We are thus delighted to welcome one of the most renowned cinematographers in European film to Munich on Tuesday, November 14: Italian director of photography Luca Bigazzi will be our guest in the Audimax of the University of Television and Film Munich (HFF) as part of a free master class open to the public.

Bigazzi, who got into film via the advertising industry and as an assistant director in the late 1970s, enjoys a prominent status among the practicing cinematographers in Italian film. For 40 years, he has worked with numerous major Italian filmmakers, including Silvio Soldini, Gianni Amelio, and Francesca Comencini, and has made a significant contribution to the international renaissance of Italian cinema.

Luca Bigazzi’s imagery ranges from stark realism, as in LAMERICA (1994, Gianni Amelio), to the intoxicating visual opulence of THE GREAT BEAUTY (2013) and other films by celebrated director Paolo Sorrentino. Bigazzi’s intense creative partnership with Sorrentino made him famous far beyond Italy: films such as IL DIVO (2008), THIS MUST BE THE PLACE (2011), and YOUTH (2015) have enjoyed great international popularity and earned dozens of awards. THE GREAT BEAUTY, for example, received the Oscar for best foreign-language film in 2014.

Bigazzi always finds the right images for any sort of production, be it for the comedy BREAD AND TULIPS (2000, Silvio Soldini), which was popular across Europe, the fantasy drama SICILIAN GHOST STORY (2017, Fabio Grassadonia & Antonio Piazza), or the tragicomic road movie THE LEISURE SEEKER (2017, Paolo Virzì). Bigazzi collaborated with internationally acclaimed Iranian auteur filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami on CERTIFIED COPY (2010), which is considered a 21st-century masterpiece.

To date, Bigazzi has done the cinematography on well over 70 feature films of various genres; many of them have received multiple awards for their outstanding image design since the early 1990s.

Luca Bigazzi is currently shooting a film in Munich and will be dropping by our festival center at the University of Television and Film (HFF) on November 14. In his master class (2 pm in the HFF Audimax), he will talk about his current and past filming work and, of course, answer questions from the audience. Admission is free.