He who repeats that his place "is behind the camera" was nevertheless forced to pose in front of the lenses at the 75th Cannes Film Festival between a masterclass on Thursday and a ceremony on Friday in his honor.

Woody Allen, David Fincher, Bernardo Bertolucci, Sydney Pollack, Michael Haneke or even Wong Kar-wai: the greatest filmmakers snapped up this Franco-Iranian cinematographer little known to the general public.

Without forgetting James Gray, of course, who entrusted him with the light of "Armageddon Time", in competition at Cannes, after having already collaborated with him on "The Immigrant" and "The Lost City of Z".

It all started between them with an advertising film in Uruguay.

"He had made me come and he kept telling me + it doesn't count, don't judge me on this ad + and I answered him + you either, don't judge me on that + (laughs)", says to AFP the affable sexagenarian, who arrived from Iran at the age of three in France.

"James is a force of inspiration," insists the cinematographer, who, still as modest as ever, confuses the conversation about others when asked about his work.

Cotillard, Bresson

To prepare "The Immigrant", the filmmaker had notably sent Khondji a photograph of Carlo Mollino.

This Italian architect photographed his prostitute friends.

In the picture sent, it's not the erotic pose that catches the director's attention, but a face that carries a life journey.

American director James Gray on May 20, 2022 at the Cannes Film Festival Stefano RELLANDINI AFP / Archives

"This woman had a religious beauty and James said to me + this film must be religious +".

In "The Immigrant", Khondji will illuminate Marion Cotillard as the exit, as he says, from a Pietà by Bellini, an Italian painter of the 15th century.

Khondji and Gray share "elective affinities" such as their passion for Robert Bresson's filmography.

The cinematographer knows New York, Gray's city, well, having studied there in the 1970s and 80s.

1920s New York is the setting for "The Immigrant" and 1980s for "Armageddon Time."

But their association took them much further with "The Lost City of Z", shot in Ireland and Colombia.

"Two challenges", summarizes Khondji.

"The natural light in Ireland is beautiful, the most beautiful I have seen, but it terrifies everyone because it changes all the time and shadows run across the landscape."

"Since we can't afford to wait for the perfect light to shoot, we were shooting all the time (laughs)".

Zidane, Bong Joon-ho

In the Colombian jungle, it is not the focal lengths that are put to the test, but the organisms.

"We all became very skinny and James made us pasta every night to keep us going (laughs)".

Khondji is always ready for adventure, that of exotic or avant-garde shooting.

He is thus behind "Zidane, a portrait of the 21st century", where the football star was filmed in real time during a match by 17 cameras.

The images were then assembled by the Scotsman Douglas Gordon and the Frenchman Philippe Parreno, all to music by Mogwai, a rock band for insiders, to give an unidentified filmic object.

"A camera is an angle, if we add other cameras, these are other angles, which will tell other stories, it's like in + Rashomon +", analyzes Khondji.

This film by Akira Kurozawa inspired Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs", the same story that changes according to the perspective of each protagonist.

About point of view, it is that of the Korean Bong Joon-ho (Palme d'Or at Cannes for "Parasite") who will soon occupy Khondji, always between two projects.

© 2022 AFP