Angénieux, an official partner of the Cannes Film Festival since 2013, highlights each year, through the Pierre Angénieux Tribute ceremony, “world-leading image experts without whom cinema would not exist”.
In line with this year’s Cannes Film Market, Angénieux will spotlight Japan during its “exceptional evening” on 22 May.
Opened by Thierry Frémaux, general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival, for 13 consecutive editions, this ceremony, hosted by French journalist Charlotte Lipinska, will this year highlight the distinguished Japanese director of photography Akiko Ashizawa JSC.
Born in Tokyo in 1951, Ashizawa is regarded as one of the most accomplished cinematographers in the history of Japanese cinema.
She is particularly renowned for her close collaboration with director Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Tokyo Sonata, Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section, Cannes 2008).
“Her work is distinguished by an exceptional mastery of natural light and a unique ability to capture the ineffable and the unsettling,” Angénieux said.
Throughout her career, she has worked across nearly every film genre: from horror and romance to drama and comedy.
Ashisawa will also give a Masterclass on the morning of Thursday 21 May, moderated by Jordan Mintzer, a journalist at The Hollywood Reporter.
In addition to paying tribute to an already established career of a cinematographer, Angénieux is “committed to highlighting the promising work of a young talent in cinematography”.
In 2026, Nguyễn Phan Linh Đan, a young Vietnamese cinematographer, will be given a special endowment allowing her to use the best of Angénieux technology for the images of her next project.
Đan, born in 1996, is a cinematographer from an artistic family. Passionate about authentic storytelling, she has developed a distinctive visual style while highlighting a strong cultural identity through her films.
Known for her short films Lost (2016, selected at the Short Film Corner in Cannes), Nowhere, Forever (2020) and Children of the Dust (2021), she became the first woman to win the Best Cinematography Award at the Vietnam Film Festival in 2023, for Cô gái từ quá khứ (Girl from the Past).
Đan succeeds South Korea’s Eunsoo Cho (2025), Estonia’s Kadri Koop (2024), Egypt’s Haya Khairat (2023), the Netherlands’ Evelin Van Rei (2022), French-Mexican Pamela Albarrán (2021), India’s Modhura Palit (2019), and China’s Cécile Zhang (2018).
She will benefit from Angénieux’s support throughout the year, like her predecessors.
