Nicolas Bolduc CSC on the cinematography of 13 Days, 13 Nights

Set amid the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, director Martin Bourboulon’s drama 13 Days, 13 Nights follows Commander Mohamed “Mo” Bida (Roschdy Zem) and his team as they secure the French embassy in Kabul and navigate Tabilban-controlled territory to evacuate the 500 occupants, fighting to preserve humanity in the midst of the chaos. Cinematographer Nicolas Bolduc CSC helped craft the film's visual language using an approach that balances documentary style with deliberate techniques to escalate tension as each day unfolds. Bolduc partnered with Panavision Paris, selecting C Series anamorphic lenses and a Panavised Alexa 35 camera to capture both Kabul's harsh reality and the characters' psychological strain. In the following interview, the cinematographer discusses the references that shaped his vision, explains why handheld shooting wasn't always the right choice, and emphasizes the crucial value of effective collaboration.

Panavision: How did the look of the film take shape in your early conversations with the director? 

Nicolas Bolduc CSC: Firstly, the real discussions I had with Martin Bourboulon about the film were moral. We wanted to make a film that represented Afghanistan as faithfully as possible, without betraying the perception of the humanitarian crisis. So we set out with these few precepts to guide us, so as not to make a film where form would dominate substance. It was important to make something classic yet grandiose, never too ‘showy’ or televisual. 

There have been so many films and TV series set in the Middle East that we wanted to avoid the yellow, very sandy, dusty look. At all costs, we wanted to avoid the nervous handheld camera, instead letting the protagonists guide us. We wanted to stay in Mo's point of view throughout the film. So it was important for the camera to be immersive but still restrained. I think there are only five or six handheld shots in the film. We were more interested in building up the world in the classic way, with dolly, crane or Steadicam. 

Were there any particular visual references that offered inspiration? 

Our inspirations came more from Denis Villeneuve's Sicario or the films of the Coen brothers rather than films set in the Middle East. We wanted to keep things sober and elegant to create tension in the image. It was a tough film but elegantly shot.  

It was very important for us to stay close to the two main characters - [actors] Roschdy Zem and Lyna Khoudri - and to film the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe without going overboard. The scale of the crowd scenes allowed us to film human misery in a way that affects our perception of this type of event.  

I had a lot of discussions with Martin about how to approach crowds. Inevitably, we had to create a bit of cinema when filming these scenes, but we didn't want it to turn into a Hollywood style. I think the crowd scenes are spectacular precisely because we had to show how immense human fragility is. We weren't just talking about 1,000 or 2,000 people crammed in front of the gates, but 200,000 to 300,000. So it was crucial to create visual chaos in front of the embassy. 

Everything that happens inside the embassy is deliberately claustrophobic and closed - you can see very little of the sky. As soon as you enter the embassy, you're locked inside the walls. This was a leitmotif in the film, as in the scene of the convoy leaving the embassy to go to the airport - a long sequence in which the Taliban stop the convoy, search everyone and so on. During location scouting, we discovered a tunnel in Casablanca that linked two places, and we thought it would be interesting for the convoy to be stopped there, reinforcing the trap effect. The closer the convoy got to the airport, the more open the spaces became, and the sky became more visible, as if freedom were taking shape before them. So we tried to make the beginning of the film as claustrophobic as possible. 

What brought you to Panavision for this project, and what did you see in the C Series lenses that made them feel like the right choice for this story?  

For me, the choice to go to Panavision was obvious. I've used several anamorphic lenses in my career, but I always come back to what I consider to be the crème de la crème of cinema lenses. Since La belle époque in 2018, I've been shooting almost exclusively with Panavision C Series lenses. These lenses are magical and perfectly match my approach to cinema. They offer a round, distortion-free rendering. There's plenty of sharpness, but skin tones retain a certain softness. Long and short focal lengths go together magnificently. So for me, going back to Panavision was a no-brainer. I even know that my future films will go in this direction, perhaps out of habit, but also because I now find it hard to shoot with anything else.  

These C Series lenses aren't just tools - they give a whole new meaning to creation for me. Perhaps I was too influenced by the films of the '70s and '80s that used this type of lens, but for me, as soon as you use a C Series, it's immediately cinema. Panavision has been supporting me for several years now, and it makes me want to continue making films as I've always dreamed of doing since childhood.

Qu'est-ce qui vous a poussé à devenir directeur de la photographie et qu'est-ce qui vous inspire aujourd'hui ? 

I became a director of photography a little against my will. At school, and immediately afterwards, I wanted to direct. I had the impression that directing was the ultimate goal. But I soon realized that I had neither the patience nor the desire to carry a project for years without shooting. What I liked most was being on a set, surrounded by teams, actors and collaborators. 

It wasn't long before I was asked to be the director of photography. I think my enthusiasm was perhaps contagious, but also because I've always seen cinema as a whole. A set decorator, a costume designer, a gaffer - everyone is a filmmaker. We all share a vision, a common desire to tell a story within a director's vision.  

That's why I've never stopped making movies in my own way: by choosing my projects, by living experiences and adventures alongside inspired directors who make you want to go on an adventure with them to tell a story. 

Images courtesy of Jerome Prébois.