Sheldon Chau and Antoine Combellas have won top honors at the Fifth Annual Volker Bahnemann Awards for Cinematography at New York University’s (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts.
The grants were established in 2010 to honor Bahnemann’s 48 years at ARRI; he served 32 years as CEO and president of ARRI Inc. and ARRI CSC. The grants are funded through generous donations from ARRI, ARRI CSC (now ARRI Rental), the Stahl family, along with friends and colleagues. The awards and endowment are a perpetual bequest to recognize talented cinematography students each year with a production grant to fund their thesis projects.
Chau and Combellas competed among a group of finalists selected by Tisch faculty at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Graduate finalists included Chau, Felipe Vara De Ray and Joanne Mony Park. The undergraduate nominees were Combellas, Ben Potter and Cale Evens Nichols.
After footage from the nominated artists was screened, Michael Carmine, NYU associate arts professor and director of cinematography studies, presented Combellas with the undergraduate award. Combelles is a French cinematographer based in New York. With a background as a still photographer, the young DP has been working on web content, music videos and shorts. He aims to use his European culture and American experience to bring a unique sensitivity to filmmaking.
Chau was presented with the award by Anthony Jannelli, head of cinematography at NYU’s graduate film department. Chau was raised in Los Angeles where he found early filmmaking inspiration from The Criterion Collection. He went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Film & Media Studies at the University of California, Irvine. As an MFA student at NYU, he received a nomination in 2013 for the Kodak Cinematography Scholarship.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More