ECE Symposium 2025

Bachelor of Fine Arts, Institute of Film and Television, New York University, 1978-1981, Gilles has been a cinematographer for forty years, working on both fiction and documentary films.

There had been important technical developments in the film industry in the last twenty years: digital cameras and LEDs. Gilles has always been very interested in testing and working with these new tools. Thanks to the CST (French Higher Technical Commission for Sound and Images), Gilles have had the opportunity to thoroughly test a wide range of new equipment.

Since 2005, Gilles has also occasionally taught cinematography in several film schools in Paris: Eicar, INA, Gobelins, Ecole Nationale Supérieure Louis Lumière.

Alex was born in Kazakhstan in 1961 and after graduating from Vadim Yusov’s cinematography class at the VGIK Film Institute in 1983, he became the third generation of Directors f Photography in the family.

Alex has shot more than 15 full-length feature films, including two musicals, more than 5 documentaries, as well as a large number of TVCs and music videos. He has significant business experience, being the owner and creator of a rental and production company with more than 30 years of experience.

Since 2022, he has lived and worked in Germany, for more than 30 years he has been friends and collaborator with the legendary cinematographer Dedo Weigert. Alex is involved in the development of new technologies and projects, including unique lighting equipment, studio complexes for film and television production around the world. Developer of various lighting tools, optical and mechanical systems, special “toys”, elements of production and post-production workflows for the joy of cinematographers and enrichment of cinematography visual storytelling language. Within 20 years participating in various fields of Visual arts technology developments, including cameras like ARRI Digital: ARRI D21, Alexa, special 3D tools for Phantom 65. With fantastic colleagues like Raffael Pollack making various architectural, museum and studio designs worldwide.

In the year 2021 elected as Co-Chairman of IMAGO Technical Committee along with cinematographers Philippe Ros and David Stump.

He worked as a freelancing cinematographer based in Berlin in the fields of documentary, feature film and commercial. His films got numerously awarded on international festivals (“Testimony“: Prix Europa, “Life Goes On“: Emmy International, “Rain is Falling“: worldwide festivals, “The House is Burning“: Cannes Un Certain Regard,…)

In 2010 he was appointed as Professor for Cinematography at HdM, Stuttgart in the department Electronic Media to teach arts and technologies for cinematography and to supervise student’s film productions (documentary, fictional film, research projects). He is the founder of the “International Cinematography Days, Stuttgart”, the HdM-institute “Visual Media Lab” and its conference aiming at researching fine arts and technologies of cinematography – his fields of research are cinematic “High Dynamic Range” and “High Frame Rates”.

Stefan is member of the German society of cinematographers (BVK) and a full member of the IMAGO technical committee (ITC), the educational committee (IEC) and is an editor of the scientific journal for cinematography CITO.

His artistic journey bridges South Asia and Europe, reflecting a deep commitment to cinematic storytelling and education.

Ronkainen has been honoured with the Jussi Award three times for his work on the films Tears of April (2008), Purge (2012), and Eternal Road (2017). In 2006, he received the Prix Europa Special for his contribution to the TV drama Pioneer, and in 2020, he won the Silver Frog in the esteemed Camerimage main competition for his work on the film Helene.

John Christian began his career as an actor at Rogaland Theatre at the age of ten and started making short films on Super 8 at eight. This early start led to a lifelong journey in film and TV drama. He has worked on 48 feature films, including several of Norway’s official Oscar submissions, and has received over 25 awards and nominations. His accolades include the Amanda Award, the Aamot Statuette, Gullruten, an Emmy, The Golden Clapperboard, and the FNF Honorary Award (2017). He has twice been named “Cinematographer of the Year.” Alongside his work as award winning Cinematographer, he has been a leading force in developing of new tools for the film industry.

He is founder of:

• Drylab Media Tech. Leading metadata based dailies content software for the International film industry.
• Softlights, the first and only both digital Wi-Fi and DMX controlled Tube light system.
• Remotion, the world first pan-bar operated system ever made.

In addition to his award-winning cinematography, John Christian is a co-founder of the Technical Committee of IMAGO and has played a key role in developing tools and technologies used in the global film industry.

His extended credits include work in immersive media including Unreal Engine/LED extended reality production, circular and hemispherical VR environments, virtual cinematography of all kinds, virtual camera design, light field cinematography, multi camera photogrammetry, volumetric capture and immersive military training environment design.

David authored the book “Digital Cinematography – Fundamentals, Techniques and Workflows” first edition (available in both English and Mandarin Chinese) and second edition, and is a contributing author to both the “VES Handbook” and the “ASC Manual 11th Edition”.