It is with shock and sadness that we learned the passing of François-Xavier on August 11, a cinematographer and member of the UCO and the CST, at the age of 42.
What is often called a long illness took him away in a very short time, just a few months. The association has lost one of its founding members and a personality who did not leave anyone indifferent.
A student of image department at 3iS, François Xavier “Fix” was a diligent student, always curious to learn and understand. After graduation, he decided to approach image work through light, joining teams of electricians. He subsequently moved into photography.
In the mid-2000s, he joined a group of young filmmakers’ associations called Collectif Prod. The collective’s first initiative consisted of distributing each other’s films (creating the Apéros Projos), then co-producing short films. Two structures emerged: Prométhée Productions (Julien Gittinger) and Broken (Julien Savès), whose first productions were enlighted by Fix. At the time, while building on his experience as a young cinematographer, François-Xavier became involved in Collectif Prod, participating in its administrative activities. He also brought all his expertise to Broken’s experimental branch, Le Labo. In 2012, Erre (Julien Savès) and RessasseR (Julien Beaunay) were released, two palindromic films under the aegis of OuViPo (Ouvroir de Vidéo Potentielle) whose visual rendering owes much to Fix’s self discipline and demanding nature as well as his taste for experimentation (also evidenced by the films La chambre bleue and Nocturama by Steven Le Guellec, 2005-2006). Without ever abandoning short films (Do (2014) by Marc Lahore…), Fix worked on several series (Cut (2013) for France Ô, Templeton (2015) and Irresponsable (2016) produced for OCS) and then signed the cinematography of his first feature film, a Franco-British comedy action thriller: Kill Ben Lyk, by Erwan Marinopoulos (2018).
At the same time, in the early 2010s, encouraged by veterans of the profession and faithful to his desire for collective work and knowledge sharing, he joined the CST’s Image department, as deputy representative of the Image department, alongside Françoise Noyon and Thierry Beaumel. He took his position very seriously and particularly enthusiastically defended the possibility for young technicians to join this leading institution. In 2019, he took part in the creation of the United Cinematographers Organization. His experience in the association was then invaluable in laying the foundations of this new professional gathering. A member of the board and very involved in the life of UCO, Fix notably led the Transmission group, welcoming young chief operators. Always concerned by the developments in our profession, he responded to the call for the General Assembly of Cinema in the fall of 2022.
We send our warmest thoughts to his family and loved ones.
(Collective text with the participation of Thomas Briant Macgregor, Elie Elfassi, Nick Kent, Marc Lahore, Thomas Lallier, Marie Landon, Margaux Lenfant, Françoise Noyon, Hélène de Roux, Julien Savès, Vincent Tartar)
