Ron Fricke

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Ron Fricke
Born (1953-02-24) February 24, 1953 (age 72)
Occupation(s)Film director, cinematographer
Known forNon-narrative feature films Baraka , Chronos , and Samsara

Ron Fricke (born February 24, 1953) is an American film director and cinematographer specializing in time-lapse and large-format cinematography, known for his non-narrative feature films.

Contents

Early life

Fricke's father served in the United States military. His early years were in Germany, before returning to the United States at age 10. [1] He was influenced by the films of David Lean, watching Lawrence of Arabia seven times. [1] The "Star-Child" sequence in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey was another major influence on the filmmaker. [2] He began studying and practicing photography in high school. [1]

Fricke attended Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma. [1]

Career

After college, Fricke moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and made a 16mm short film about a narrow-gauge railroad for the Narrow Gauge Railroad Preservation Association. [1]

After serving as director of photography for Koyaanisqatsi (1982, directed by Godfrey Reggio), Fricke directed the IMAX films Chronos (1985) and Sacred Site (1986). He became attracted to the format after watching To Fly! in Washington, D.C., while working on Koyaanisqatsi. [3]

He directed the purely cinematic non-verbal non-narrative Baraka (1992), designing his own 65 mm camera equipment for the feature, and earning broad critical acclaim. [4] He also designed and constructed new time-lapse mechanisms to achieve camera movement while filming at a very slow frame-rate. [4] Fricke worked with Mark Magidson as producer and Michael Stearns as the music composer, both of whom would work with him on future projects. [4]

His film Samsara premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2011, then screened in the U.S. the following year. Fricke described the film as an evolution of his work: "Both technically and philosophically, I am ready to delve even deeper into my favorite theme: humanity's relationship to the eternal." [5]

Fricke worked as a cinematographer for parts of the 2005 Star Wars film Revenge of the Sith , shooting the eruption of Mount Etna in Sicily for scenes of the volcanic planet Mustafar. [6] He was also an early collaborator with Francis Ford Coppola on the director's multi-decade-long project, Megalopolis, in the 1980's. [2]

Filmography

Feature films

YearTitleDirectorWriterProducerCinematographerEditor
1982 Koyaanisqatsi NoYesNoYesYes
1992 Baraka YesYesNoYesYes
2011 Samsara YesYesNoYesYes

Short films

YearTitleDirectorWriterProducerCinematographerEditor
1985 Chronos YesNoYesYesYes
1986Sacred SiteYesNoYesYesYes

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 MacDonald, Scott (September 26, 2019). The Sublimity of Document (1 ed.). Oxford University Press, New York. pp. 23–50. doi:10.1093/oso/9780190052126.003.0002. ISBN   978-0-19-005212-6 . Retrieved July 17, 2025.
  2. 1 2 Harkness, Alistair (August 30, 2012). "Interview: 'The world is just a wonderful place full of wonderful things' - Ron Fricke, director of Samsara". The Scotsman. Retrieved July 17, 2025.
  3. ↑ "An Interview with Ron Fricke". www.in70mm.com. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 Cooper, Nina (May 26, 2022). "Baraka: A World Beyond Words". The American Society of Cinematographers. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Ron Fricke - Director of Baraka, Samsara & Chronos | Spirit of Baraka". www.spiritofbaraka.com. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  6. ↑ Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) - IMDb , retrieved February 14, 2024
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