Bonnie Elliott

Bonnie Elliott is an Australian cinematographer. She has been nominated for and won numerous AACTA Awards in cinematography, including for Spear, Seven Types of Ambiguity (2017), H Is for Happiness (2019), and Stateless (2020).

Early life and education Bonnie Elliott graduated from the University of Technology Sydney in 1988. While studying there, she was involved in the production of student films and the teen drama Heartbreak High. One of her teachers was US-born cinematographer and documentary filmmaker Martha Ansara.

In 2006 she obtained a Master of Arts in Film, Television, and Digital Media Cinematography AFTRS, where she studied under female cinematographers Jan Kenny and Erika Addis. It went on to screen at other festivals, and won other awards.

She filmed the short film Drowning with longtime friend and collaborator Craig Boreham, as a prelude to the 2016 film Teenage Kicks, which was made on a tiny budget.

In 2017, Elliott was cinematographer for "Joe", the second episode of Seven Types of Ambiguity.

Influences Elliott says that she has been inspired and influenced by a number of woman cinematographers, including Mandy Walker; Ellen Kuras (Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind); French DP Maryse Alberti (The Wrestler); and Argentine cinematographer Natasha Braier. She also greatly admires the work of Harris Savides, who collaborated with filmmaker Gus Van Sant.

Recognition and awards At the 2012 Sorta Unofficial New Zealand Film Awards, she won Best Short Film Cinematography for I'm the One.

In 2016, she was nominated for the AACTA Award for Best Cinematography for Spear at the 6th AACTA Awards.

In October 2016, Elliott was accredited by the Australian Cinematographers Society, then the 10th woman to receive the accreditation of the total number of 379

In 2017, she won the AACTA Award for Best Cinematography in Television for "Joe", the second episode of Seven Types of Ambiguity.

In 2020, at the 10th AACTA Awards, she was nominated for the AACTA Award for Best Cinematography for H Is for Happiness, and won the AACTA Award for Best Cinematography in Television for "The Circumstances in Which They Come", the first episode of Stateless.

In 2021, she had three nominations at the 11th AACTA Awards – the AACTA Award for Best Cinematography in Television for "Everything's Gone", the second episode of Fires, and the AACTA Award for Best Cinematography in a Documentary for Freeman and Step into Paradise. Of these three, she won only the first award.

In Comic Book Resources''' review of Run Rabbit Run (2023), Josh Bell said that, as cinematographer, Elliott works with Daina Reid, the film's director, to "continue creating striking images even as the plot goes in circles".

Awards and nominations Year Title Award Result Ref. 2012 I'm the One'' Sorta Unofficial New Zealand Film Award for Best Short Film Cinematography