Renato Berta

Camera operator

March 2, 1945 (81 years)

Bellinzona, Ticino, Switzerland

Biography

Renato Berta is a Swiss cinematographer and film director, best known for his collaborations with directors Alain Tanner and Jean-Marie Straub. Trained at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome, Berta has worked as cinematographer in more than 100 films since 1969. He won a César Award for Best Cinematography for Au revoir les enfants in 1988 and a David di Donatello for Best Cinematography for Noi credevamo in 2011. In 2013, he was awarded the Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des …

Filmography

5.8

Year of the Jellyfish

Chris, a sexy teenager who appears mostly bare-breasted on the French Riviera, has a crush on Romain, her mother's lover. In reaction to her inability to attract his attention, she experiments with other risque affairs.

6.3

Max & Co

15-year-old Max is in search of his father, the famous troubadour Johnny Bigoude, who disappeared shortly after Max's birth. He reaches Saint-Hilare where Madam Doudou, the old teacher, takes care of him and finds him a job as elevator musician in the fly swatter factory Bzzz & Co. But the factory doesn't run well and half of the village gets fired. To boost the swatter sales, a dangerous scientist creates a mass production of flies. Soon, a thick cloud of insects attacks the village... With courage and determination, Max and his new friend Félicie will do their best to neutralize the insane projects of Bzzz&Co. Will they manage to convince the villagers to help them in this adventure? All together will they stop the scientist's crazy handlings? And will Max find his father?

7.5

Au Revoir les Enfants

Au revoir les enfants tells a heartbreaking story of friendship and devastating loss concerning two boys living in Nazi-occupied France. At a provincial Catholic boarding school, the precocious youths enjoy true camaraderie—until a secret is revealed. Based on events from writer-director Malle’s own childhood, the film is a subtle, precisely observed tale of courage, cowardice, and tragic awakening.

6.6

The Tasters

In autumn 1943, in Gross-Partsch, 26-year-old Rosa, who had come from Berlin to stay with the parents of her husband Gregor, who was fighting on the Russian front, was taken by the SS to a mysterious place. Forced to taste a dish, she joins the group of tasters responsible for checking that the food destined for Hitler is not poisoned.

5.6

Rendez-vous

Nina is a young, carefree actress who arrives in Paris searching for her big break. There, she finds drama both on- and offstage as she becomes involved with three men: a mild-mannered real-estate agent who offers her stability, a bad-boy actor who lives dangerously on the edge, and an intense theater director who casts her in a production of “Romeo and Juliet.” As opening night approaches, the emotional extremes of Nina’s love life fuel her art.

5.6

Twister

An oddball family on a Kansas farm are trapped in their farmhouse by an impending storm. The patriarch of the clan is a retired soda pop tycoon. He is currently dating a children's TV evangelist. Also living at the farm is his layabout daughter and her precocious 8 year old daughter, his would-be artist son, the son's fiancée, and the black maid. Also thrown into the mix is the daughter's ex-husband, a ne-er-do-well who is seeking to get back in his ex-wife's good graces.

5.8

The Wounded Man

A fleeting encounter in a train station draws a withdrawn young man into a shadowy world of desire and danger. As obsession deepens, innocence destroyed, and an irreversible transformation begins.

6.8

Full Moon in Paris

Feeling suffocated by a possessive boyfriend, work and suburban life, a young woman starts spending the weekends in her Paris apartment in order to reclaim some of her lost freedom.

6.2

Every Man for Himself

A look at the sexual and professional lives of three people — a television director, his ex-girlfriend, and a sex worker.

6.3

Nightcap

Mika, heiress to a Swiss chocolate company, is married to celebrated pianist André and stepmother to his son, Guillaume, whose mother died in a car wreck on his tenth birthday. Their lives are interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Jeanne, a young woman who has learned she was almost switched with Guillaume at birth.

6.9

May Fools

During the events of May 1968 in France, different worldviews of conflicting relatives collide in their family estate.

6.7

Uranus

After World War II, a small French village struggles to put the war behind as the controlling Communist Party tries to flush out Petain loyalists. The local bar owner, a simple man who likes to write poetry, who only wants to be left alone to do his job, becomes a target for Communist harassment as they try and locate a particular loyalist, and he pushes back.

7.2

Wuthering Heights

In 1930s south of France, young orphan Roch is adopted by the wealthy Earnshaw family and moves into their estate, Wuthering Heights. Soon, the new resident falls for his compassionate foster sister, Cathy. The two share a remarkable bond that seems unbreakable until Cathy, feeling the pressure of social convention, suppresses her feelings and marries Lindon, a man of means who befits her stature. Roch vows to win her back.

6.3

Il Buco

In August 1961, speleologists from Italy’s booming North arrive on a Calabrian plateau where time stands still. The intruders discover one of the world’s deepest caves, the Bifurto Abyss, under the gaze of an old shepherd, the only witness of the pristine territory.

5.9

La Paloma

Nightclub singer La Paloma succumbs to the persistent courting of a chubby, rich admirer and marries him. Before the marriage, she was thought to be dying, but soon she is well. She believes her husband's love has cured her, but her efforts to love him begin to fade as she discovers true love with her husband's old school friend.

6.5

Party

The battle of the sexes? The forces of despair and seduction? On S. Miguel in the Azores, Rogério, a young man with old money, and his enigmatic wife Leonor host a garden party at their villa. The intriguing guests are an older unmarried couple, the philosophical and observant Irene, and Michel, a roué. While Rogério and Irene talk, Michel and Leonor go down to the sea. The conversations upset Rogério and capture Leonor's imagination. Five years later, the four dine at the villa. Michel and Leonor again leave the other two. Intentions and undercurrents are subtle. One of the four proves strong, one weak, and two must choose. Wind and rain bring down the curtain on both acts.

7.0

Same Old Song

Business executive Odile seeks a new, larger apartment. Her younger sister Camille, having completed her doctoral thesis in history, is a Paris tour guide. Simon is a regular on Camille's tours as he's attracted to her. However, Camille has fallen for Marc, and they begin an affair. Nicolas is also looking for an apartment, since he hopes to eventually have his family join him in Paris.

5.5

Taxi Boy

The meeting of Manuel, a lady's dancer, Petrus, an unfortunate gambler, and Corinne, a fast-food waitress. The drifting of three drop-outs, three solitary dreamers, adventurous waverers.

6.8

The Salamander

Pierre and Paul, journalist and writer respectively, team up to write a screenplay based on the real story of a young woman accused by her uncle of trying to kill him. They decide to meet her.

6.6

We Believed

1828. After witnessing the brutal repression of revolutions in monarchist South, three young friends join Giuseppe Mazzini's patriotic cause, seeking to finally unify Italy under a republican government. Their idealism will clash with the inevitable disillusionment as they grow apart over the following decades.