Indian cinematographer Subrata Mitra was just 21 and, like the majority of the crew who worked on Pather Panchali, lacking in any film experience when he shot the first in legendary director Satyajit Ray’s internationally acclaimed ‘Apu Trilogy’. Describing the experience, Mitra wrote, “my experience in Pather Panchali was rather unusual, because before this I had never touched a movie camera or even worked as an assistant to a cameraman . . . “

No doubt related to this, the film boasts some of the most expressive images in all of cinema, in particular the flawless sequence in which Apu and his sister Durga chase through a field of Kaash flowers to catch sight of a passing train.

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Subrata Mitra

Showing as part of Eye to Eye – Visionary Partnerships in Cinematography and Direction (July 2nd – 30th).

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