End Credits #52: Cinema's 2016 Lost Treasures Raoul Coutard, Andrzej Wajda

These are some of Cinema's sad departures of 2016 taken from my personal notes soon after the events took place: 

After celebrating his birthday at the age of 92 in September, now cinema lovers the world over mourn the loss of Raoul Coutard, one of the most expressive masters of cinematography ever, and an unsung hero of the French New Wave. He passed away on Tuesday night, near Bayonne, France. The French newspaper 'Le Figaro' confirmed the news after being notified by his family. 

His innovative work can be appreciated in Breathless, A Woman Is a Woman, Le Petit Soldat, Contempt, Band of Outsiders, Alphaville, Pierrot le Fou, and Weekend (all for director Jean-Luc Godard), Shoot the Piano Player, Jules and Jim, (both for Francois Truffaut), in addition to Z, and The Confession (for Costa-Gavras) amongst many others. He also won the best cinematography César Award for Hidden Gem #41: Le Crabe Tambour. Raoul Coutard (September 16, 1924 - November 8, 2016) R.I.P.

The acclaimed Polish director Andrzej Wajda has died at age 90. Many of his greatest works were inspired by the turbulent war-time struggles happening in his country, including his feature-length directorial debut 1955's A Generation (Pokolenie). Thereafter, Wajda followed with two additional masterpieces, 1957's Kanal and 1958's Ashes and Diamonds concluding his trilogy about life in Poland during WWII. Other prominent works included the Oscar-nominated 1975's The Promised Land, 1977's Man of Marble, 1981's Man of Iron, 1983's Danton, and another Oscar-nomination for Best Foreign Language Film: 2007's Katyn. His last film was 2016's Afterimage. In the year 2000, Wajda was the recipient of an honorary Oscar for his contribution to cinema, and an honorary Golden Bear in 2006 at the Berlin Film Festival. This is a major loss to cinema lovers the world over. Andrzej Wajda (March 6, 1926 - October 9, 2016) R.I.P.