Documentary at Cannes about the late Vilmos Zsigmond

Close Encounters with Vilmos Zsigmond, a documentary about the Hungarian-born cinematographer by French director Pierre Filmon premiered at the 69^th Cannes Film Festival, index.hu reports. The film was part of the Cannes Classics programme, and it became an impactful and touching piece in the wake of the Oscar-winning cinematographer’s death this year.

Originally, Pierre Filmon asked Vilmos Zsigmond to work with him on a film he was going to direct, but during the planning phase, he decided to turn the camera on the cinematographer himself.

In the beginning of, Zsigmond tells stories about the films he worked on purely for money, at the start of his career, in which he is credited as William Zsigmond. For a short time, he even tried using the name Billy Zigi, since his name was very difficult for Americans to pronounce. Fortunately or not, due to its ridiculousness, this did not stick, but soon everyone learned to pronounce his name anyway.

The film features scenes from his early film, then directors, actors and colleagues talk about his most famous works. Peter Fonda, as it turns out, can imitate Zsigmond’s voice perfectly, and he also recounts stories of the background and the execution of The Hired Hand, which paints the film in a completely different light. Another significant moment is when Zsigmond recalls being told that he does not have what it takes to make it in the film industry, and this being perhaps the reason why he worked so hard his whole life, so he can prove them wrong.