ODESSA
In the stark beauty of the Dolomites, a fleeing family navigates a fractured world of hidden kindness and underlying menace as Josef, a devoted father, struggles to protect them from both the dangers outside and those buried in his past.
PERIOD
When Harald pitched the idea for Odessa, we quickly agreed on the visual approach. The film is a period road movie set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Dolomites. The location exudes absolute beauty but is at the same time ominous and, at moments, almost diabolical. We wanted to immerse the audience in the atmosphere of the late 1940s without being too overt about it. Shooting on film gave us the grain and color rendition we needed, without excessive digital interference.
Arricam LT (S35 4-perf)
Atlas Orion 2x Anamorphic
VISION3 250D 5207/7207
VISION3 500T 5219/7219
VISION3 50D 5203/7203
EASTMAN DOUBLE-X 5222/7222 (Monochrome scenes)
CELLULOID
We shot exteriors on Kodak 50D and 250D, and interiors and night scenes on 500T stock. We lit the 500 tungsten stock with daylight to preserve the cool undertones after development. I overexposed all rolls by 1 to 2 stops to ensure the film grain was present enough to enhance the raw character while retaining detail in the darker areas. Beyond film’s visual excellence, the medium also forced us into a different workflow. We wanted the film to have a classic aesthetic without making the camera work feel too dominant. We wanted to pair the organic feel of film with the breathtaking surroundings, allowing the rawness to reflect both the cruelty of the character and the nature of the workflow.
ANAMORPHIC
We combined the Kodak stock with the Atlas Orions. The 2x anamorphics are modern and compact, which was a great help in the sometimes unpredictable weather conditions of the Dolomites. At the same time, we found them not too polished—when pushed, they gifted us with imperfections that strengthened the period feel. Since these lenses were developed long after the celluloid era, we tested them
extensively in combination with the Arricam LT and studied Linus Sandgren's work on Babylon—at that time, the only big celluloid production shot on the Orions.
The 40mm lens became our favorite, and we consistently framed Josef slightly closer than Irene and Rolf. We wanted to bring the audience so close to the protagonist that, perhaps unconsciously, they would develop sympathy and empathy for him.