Three-time Academy Award winner Robert Richardson has spent decades composing the images behind some of cinema’s most celebrated films. He shot JFK, The Aviator, and Hugo and earned Oscars for all three. His collaborators — Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone — are household names. Richardson, less so.
Czech filmmaker Jana Hojdová spent roughly a decade narrowing that gap. Her documentary Robert Richardson: The White Devil world premiered July 5 at the 60th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. B-Rated International acquired worldwide distribution rights before the premiere.
The film began with an unsolicited email. Hojdová, who grew up in Prague with a cinematographer father and director mother, sent a letter to Richardson with no expectation of a reply. He replied. What followed was a project documented across Los Angeles, London, New Zealand, and Sofia, drawing on hundreds of hours of Richardson’s personal archives. “To me, he was one of the greatest cinematographers of all time,” Hojdová said, according to The Prague Reporter, “the creative force behind some of cinema’s most unforgettable images.”
At the premiere, Harvey Keitel presented Richardson with the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Keitel tore up his prepared remarks after watching Richardson’s work reel, calling him “one of the world’s greatest cinematographers.” The full documentary crew joined Richardson on stage. Hojdová presented him with a bracelet.
The title refers to Richardson’s white hair and his reputation for demanding precision on set. In an era when directors dominate the language of authorship, The White Devil makes a quieter argument: the person controlling light is also telling the story.