Japanese Cinematographer Ashizawa Akiko on Sneaking Angles Past Directors, Blowing Past ISO Limits and Why Bell Peppers Make the Best Color Charts

By Naman Ramachandran

Naman Ramachandran

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Ashizawa Akiko, a veteran of more than 70 features and one of the most accomplished cinematographers in the history of Japanese cinema, delivered a wide-ranging masterclass at the Cannes Film Festival, tracing her career from an unlikely entry into the industry through features spanning horror, comedy, drama and historical epic. The session preceded her receipt of the Pierre Angénieux Tribute.

The event opened with Ashizawa describing an upbringing entirely removed from cinema – until, as a student at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, she encountered the films of Jean-Luc Godard. Early ambitions to direct dissolved when she saw the 8mm work of fellow student Morita Yoshimitsu. “He’s really talented and I can’t win over him, so I decided to find another way – that’s why I took the path for the cinematographer,” she said.

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