Sacha Vierny

Personal

Vocation

Lifestyle

French cinematographer recognized for his collaborations with Alain Resnais and Chris Marker, notably the film "Last Year at Marienbad," 1961. The son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Vierny initially worked as a schoolteacher before spending a short time studying to be a veterinarian. He eventually enrolled at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinemato-graphiques (IDHEC) in Paris. After graduation, he began his career by doing film documentaries in Africa, and then in 1953, he worked as an assistant to Ghislain Cloquet. It was here that he first worked with Resnais during the filming of "Night and Fog," 1956. After much work on shorts, he began working on feature films in 1958 and he quickly gained a stellar reputation within the industry. In the mid-1980s, he began a long association with Peter Greenaway, a relationship that lasted for more than a decade. The films, which illustrate Vierny's masterful use of lighting and deep focus techniques, include "A Zed and Two Noughts," 1986, to "8 Women," 1999. His last film was "The Man Who Cried," 1999. Vierny died on 5/15/2001, Paris. Link to Wikipedia biography