Beyond the Screen

How did you get started in the film industry?

I have always had a need to express myself through images, ever since I was very young. First with drawing, then photography and finally film. The main reason I switched from photography to film is that I enjoy working in a team. It was a rather naive decision at first, because I didn't know much about it and I didn't have a great cinematographic culture. But I discovered a more direct way of telling stories and bearing witness to the world. And I did things a bit in reverse: I started making films - as a director first - before watching them. I was more inspired by painting and photography, and I practised this medium a bit like “art brut”. Since then, I have made up for lost time, thanks in particular to film schools (HEAD and ZHDK), which gave me an overview of the history of cinema, enabling me to discover what I liked.

Did you have any role models who encouraged you to follow this path?

I am mainly inspired by the people around me who push me to excel. I was very much encouraged by the people around me, but also by teachers who believed in me at the start of my training. Among the more universal role models, I have a lot of admiration for careers like those of Claire Mathon, Agnès Godard, Christopher Doyle, Darius Khondji, Raoul Coutard and Robbie Müller, to name but a few.

Do you do certain things differently now than when you started out?

I consider that I am still at the beginning of my career, and I think (I hope!) that in ten years' time, my answer will be different. But today, I would say that I try to set my conditions and not say yes to projects that are too ambitious for the resources that are really available. I also have a better idea of the technical, logistical and material constraints, which allows me to project myself more realistically when a film project is proposed to me. Generally speaking, I try to spend more time on preparation, technical tests and developing the camera concept, which helps me to be better prepared when shooting and to leave as little as possible to chance - even if chance is often the keystone of documentary filmmaking.

What advice would you give to directors of photography just starting out in their careers?

Perhaps not to be afraid of making mistakes, because that is the best way to learn. I would particularly like to give advice to women who want to enter this field: it is sometimes difficult to navigate in a world that is still very male-dominated and you have to do a lot of work on yourself to find the confidence to sell yourself as a female cinematographer and defend your work. Don't neglect your network and contacts, and above all stay real and curious.

What would you like to capture with your camera?

I have always wanted to film the invisible! I have a long list of things I would like to capture, and it keeps on growing. In documentaries, I particularly like the idea of being at the right moment, in the right place, to capture a simple scene of life, but one that is sublimated by an entrance of light, a movement, a look or an unexpected choreography. I am very curious and adventurous by nature, and I love travelling because it gives me a fresh and sometimes naive perspective on things. I was very inspired by filming abroad, particularly in the Amazon jungle or Borneo, or in the mountains of Madagascar. Today, I am wondering about my relationship with travel and documentaries in an ecological context that doesn't favour long plane journeys. So, as far as possible, I try to marvel locally and reduce my carbon footprint. In fiction, I would have dreamt of shooting the dance scene from Leos Carax's MAUVAIS SANG (1986), in which Denis Lavant dances in a Paris street in the middle of the night to David Bowie's Modern Love, while the camera dollies sideways for almost two minutes. In my opinion, it is the very essence of a successful recipe: acting, movement, music, grace and poetry.

You have produced a project as director and DOP. Did you have to give up directing to pursue a career as a cinematographer or are you planing any other directing projects?

I really enjoy making documentaries, but what I love most of all is being behind the camera and telling a story through images. As directing is a very long process and I don't want to write films hastily, I am very happy to lend my eye to directors who often have great film projects that I would never have thought of or had the talent to write. I like the idea of having a very defined brief as a cinematographer, and being able to bring my creativity to life within that framework. More concretely, it is also a way for me to earn a living without being dependent on funding for my own films. I am still writing projects on my own, but nothing is ready for production at the moment.

You took part in the Cinematographer Workshop - Terre di Cinema. What was it all about?

I am always trying to add more strings to my bow, and I am very happy to have been able to take part in this workshop in Sicily, which enabled me to learn more about shooting with super 35mm film, and more specifically how to operate, load and handle the Arriflex 235. Analogue aesthetics are something I am particularly fond of, and have been ever since I started photography. The texture, the grain, the colours and the emotional connection I have with them is what drives me to want to work with this medium.
There is also a magic in the analogue shooting process that is hard to emulate in digital: not being able to look at your rushes until you get back from the lab, the concentration that that creates on set and the technical precision that it requires in every aspect of the shoot is what I find very exciting.

Who would you dream of working with one day?

In my wildest dreams, directors like Jonathan Glazer, Leos Carax, Richard Linklater, Jia Zhangke, Jim Jarmusch, Céline Sciamma, Alain Guiraudie. And, of course, Swiss filmmakers such as Pauline Julier, Ursula Meier and Elie Grappe.

What projects are you currently working on?

We are starting post-production on a 1-hour documentary (RTS, Idip Films) with director Elena Avdija. It is a film about pregnancy loss in the 1st trimester. I think it is an important issue, and I can't wait for the public to see this film, which includes lots of personal accounts. Other projects in development for 2025 include a short fiction film with director Justine Fabre, and a feature-length documentary by Christine Gonzalez and Aurèle Cuttat (Rita Productions). Otherwise, there is the new season of the doc series Futura (Akka, Dschoint Ventschr, Cinedokke, RTS).