IEC
CHRISTIAN BERGER AAC
Born: 13 January 1945, Innsbruck, Tyrol [Tirol], Austria.
Career: 'I found a job with a lighting engineer, a man who became very important for me later. He had nothing to do with film. His company had offices in Innsbruck, Munich and Switzerland, and they planned lighting for hospitals, streets, bridges and airports. I worked three years there, and then I bought a Bolex. I had no idea - nobody was interested and there were no jobs, but I said that I had to do film. I worked for a year as a camera assistant near Vienna, where at first I just cleaned cameras and lamps. I worked as an assistant for a director who couldn't pay me, but who gave me some 16mm equipment instead. I was able to find work for Austrian television [ORF-Landesstudio für Tirol und Vorarlberg] in 1968. I was there at just the right moment. I started in newsgathering. I was a journalist. I had to write the reports and shoot 16mm b&w reversal film.' Founded his own prod company, TTV Film, in 1973. 'We were five or six people, and eventually I could do television documentaries and magazine shows, rather than just one- or two-minute reports. With each project, we set aside some of the money, and we would use that money to make small films with friends. Around this time I also started to make plays for television. At one point, we had dreams of running our own public access television station, but luckily I didn't fall into the video trap as quickly as some of my colleagues. The best quality video at that time was U-matic, and now there aren't any machines to play that back with. By the end of the 1970s, I stopped doing the news jobs.' [From interview with Bob Fisher on the KODAK OnFilm website.]
Ph commercials dir by Terrence Malick, a.o.
Developed, together with Christian Bartenbach, the Cine Reflect Lighting System [B&B CRLS, manufactured by PANI Projection and Lighting]. 'The system was developed to mimic nature. Like the sun, it uses a single powerful parallel beam light source, and a wide range of reflectors, diffusion and scrims to redirect and alter the character and distribution of the light. We use it to light entire scenes, including key, fill and ambience. The result is an efficient, unobtrusive lighting rig that uses very little electricity. It started when I got in touch with my first lighting teacher. We connected immediately, as if only a few weeks had passed. He was surprised at my knowledge of lighting, which came from a completely different background. He talks about lighting formulas as if they were poetry. It's another language, but we are talking about the same thing. His scientific studies show that the wrong lighting conditions can reduce productivity by 30 percent. People get tired, have concentration problems, and stress. I was shocked. I thought about what we're doing with our actors. We ignore that completely. We are doing violence to these actors with our huge lighting equipment - glare, heat and a messy set.' [From the KODAK OnFilm website.]
Founding member of the Lichtakademie Bartenbach, Aldrans [near Innsbruck], Austria. Since 1995 Professor at the Filmakademie Wien [Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien (MDW)]. Guest lecturer at various international film schools, e.g. in Havana, Paris [La Fémis], Berlin [DFFB & HFF Konrad Wolf, Potsdam-Babelsberg], Copenhagen [Den Danske Filmskole] and São Paulo [FAAP].
Married to actress/prod Marika Nicolette Green [1943-]. Is the uncle of actress Eva Green [b. 1980].
Awards: As doph: Camerimage 'Golden Frog Award' nom [2001] for 'La pianiste'; European Film Awards 'European Cinematographer Award' nom [2005] for 'Caché'; ASC Film Award [2009], 'Oscar' AA nom [2009], European Film Awards 'Carlo Di Palma European Cinematographer Award' nom [2009], LAFCA Award 'Best Cinematography' [2009], NYFCC Award 'Best Cinematography' [2009], NSFC Award 'Best Cinematography' [2010], Deutscher Filmpreis 'Beste Kamera/Bildgestaltung' nom [2010] for 'Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte'; Manaki Brothers International Cinematographers' FF 'Special Golden Camera 300 Award' [2012] for Outstanding Contribution to the World Film Art.
As dir: Max Ophüls Award [1985] & Moscow IFF 'Golden Prize' nom [1985] for 'Raffl'.
