For the second consecutive year, Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki, ASC, AMC, has won the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Award for Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film. This time around, he earned the honor on the basis of Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). Last year, he won for Gravity, which went on to earn him the Best Cinematography Oscar. Whether history will repeat itself for Birdman come Oscar night next Sunday remains to be seen. Lubezki now has a total of four career ASC Award wins–but those prior two honors for The Tree of Life (2012) and Children of Men (2007) did not translate into Best Cinematography Academy Awards. Lubezki was first nominated for the ASC Award back in 2000 for Sleepy Hollow.
In his acceptance remarks last night capping the ASC Awards ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in L.A., Lubezki thanked Birdman director and co-writer Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu “for his courage, his insanity–the good kind–and his genius.” The DP further offered his gratitude to the entire cast and crew of Birdman, singling out several artists, including Steadicam operator Chris Haarhoff and 1st assistant cameraman Gregor Tavenner. Lubezki thanked the ASC, noting it’s “a big honor” and quite “humbling,” especially given the stellar work of the other nominees: Roger Deakins, ASC for Unbroken, Oscar Faura for The Imitation Game, Dick Pope, BSC for Mr. Turner, and Robert D. Yeoman, ASC for The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Lubezki also made a bit of awards show history, becoming the first cinematographer ever to win consecutive ASC Awards in the theatrical feature category.
Television
Meanwhile, like Lubezki, Jonathan Freeman, ASC, has two straight ASC wins, this year topping the TV Series category with the “Golden Days for Boys and Girls” episode of Boardwalk Empire (HBO). In 2014, Freeman won for an episode of Game of Thrones. Freeman now has five career ASC Award wins–the others being two earlier honors for episodes of Boardwalk Empire (in 2011 and 2012) and one for an installment of Homeland Security (2005). He has amassed a total of eight nominations over the years, the additional nods coming for Taken (2003), Strange Justice (2000) and Prince Street (1998).
Joining Freeman in this year’s ASC Award TV winners circle was John Lindley, ASC, whose lensing of the pilot for Manhattan (WGN America) took TV Movie, Miniseries or Pilot category. Lindley received his first ASC nomination in 2012 for the Pan Am pilot.
Spotlight
For the second consecutive year, the ASC bestowed a Spotlight Award, which is designed to recognize outstanding cinematography in features and documentaries that are typically screened at film festivals, internationally or in limited theatrical release. Winning this year’s Spotlight honor was DP Peter Flinckenberg, FSC, for Concrete Night (Betoniyo). Concrete Night has been at numerous festivals since its premiere at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.
Last year’s inaugural Spotlight Award went to Ida, which is currently nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
Special honors
In terms of previously announced recipients of special awards, the headliners were: Barbra Streisand who was presented the Board of Governors Award; John Bailey, ASC, who won the Lifetime Achievement Award; Bill Roe, ASC winner of the Career Achievement in Television Award; Phil Méheux, BSC who garnered the International Award; and Matthew F. Leonetti, ASC who was recognized with the Presidents Award for cinematographic contributions and dedication to the ASC.
Bailey’s work encompasses a long list of memorable and award-winning films. After apprenticing as a crewmember with such notable cinematographers as Néstor Almendros, ASC; Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC, HSC; and Don Peterman, ASC, he went on to earn his first narrative credit in 1978. His work on Ordinary People (1980) and The Big Chill (1983) earned critical acclaim, and he went on to receive a Spirit Award nomination for his cinematography of Tough Guys Don’t Dance (1987). He has subsequently compiled more than 70 credits with directors such as Robert Redford, John Schlesinger, Michael Apted, Lawrence Kasdan, Wolfgang Petersen, Ken Kwapis, and Stuart Rosenberg. Bailey's accomplishments include American Gigolo, The Pope of Greenwich Village, Silverado, Mishima, The Accidental Tourist, Groundhog Day, In The Line of Fire, As Good As It Gets, Incident at Loch Ness, Big Miracle, The Way Way Back, and the upcoming The Forger and A Walk in the Woods.
