Bizarre, Bizarre [Marcel Carné] c.op; ph: Eugen Schüfftan
1937	Mollenard/Hatred [Robert Siodmak] c.op; ph: Eugen Schüfftan
1937	Le drame de Shanghaï/The Shanghai Drama [G.W. Pabst] c.op; ph: Eugen Schüfftan
1938	Quai des brumes/Port of Shadows [Marcel Carné] co-c.op; ph: Eugen Schüfftan
1938	Vidocq [Jacques Daroy] c.op; ph: Nikolai Toporkoff & Pierre Montazel
1938	Le prince Bouboule [Jacques Houssin] c.asst; ph: Willy Gricha
1938	Campement 13 [Jacques Constant] c.op; ph: Nikolai Toporkoff
1938	L'esclave blanche [Marc Sorkin & G.W. Pabst (superv)] c.op; ph: Michel Kelber
1939	Sans lendemain/There's No Tomorrow [Max Ophüls] c.op; ph: Eugen Schüfftan
1939	Le dernier tournant/The Last Turn [Pierre Chenal] c.op; ph: Christian Matras & Claude Renoir
1939	Jeunes filles en détresse/Girls in Distress [G.W. Pabst] c.asst; ph: Michel Kelber & Marcel Weiss
1939	L'émigrante [Léo Joannon] c.op; ph: Eugen Schüfftan
1939	Les musiciens du ciel [Georges Lacombe] c.op; ph: Eugen Schüfftan
1940	Vénus aveugle/Blind Venus [Abel Gance] c.op (+ 2uc); ph: Léonce-Henri Burel
1940	Parade en sept nuits [Marc Allégret] c.op; ph: Christian Matras
1941	Une femme dans la nuit [Edmond T. Gréville (started by Abel Gance)] c.op; ph: Léonce-Henri Burel
1993	In weiter Ferne, so nah!/Faraway, So Close! [Wim Wenders] small part; ph: Jürgen Jürges & Martin Gressmann

1962	Le taxi [Fernand Marzelle] tvm; ep series 'En France comme vous étiez'
1963	Les femmes savantes [Jean Meyer] tvm/b&w
1963	La vérité sur l'affaire du courier de Lyon [Stellio Lorenzi] tvm; cph: Roger Dormoy; ep series 'La caméra explore le temps'
1963	Le récit de Rebecca [Paul Vecchiali] tvm/20m
1964	Le Mandarin merveilleux [Yves-André Hubert] tvm
1964	La possédée [Eric Le Hung] tvm
1964	A King in New York [?] prologue to tv-showing of film by Charles Chaplin
1970	The Henri Matisse Centennial at the Grand Palais [Paul Falkenberg & Hans Namuth] doc/?m

1950	La Sarre, pleins feux [co-d; + ph] see Films
1951	La Sarre, forces et voix de France [co-d; + ph] see Films
1957	L'enfer de Rodin [+ ph] see Films
1985	La petite danseuse de 14 ans d'Edgar Degas/La danseuse de 14 ans [dance film/6m/16mm] ph: François Ede & Agnès Godard; ep of series 'Le musée dansé' for Musée d'Orsay
1989	Détective [dance film/4m] ph: ?
1991	Morpho-cristallographie [doc/30m] ph: ?