Leonard Retel Helmrich - Cinematographer

Dutch-Indonesian cinematographer Leonard Retel Helmrich graduated from the Netherlands Film Academy in 1986 with qualifications as a feature director, and soon made his Dutch debut feature, ‘The Phoenix Mystery’. His 1991 debut documentary ‘Moving Objects’ won several prizes at international film festivals.

While filming a demonstration in Indonesia in 1995, Leonard was arrested and imprisoned as a suspected spy, then declared ‘persona non grata’. He was unable to return to Indonesia for two years, during which time he worked as a documentary director and camera operator in the Netherlands. In 1997 Leonard returned to Indonesia to make the first documentary in a trilogy set before, during and after the period when Suharto resigned as Indonesia’s leader.

The trilogy uses Leonard’s pioneering camera style, ‘single-shot cinema’, involving long takes with a constantly moving camera. He designed an innovative camera mount called ‘Steadywings’ which allows for remarkable stability and manoeuvrability. He now lectures at universities, festivals and film centres worldwide about the theoretical, aesthetic and practical implications of his invention.

The trilogy’s initial instalment, ‘The Eye of the Day’ (2001) made Leonard’s reputation as a world-class filmmaker. The sequel, ‘The Shape Of The Moon’, won Best Documentary in the World Docs Competition at Sundance in 2005, and the Joris Ivens Award at the 2004 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). His most recent film, ‘Promised Paradise’ (2006), was banned in Indonesia, due to its controversial subject: an Indonesian puppeteer goes on a mission to meet three terrorists convicted of the 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali.

Having completed ‘The Burning Season’, Leonard is working on the conclusion to his trilogy; the final film is entitled ‘The Position of the Stars’.