Bailey is also a mentor to the next generation of filmmakers. He frequently participates in lighting workshops, seminars and screenings. At UCLA, he has served as a Regents Lecturer, a special teaching assignment given by the UC Board of Regents, as well as the Kodak Cinematographer in Residence for the School of Theater, Film & Television. He has also judged the annual Kodak Scholarship Program for several years. He’s previously been honored by the Society of Camera Operators (SOC) with their President’s Award, at International Cinematographers Guild (ICG) events with the Kodak Mentor Award and Technicolor Cinematography Journalist of the Year, and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Big Bear Lake and Ojai Film Festivals, among other accolades. Currently, he is fulfilling vice president duties at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and writes a well-respected blog for the ASC, “John’s Bailiwick,” on all aspects of art.
Roe has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on The X-Files and Faith of My Fathers. The ASC has nominated him nine times, for which he won two back-to-back awards for The X-Files (1999, 2000). Since 1997, Roe has shot nearly 200 television episodes contributing to Castle, Brooklyn South, Las Vegas, Day Break, Robbery Homicide Division, Mad Men, and such pilots as Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Mentalist, and Eastwick.
Méheux’s work spans four decades, shooting prominent films such as The Long Good Friday, The Fourth Protocol, GoldenEye, The Mask of Zorro, Entrapment, Bicentennial Man, Around the World in 80 Days, The Legend of Zorro, and Edge of Darkness. Méheux won the British Society of Cinematographers’ (BSC) Best Cinematography Award for his work on Casino Royale (2006), and was also nominated for a BAFTA. Méheux served as president of the BSC from 2002 to 2006, and has been a member of the organization since 1979.
Leonetti’s recognition is for his impressive cinematographic contributions and dedication to the ASC. Beginning as a camera operator, Leonetti quickly became a full-fledged cinematographer shooting iconic films, including Poltergeist, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Weird Science, Jagged Edge, Star Trek: First Contact, Dawn of the Dead, The Butterfly Effect, and Rush Hour 2. Forty years after his first role as director of photography on Bat People (1974), Leonetti continues to shoot, including the recent Dumb and Dumber To.
In her acceptance remarks, Streisand reflected on the positive, close-knit creative collaborations she has enjoyed over the years with cinematographers, starting with her feature film debut in Funny Girl for which she won the Best Lead Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Fanny Brice. Streisand recalled that Funny Girl director William Wyler, whom she revered, selected Harry Stradling Sr. as the film’s DP. She noted that Stradling was accustomed to working with opinionated women ranging from Marlene Dietrich to Katherine Hepburn and Vivien Leigh. Stradling and Streisand hit it off, and he shot the first four feature films in which she acted prior to his retirement.
Streisand then fondly recollected working with DP Laszlo Kovacs on What’s Up Doc, Gordon Willis on Up the Sandbox and then James Wong Howe on his last movie, Funny Lady.
As a director, Streisand teamed with such notables DPs as David Watkin, BSC on Yentl, Stephen Goldblatt, ASC on Prince Of Tides and Andrej Bartkowiak, ASC on The Mirror Has Two Faces. Bartkowiak presented Streisand with the Board of Governors Award at the ASC Awards gala.
Streisand observed that every director needs a partner to support his or her vision, and that the cinematographer has been that partner for her. She noted that without that support, a film can be “a nightmare.” With it, the filmmaking process can be “a joy.” Streisand said she learned from each of the great DPs she has worked with and that the bond she as a director has enjoyed with cinematographers has been a strong artistic connection marked by “a deep understanding.”
Bud Stone Award
Unlike the evening’s other special awards, it was not announced before hand who would receive the ASC Bud Stone Award of Distinction. Named after the late president of Deluxe–Burton “Bud” Stone–who mentored assorted artisans, this honor goes to an associate ASC member who has demonstrated extraordinary service to the ASC and/or has made a significant contribution to the motion picture industry.
Kees Van Oostrum, ASC, announced during the ASC Awards ceremony that this year’s Bud Stone Award of Distinction winners were Otto Nemenz, founder and CEO of the rental facility Otto Nemenz Intl,, and Denny Clairmont, president and co-founder of Clairmont Camera. The two competitors and friends, both stalwarts of the camera rental business, expressed great surprise and said they were deeply honored by the ASC recognition.