Website: Christian Berger
Why
do you prefer to shoot with film?: The arguments are well known. The
first argument is worldwide use without any translation problems. Film captures
images with a quality that is higher than ever, high above the digital formats.
As far as digital is concerned, it seems stupid to me to use a format that has
so many drawbacks. The number of pixels doesn't interest me. I want to have
comfort in the handling, and I want to have the shortest path between my eye and
what I want to capture - that's it. Everything else - leave me alone! We shot a
film in digital HD ['Caché' in 2004]. We had to check the back
focus three times a day besides many other troubles! It's unbelievable. We had
to tell the inventor of the camera that the viewfinder was inadequate. It's like
selling someone a car, and then saying, 'Ah, you want to drive with it, then you
will need wheels!' Any financial advantage was gone in the first two weeks,
eaten up by delays. Then there is the question of data storage. There is no
long-term answer. None. People at the TV stations are spending enormous amounts
of money changing every few years to the next format. That's money we could use
to create something. Film negative lasts for 100 years. I see old photos taken
by my wife's grandmother and they are exquisite. So what are we doing?' [From
the KODAK OnFilm website.]
NOTE:
There are two filmmakers with the name Christian Berger. The cameraman/director
on this page and Christian Berger, a German filmmaker working for Deutsche Welle
[DW-TV]. His latest films are the mus doc's 'The Promise of Music' [2007;
as co-exec prod; ph: Henning Brümmer] & 'Das Beethoven-Projekt/The
Beethoven Project' [2009; as dir; ph: Heiko Rahnenführer].
| FILMS | |
|---|---|
|
1970 |
Landleben/Country Living [Christian Berger] s16-35bu/c; exp doc/18m; + prod/ed; the film was shot during 1970-73 and captures Berger's home village Ampass, Tyrol, and the surrounding area and was motivated by the daily disillusion he felt as a young TV cameraman; edited and released in 1995 |
|
1974 |
Der Untergang des Alpenlandes - Part One [Christian Berger] 16mm/c; short/31m; + co-scrpl |
|
1978 |
Österreichs Städte haben Zeit für Sie [Christian Berger] c; comm doc/?m; + scrpl |
|
1982 |
Raffl [Christian Berger] s16/c; + prod/co-scrpl |
|
1983 |
Atemnot [Käthe Kratz] c |
|
1987 |
Nachsaison/Off Season [Wolfram Paulus] c |
|
1988 |
Hanna Monster, Liebling [Christian Berger] 16mm-35bu/b&w; + prod/scrpl |
|
1990 |
Mirakel [Leopold Huber] c |
|
1991 |
The More I See You [Josef Aichholzer] c |
|
1991 |
Benny's Video [Michael Haneke] c |
|
1992 |
Das Auge des Taifun [Paulus Manker] c; mus doc/70m; cph: Joachim Berc, Walter Kindler, Helmut Pirnat, a.o.; released 1994 |
|
1993 |
Mautplatz/Tollgate [Christian Berger] c; + prod/co-scrpl |
|
1993 |
71 Fragmente einer Chronologie des Zufalls/Amok/71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance [Michael Haneke] c |
|
1995 |
Es war doch Liebe? [Wolfgang Glück] c |
|
1996 |
Ethnische Idyllen/Ethnic Idylls [Christian Berger] c; doc/90m; + scrpl; filmed 1995-97 |
|
1998 |
Gespräch im Gebirg [Peter Stastny] 16mm/c; short/23m |
|
2000 |
