ARRI hosted their annual cocktail event in Cannes during the Director's Fortnight at the Cannes International Film Festival and invited major DoP's to share their experiences using ALEXA cameras and other ARRI equipment to capture this year's top films at the festival. arri_cannes2016_6 ARRI cameras have always been favourites among not just Hollywood filmmakers, but also those creating hard-hitting dramas for the festival circuit as well. This year around 75% of the films in the main competition at the 69th Cannes Film Festival were shot with ARRI cameras - that's quite a staggering statistic speaking clearly to how DP's, directors and producers value the quality of ARRI products - making the ALEXA family especially a benchmark in the industry, as it has been the case for the past six years. More than half  of these films were captured with ALEXA cameras. In the Un Certain Regard category the proportion was even higher, with two-thirds of all competing films being ALEXA productions. The Palme d'Or winning "I, Daniel Blake" by legendary British director Ken Loach took home the big prize and not surprisingly was shot on 35mm film using ARRICAM ST and ARRI/Zeiss Master Primes to give the social drama the organic edge that would have otherwise been almost impossible to capture in another format. alexa xt camera Other top films in Cannes, such as Bruno Dumont's period comedy SLACK BAY (MA LOUTE) used ALEXA cameras to emulate the look of film but in a digital format. Cinematographer Guillaume Deffontaines AFC, chose to capture the film with ALEXA cameras and ARRI/ZEISS Master Anamorphic lenses, said:
"We found these Autochromes from the Lumière brothers, that were invented in approximately 1908, and these photographs, in colour, were really the key thing in terms of look... I pushed the ALEXA camera to its limit, it was nearly 2,000 ASA...to have a sort of natural grain that would come out of the camera and that would help us avoid even using grain in post... I used the Master Anamorphics at T2.0 and I noticed that all the backgrounds, even in wide shots, were going out of focus, and all these little details were close to this effect we had in the Autochromes."
Kleber Mendonça Filho's film "Aquarius" was part of the prestigious main competition at Cannes. Cinematographers Pedro Sotero and Fabricio Tadeu chose ALEXA XT cameras, due to it being closest to film, which they were not able to afford due to budgetary reasons. They also loved the fact that the ALEXA is battle-hardened camera that simply works even in the most challenging of places. See their interview with ARRI from the festival below: As an official ARRI dealer for the UK, we are proud to be able to supply UK productions with all ARRI camera products and pro accessories. For a bespoke quote and to discuss your project requirements you can get in touch with us at 0208 977 1222 and chat with our ARRI specialists. As a reminder we will also be exhibiting at the upcoming MEDIA PRODUCTION SHOW 2016 in London on June 9th and 10th. For more information check out our blog post and video here or head over to the event's main website to register and attend for free.