Adriano Goldman, ABC, the Brazilian cinematographer behind the images in Sin Nombre, City of Men, 360, and Jane Eyre, began his career in television, so he understands electronic imaging. “I’m not nostalgic,” he says. “But today, even the producers understand that while video cameras have improved, they are not better than film, and they are not cheaper and not faster.”

Goldman’s most recent project is Closed Circuit, which he photographed for director John Crowley (Intermission, Boy A, Is Anybody There?). The story, a thriller set in London’s legal world, follows a team of lawyers who are also ex-lovers. The duo is forced to work together on a terrorist’s legal defense, and soon find their lives threatened. The cast features Rebecca Hall, Eric Bana, Ciarán Hinds, Anne-Marie Duff and Jim Broadbent.

The advantage of working on Reef Doctors is getting to be in the sun, sand and serenity of Australian tropical paradises like the Gold Coast, Port Douglas and the Great Barrier Reef. So what's the catch? Sand, sun and serenity aren't always all they're cracked up to be.

Reef Doctors is produced by Jonathan M. Shiff and co-produced by Lisa McCune, who also stars in the drama series. The show is about the remote Hope Island Clinic on the Great Barrier Reef, run by Sam Stewart (McCune), an accomplished doctor who along with her team looks after the residents of all the neighboring islands, as well as the holidaymakers and thrill seekers who visit the area. Sam is also a single mother with a free spirit, and a determination for an unusual hobby: venom.

When Sylvain Chomet, the wildly inventive director of the animated feature films The Illusionist and The Triplets of Belleville, set out to direct his first live-action feature, Attila Marcel, he chose to work with acclaimed cinematographer Antoine Roch, AFC. Roch, a veteran of more than 30 feature films, was introduced to Chomet by producer Claudie Ossard. Director and cinematographer were immediately simpatico. “I was drawn to Attila Marcel by Sylvain,” the DP relates. “He is so creative, and has such a feeling for odd, wonderful characters – the too big, the too small. He has a very strong ‘secret garden.’”

And then there was the script. “It was beautiful,” Roch adds. “It was all about the power of memory to transform. Right from the start I saw ways in which I could help Sylvain achieve the power of these memories in Paul’s (the main character’s) life.”

This Ain’t California is a unique movie that straddles the line between documentary and narrative filmmaking. The project depicts the skateboard subculture in East Germany in the 1980s, which is presented as a manifestation of a yearning for freedom. In the film, skaters from the era — now approaching middle age — look back on that time wistfully. They saw skateboarding as a rebellious act, and a way of doing something completely nonproductive, just for fun, in a politicized society where such actions were not only frowned upon but actively repressed, and in extreme cases, could land you in prison.

One skater in particular is recalled by all as a catalyst for the scene. Identified at a young age as a gifted athlete, he is put into the East German training pipeline by a driven, competitive father, and by age 13 he is training 35 hours a week as a swimmer. Eventually he rebels, drops out, takes the street name Panik, and becomes a superlative skater who is constantly provoking confrontations with authority.

Director Seenu Ramasamy together with cinematographer Balasubramaniem boldly tell a story on film about a five decade-old problem hitherto untold by any filmmaker. Neerparavai narrates the lives and deaths at sea of Tamil fishermen. Interweaved into this narrative is a touching love story. The movie travels back to 1935, 1985 and into 2012. “Since the story of Neerparavai travels through various periods it was a challenging job to showcase each scene with originality and true colors,” says cinematographer Balasubramaniem.

The movie was shot during the peak southern summer (March-May) mainly in the waters of Kanyakumari, South India. Using two ARRI cameras (a 435 and a 235) and a complement of lenses including Optima and Allura zooms, Ultra Primes and a Cooke S4, the cinematographer captured the drama on a mixture of KODAK VISION3 film stocks.