La pianiste/Die Klavierspielerin/The Piano Teacher [Michael Haneke] c; spec vfx: Geoffrey Kleindorfer |
|
2001 |
März [Klaus Händl] short film project; filmed in 2008 by ph Gerald Kerkletz |
|
2001 |
Der gläserne Blick/Dead Man's Memories [Markus Heltschl] c; + co-prod |
|
2003 |
Ne fais pas ça/Don't Do That [Luc Bondy] c |
|
2004 |
Caché/Hidden/Versteckt [Michael Haneke] HD-to-35mm/c |
|
2004 |
Seenomaden - Leben mit dem Wind [Christian Berger] c; doc/75m; ph Chile; ph Atlantic & Pacific Ocean: Doris Renoldner & Wolfgang Slanec; filmed 2002-04; released 2005; + scrpl |
|
2007 |
Disengagement/Désengagement/Hitnatkoot/Trennung [Amos Gitai] c |
With dir Michael Haneke [right] - "Das weisse Band"
|
2008 |
Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte/The White Ribbon [Michael Haneke] s35-to-35mm (+ D-Cinema)/b&w (filmed on color negative: KODAK Vision3 500T 5219 & 250D 5207) |
|
2010 |
Die Blutgräfin/The Blood Countess [Ulrike Ottinger] pre-production |
|
2010 |
Marika Green & Eva Green - Paris 2010 [Sonia Sieff] c; doc/?m; prod for the photo exposition 'Green: Regards photographiques/Photographic Sights - Images 1894-2010' in Galerie Catherine Houard, Paris (November-December 2010) |
|
2010 |
Die Wand/The Wall [Julian Pölsler] 35mm scope+RED One MX-to-35mm scope/c; cph: Helmut Pirnat, Richi Wagner, a.o.; filmed 2010 & 2011 |
|
2011 |
Ludwig II [Peter Sehr & Marie Noëlle] HD (ARRI ALEXA Plus) scope/c; uwph: Christian Wehrle; also a version for TV |
|
2012 |
A nagy füzet/Das große Heft/Le grand cahier/The Notebook [János Szász] HD (ARRI ALEXA Plus/scope)/c |
|
2014 |
By the Sea [Angelina Jolie Pitt] HD (ARRI ALEXA XT Plus/Master Scope)-to-D-Cinema (scope)/c |
|
2015 |
Die Nacht der 1000 Stunden/Night of a 1000 Hours [Virgil Widrich] HD (ARRI ALEXA XT Studio/scope)/c |
|
2016 |
Happy End [Michael Haneke] HD (ARRI ALEXA)/c |
| TELEVISION | |
|---|---|
|
1979 |
Arnulf Rainer - Körperkunst [Herbert Brödl] doc/52m |
|
1980 |
Signorina Mafalda [Herbert Brödl & Cornelia Bretthauer] tvm |
|
1981 |
Heimkehr nach Deutschland [Eberhard Pieper] tvm |
|
1981 |
Der Weg ins Freie [Karin Brandauer] 2-part tvm |
|
1982 |
Das Dorf [Claudia Holldack] 3-part miniseries: 'Nächste Woche ist Frieden', 'Kalter Sommer' & 'Was der Mensch säet' |
|
1983 |
? [Claudia Holldack] 10-part doc series; filmed 1983-95 |
|
1984 |
Die Abschiebung [Marianne Lüdcke] tvm/16mm |
|
1985 |
Die wilden Kinder [Christian Berger] tvm |
|
1991 |
Rabenmutter [Christian Berger] tvm; + prod |
|
2004 |
Mein Mörder [Elisabeth Scharang] tvm |
| FILMS & TELEVISION AS DIRECTOR | |
|---|---|
|
1970 |
Landleben/Country Living [exp doc; + prod/ph/ed] see Films |
|
1974 |
Der Untergang des Alpenlandes - Part One [short; + co-scrpl/ph] see Films |
|
1978 |
Österreichs Städte haben Zeit für Sie [comm doc; + scrpl/ph] see Films |
|
1982 |
Raffl [feature; + prod/co-scrpl/ph] see Films |
|
1985 |
Die wilden Kinder [tvm; + ph] see Television |
|
1988 |
Hanna Monster, Liebling [feature; + prod/scrpl/ph] see Films |
|
1991 |
Rabenmutter [tvm; + prod/ph] see Television |
|
1993 |
Mautplatz/Tollgate [feature; + ph] see Films |
|
1996 |
Ethnische Idyllen/Ethnic Idylls [doc; + scrpl/ph] see Films |
|
2004 |
Seenomaden - Leben mit dem Wind [doc; + scrpl/cph] see Films |
