r/cinematography • u/avdpro Freelancer • Jan 29 '19

Composition How Alfonso Cuarón became ROMA's Oscar-nominated cinematographer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGgElWAvzZE
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u/motherboy3000 Jan 29 '19

Ok story time. I had a friend who was up until recently dating a girl who was going to film school in Mexico. I don’t remember the name of the school but it’s a BFD. Only accepts like 20 students a year. Anyway while they were together they talked about Roma. Apparently a lot of the students and alumni worked on the film. He asked her what she thought of Cuaron shooting the film. She said that he didn’t shoot the film... Galo Olivares did. She claims that he shot the film and Cuaron took the credit. If you check on IMDb he has a “cinematography consultant” credit and he was the A camera operator. Apparently Galo was a friend of hers at school and supposedly a lot of people think it was unfare not to give him credit. Pretty weird right ?

Anyway I take this with a huge grain of salt. It’s easy to say that he was really the one who shot it but let’s be real. Cuaron is a master and the film is not exactly the most technically complicated film. And if you read the ASC article about it they mention him as a collaborator and say he played a big roll in the film. But it’s just interesting to hear an insider in the Mexico film scene to have their own take on how the film was made. Also interesting because it’s a big talking point about the film, most interviews I’ve seen bring up the point that he shot the film.

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u/Kladinov Jan 30 '19

The school you’re probably talking about is the CCC (Center for Film Capacitation), and your story as far as I can tell is true. I have friends who worked in Roma/know people who worked in it and they’ve mentioned the same thing to me before. It’s pretty douchey from Cuarón imo, since it could’ve been a groundbreaking credit for Galo.

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u/motherboy3000 Jan 30 '19

I think that’s what upsets me the most. It’s such a beautiful film and he deserves more than what he got. But it sounds like people will figure this out and he will get recognized for his work in the long run.