Mauro Herce was named European Cinematographer at the European Film Awards for his immersive work on Sirāt.
The Spanish DP pipped fellow nominees Manu Dacosse (The Stranger) and Camerimage Silver Frog winner Fabian Gamper (Sound of Falling) to the prize.
Accepting the award, Herce said: “Wow, thank you very much! I am a little bit shocked right now. Thank you to the European Academy and our film crew.
“As we know, cinema is a very collaborative art, and none of this could have been possible without the support of our incredible team.”
Explaining his decision to shoot Sirāt, which follows a man and his son as they navigate discos in the desert in search of his daughter, on celluloid, Herce told British Cinematographer: “We shot on film because that is how Óliver [Laxe] likes to do it. He doesn’t want to shoot digital-first.
“For me, it’s impossible to replace the feel of film. I am very happy to work on film first, because the way you work on film is very different in the way you approach the shoot.
“On film, you have to trust in the support of your team, because you never really know what you are getting until it is developed. You never really know exactly what will happen inside the camera.”
Elsewhere, with six awards, Sentimental Value (European Film, European Director, European Screenwriter, European Actress, European Actor, European Composer (Original Score)) was the overall winner with the most prizes.
Sirāt also scooped European Casting Director, European Editor, European Production Designer and European Sound Designer.
Meanwhile, Liv Ullmann was presented with the European Lifetime Achievement Award and Alice Rohrwacher was honoured with the European Achievement in World Cinema Award, while the Eurimages International Co-Production Award was given to Maren Ade, Jonas Dornbach and Janine Jackowski.
The full list of winners is available on the European Film Awards website.
