Néstor Almendros

Néstor Almendros Cuyás, (30 October 1930 – 4 March 1992) was a Spanish cinematographer.

He was one of the most highly appraised contemporary cinematographers, having a working collaboration with filmmakers François Truffaut, Éric Rohmer and Robert Benton, while winning an Oscar for Best Cinematography for Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven.

Early life Almendros was born in Barcelona, Spain.

At the age of 18, he moved to Cuba to join his exiled anti-Francisco Franco father. While staying in Havana, he wrote film reviews.

Almendros then went on to study film in Rome at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia.

He directed six shorts in Cuba and two in New York City.

Career Early career After the Cuban Revolution ended in 1959, Almendros returned to Spain and made several documentaries about the Castro regime. But after two of his shorts (Gente en la playa and La tumba francesa) were banned, he moved to Paris.

French New Wave Almemdros became the favorite collaborator of French New Wave director Éric Rohmer. In the early 70s, he also started working with François Truffaut, Barbet Schroeder and other directors.

Hollywood career Director Terrence Malick admired Almendros' work on Truffaut’s The Wild Child (1970), prompting him to hire Almendros to shoot Days of Heaven (1978), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography.

Almendros was impressed by Malick's knowledge of photography and his willingness to use little studio lighting. The film's cinematography was modeled after silent films, which often used natural light.

Along with three other nominations for Best Cinematography, Almendros became the Spanish person with the most nominations in Academy history.

Later career In his later years, Almendros co-directed two documentaries about the human rights situation in Cuba: Improper Conduct (1984) about the persecution of gay people in the country; and Nadie escuchaba (Nobody Listened), about the alleged arrest, imprisonment and torture of former comrades of Fidel Castro.

Almendros also shot several prestigious advertisements for Giorgio Armani (directed by Martin Scorsese), Calvin Klein (directed by Richard Avedon) and Freixenet.

Legacy and honors Human Rights Watch International has named an award after him by establishing the Nestor Almendros Award for Courage in Filmmaking and it is given every year at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival.

In 1980, Almendros won the César Award for François Truffaut's The Last Metro.

Death In 1992, Néstor Almendros died of AIDS-related lymphoma in New York City at the age of 61.

Filmography Cinematographer Short film Year Title Director Notes 1950 Una confusión cotidiana HimselfTomás Gutiérrez Alea 1964 Éric Rohmer1965 Saint-Germain-des-Prés Jean DouchetSegments of Six in Paris Place de l'Etoile Éric Rohmer 1989 Life Lessons Martin Scorsese Segment of New York Stories

Feature film

Television Year Title Director Notes 1971 La Brigade des maléfices Claude Guillemot Episode "La créature"

Documentary works Short film

Television Year Title Director Notes 1967 Éric Rohmer TV short 1972 Chroniques de France Jacques ScandelariMax GérardJean-Daniel Simon Episode "Chroniques de France N° 82"

Film Year Title Director Notes 1974 General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait Barbet Schroeder 1975 The Gentleman Tramp Richard Patterson With Bruce Logan 1977 Beaubourg, centre d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou Roberto Rossellini 1978 Koko: A Talking Gorilla Barbet Schroeder 1988 Imagine: John Lennon Andrew Solt

Director Short film Year Title Notes 1950 Una confusión cotidiana Co-directed with Tomás Gutiérrez Alea

Documentary short Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes1960 Gente en la playa Ritmo de Cuba 1967 La journée d'un journaliste 1968 Retour d'Henri Langlois à Paris Co-directed with Bernard Eisenschitz

Documentary film Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes 1960 Escuelas rurales 1984 Improper Conduct Co-directed with Orlando Jiménez Leal 1987 Nadie escuchaba Co-directed with Jorge Ulla

Awards and nominations