laszlo-vilmos

Fans of filmmaking and film history should set their DVRs for the upcoming,  Independent Lens episode, a documentary on cinematography legends Laszlo Kovács and Vilmos Zsigmond. I say upcoming as it airs in my market today on Tuesday, November 17. From the Independent Lens website:

Two Hungarian film students escaped communist Hungary in 1956, with little more than a camera and a shopping bag full of film. Over the next 50 years, Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond would reinvent Hollywood moviemaking for an entire generation—and maintain an iron-clad friendship along the way.

I’m looking forward to this program as these are two DPs who crafted the images in a lot of legendary cinema. Both Kovács and Zsigmond have been working as cinematographers for nearly 50 years so they have lived and worked through a lot of changes in Hollywood and the imaging business. I wonder what they think about the digital transition/revolution that we are currently living/working in? It’s nice to see Independent Lens air such a program that steps away from the sort-of “activist” programming that they often choose. There’s a dedicated section on the Independent Lens website about the film that includes information on the program, the making of (which looks to include lots of interviews with those who have worked with them over the years), and a talkback section where you can post a question for Zsigmond that might be chosen for an answer. Be sure and check the local listings if you need to find out when it will air in your area. Hopefully you haven’t missed it.

And up next looks to be another great doc on Independent Lens, Objectified. It’s a study of products and industrial design from the makers of the popular 2007 documentary Helvetica.