Short bio:
Jean-Charles Cuillandre
Engineering and astronomy have occupied Cuillandre's schooling in
France up to his Ph.D obtained in 1996, and he has been astronomer
at CFHT in Hawaii ever since. He specialized in developing and
optimizing giant digital mosaic cameras for CFHT (from 16 Mpx in
1994 with MOCAM, up to MegaCam today with its 340 Mpx), associated
observing methods, data processing techniques, and scientific programs.
He developed a public outreach program at CFHT called "Hawaiian Starlight",
and created over the past decade a large collection of true colors ultra
high resolution images of the Universe. His passion for cinematography
eventually led to the film "Hawaiian Starlight" revealing the magic of
Mauna Kea and its connection to the Cosmos.

Short summary:
The summit of Mauna Kea (14,000 feet) offers the best viewing of the
Cosmos in the northern hemisphere, and the film "Hawaiian Starlight"
delivers a pure esthetic experience from the mountain into the Universe.
Seven years in the making, this cinematic symphony reveals the spectacular
beauty of the mountain and its connection to the Cosmos through the magical
influence of time-lapse cinematography scored exclusively (no narration)
with the awe-inspiring, critically acclaimed, Halo music by Martin O'Donnell
and Michael Salvatori. Daytime and nighttime landscapes and skyscapes alternate
with stunning true color images of the Universe captured by an observatory
on Mauna Kea, all free of any computer generated imagery.

This film is a way to celebrate the international year of Astronomy 2009, a
global effort initiated by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to
help the citizens of the world rediscover their place in the Universe through
the day- and night-time sky, and thereby engage a personal sense of wonder
and discovery. Hawaiian Starlight is true to this commitment. The inspiration
and technology of the film will be presented by the film's director. A Q&A
session will follow the showing of the film (which is 43mn long).