‘Indiana Jones’ Cinematographer Phedon Papamichael on Directing Tourist Thriller ‘Light Falls’ (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comJohn Bleasdale Guest Contributor At the Cannes Film Festival, Italy’s 102 Distribution is selling thriller “Light Falls,” directed by Phedon Papamichael, the cinematographer on James Mangold’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” Papamichael, who was Oscar nominated for handling the cinematography on Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska” and Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” talks to Variety about shooting “Light Falls.” The film tells the story of Clara, played by Elene Makharashvili, and Ella, played by Nini Nebieridze, two young lovers whose Greek island holiday spirals out of control when a tragic incident leads to an encounter with a trio of illegal Albanian immigrants.
The thriller establishes the relationship of the young women before moving in a darker and more violent direction. Papamichael told Variety: “The movie starts like an Eric Rohmer movie and ends like a Tarantino movie.
It has a social political angle as well as playing like a thriller.” The disparity in size between his latest cinematography gig, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” and “Light Falls” is not lost on Papamichael. “I could’ve made one thousand films like ‘Light Falls’ with the budget of ‘Indy.’ Not a hundred, a thousand.
I did the math,” he says. “But it’s refreshing. A challenge. I don’t have a crew of 800 people, pre-lighting six stages at Pinewood, and I don’t storyboard everything and previz everything, but just kind of walk in with an amateur cast and an actual location.” Although Papamichael has made his name as a sought-after cinematographer for the likes of Mangold, George Clooney and Payne, he enjoyed the stripped down production on his own film. “I have one gaffer and one guy who was helping him on the truck,”
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