Cannes Classics: “No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos” by James Chressanthis

At 7:45pm, Cannes Classics, a section open to film-history documentaries, will be screening a film about the lives of cinematographers László Kovács and Vilmos Zsigmond. No Subtitles Necessary: László & Vilmos, by James Chressanthis, tells the breathtaking story of how as film students in Budapest in 1956, they secretly shot footage of the Soviet invasion, and then fled Hungary for the United States, with the films. There, they settled in Hollywood and bought a 16mm movie camera. Later, they worked on some remarkable feature films: Kovacs was director of photographer on Easy Rider and What’s Up, Doc?, whereas Vilmos Zsigmond worked on the Michael Cimino western Heaven’s Gate, among many others.

At the screening, filmmaker James Chressanthis presented the feature with no further ado: “Thank you for coming tonight. Thanks to the producers and all those who made this film possible. I was surprised that a documentary had not already been made about these remarkable cinematographers.”