Movie magic in Mallorca

Shining a light on those behind as much as in front of the camera, Mallorca International Film Festival is the must-attend event for the cinematographic community.

“I wouldn’t be up here if people hadn’t invested in me, if I didn’t have mentors, if I didn’t have parents who cared for me, and if people didn’t take chances on me as a filmmaker,” Erik Messerschmidt ASC (Mank, The Killer, Ferrari) said in a heartfelt speech as he took to the stage to accept the Cinematography Icon Award at Mallorca International Film Festival. “If you have the opportunity to send the elevator down, please do it. It costs nothing to help someone achieve their dreams.”

Messerschmidt was among those behind and in front of the camera whose achievements took centre stage at the opening gala held at the beautiful Teatre Principal venue in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, kicking off the 12^th edition of the festival. Founded by German-born, Mallorca-raised actress and filmmaker Sandra Lipski, the event has fulfilled ambitions to create an international meeting point for the creative filmmaking community and is now recognised as one of the fastest growing film festivals in Europe.

Other honourees recognised by the 2023 edition of the festival – taking place across a week in October – included German-Spanish actor Daniel Brühl and Danish writer and director Susanne Bier. Isabel Coixet’s Un Amor, starring Laia Costa, opened the festival and Coixet – who attended with Un Amor cinematographer Bet Rourich AEC – was presented with the Evolution Vision Award. Later in the week, Rasmus Videbæk DFF’s lensing of La Tierra Prometida (The Bastard) was crowned victorious in the Best Cinematography (International Feature Film) category, while Michael LeBlanc CSC received the Best New Cinematography (Best Debut Feature Film) award for his work on The Young Arsonists. Other shooting stars included Jordi Planell AMC who picked up the Best Cinematography (International Live Action Short Film) for Reflections and Pasqual Marí who received the prize for Best Cinematography (Made In Baleares Live Action Short Film) for BEN.

2023 also marked EMIFF’s biggest edition yet, boasting around 130 titles including The Promised Land, directed by Nikolaj Arcel and starring Mads Mikkelsen; Nicol Paone’s directorial debut The Kill Room, starring Uma Thurman and Samuel L Jackson; and The Pod Generation, a drama set in the near future by UK filmmaker Sophie Barthes.

Speaking volumes

After Sandra Lipski and her cinematographer husband Rainer Lipski introduced the Cinematography Focus at 2022’s festival to recognise the art and craft of this talented filmmaking community, the strand returned in 2023 with full force and a packed programme including a masterclass with Messerschmidt and screening of his recent film – David Fincher’s The Killer – followed by a Q&A.

Continuing British Cinematographer’s partnership with the festival, and forming part of the Cinematography Focus, we were proud to host an ‘Introduction to virtual production’ panel session with Ed Moore BSC and Messerschmidt which you can watch on our video-on-demand platform, BCinePlayer.

“You can see if the shot is working in camera. Virtual production’s great for actors too because they can see the real environment. The other advantage for the cinematographer is your set is lit by a pretty accurate recreation of the light from the real environment,” were amongst Moore’s words of wisdom on his experiences of using virtual production for projects such as Apple TV+ series Hijack.

Sharing advice for filmmakers venturing into the virtual world, Messerschmidt said: “As a director of photography, you are ultimately held responsible by the public for how the movie looks. It’s important to get educated about what the [virtual production] technology can do and understand it as well, if not better than, the people who are setting it up for you so you can have a real honest conversation about what’s achievable and what isn’t with the director because I believe that those conversations really need to be between the director and the DP. The second you get many people involved in that conversation, the creative process of developing a scene visually gets very muddy very quickly.”

In a fascinating and honest discussion between the festival’s opening film Un Amor director Isabel Coixet and cinematographer Bet Rourich they explored their processes and production partnership. Coixet revealed how rather than attending film school she started learning the craft as a teenager by transcribing scripts of productions she saw on television. The pair shared insight into the Un Amor shooting experience which saw director Coixet operate the camera – a tool she considers an “ally”.

“The energy on set was unique – I hadn’t seen anything like it before. Watching Isabel framing was amazing,” said Rourich about the director shooting the film’s sex scenes. Interestingly, shots from action films and productions sitting outside of Un Amor’s romance/drama genre were amongst the wide ranging fluences explored in prep.

Other highpoints from a packed schedule of educational and networking events and screenings in venues across the buzzing city of Palma included a Camera&Light magazine-hosted panel discussing creativity in cinematography and the second Women and Leadership panel, moderated by Girls On Film podcast host, Anna Smith. She was joined by writer-director-producer (The Kill Room), Nicol Paone; head of theatrical distribution at IFC Films, Nicole Weis; German/Turkish producer, Nurhan Sekerci-Porst; and Irish actress and producer, Rosie Fellner.

As the festival continues to evolve with the industry, founder Lipski shared her hopes for the event’s future: “The introduction of the Cinematography Focus in 2022 stands as one of the most exciting recent initiatives launched by the festival. This focus has significantly enriched the entire event, raising the promotion and visibility of the art and craft of cinematography to remarkable heights.

“By honouring luminaries such as DP legend Ed Lachman ASC in 2022, and last year’s Cinematography Icon award recipient, Erik Messerschmidt ASC, alongside esteemed partners like ARRI and Palma Pictures, we are passionately driven to expand this aspect of the festival. We aim to transform Mallorca into the new cinematography community hub in Europe, offering an expanded array of cinematography-focused content, including hands-on camera and lighting workshops, as well as introducing brand-new product presentations in 2024.”

We look forward to enjoying more movie magic in Mallorca this year. Mark 30th October – 5th November in your calendar!