German cinematographer Jost Vacano, who lensed Wolfgang Petersen’s 1981 film Das Boot, is set to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s EnergaCamerimage cinematography film festival, which is currently slated to be held Nov. 13-20 in Toruń, Poland.
Vacano was Oscar nominated for Das Boot, for which he developed a gyro-stabilized camera system to capture the claustrophobic space in a submarine. He reteamed with Petersen on 1984’s Neverending Story.
The DP also enjoyed a two-decade collaboration with Paul Verhoeven, which included creating a futuristic colony on Mars in Total Recall, dystopian Detroit in RoboCop, as well as Soldier of Orange, Starship Troopers, Spetters, Hollow Man and Showgirls.
Camerimage notes that Vacano also “fought to legally recognize cinematographers as co-creators of cinematographic works” in a lawsuit in which the court said Das Boot producers Bavaria Film and WDR, as well as distributor Eurovideo, had to pay him additional compensation, for his share of the film’s revenue.
