Néstor Almendros Cuyás (30 October 1930 – 4 March 1992) was a Spanish cinematographer. One of the most highly appraised contemporary cinematographers, "Almendros was an artist of deep integrity, who believed the most beautiful light was natural light...he will always be remembered as a cinematographer of absolute truth...a true master of light". Néstor Almendros Cuyás was born in Barcelona, Spain, but at 18 moved to Cuba to join his exiled anti-Francisco Franco father. In Havana, he wrote film reviews. Then he went on to study in Rome at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. He directed six shorts in Cuba and two in New York City. After the 1959 Cuban Revolution, he returned and made several documentaries for the Castro regime. But after two of his shorts (Gente en la playa and La tumba francesa) were banned, he moved to Paris. Starting in 1964, he became the favorite collaborator of French New Wave director Éric Rohmer. In the early seventies he also started working with François Truffaut, Barbet Schroeder and other directors. Almendros began his Hollywood career with Days of Heaven (1978), written and directed by Terrence Malick, who admired Almendros' work on The Wild Child (1970). 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. In 1979, Almendros won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for Days of Heaven. Almendros received three further Academy Award nominations for his work on Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), The Blue Lagoon (1980) and Sophie's Choice (1982), making him the most nominated Spanish person in Academy history as of the 93rd Academy Awards in 2021. Almendros was the cinematographer for the John Lennon documentary, Imagine: John Lennon (1988), directed by Andrew Solt. In his later years, Almendros co-directed two documentaries about the human rights situation in Cuba: Mauvaise Conduite (1984) (Improper Conduct) about the persecution of gay people in Cuba; and Nadie escuchaba (Nobody Was Listening), about the alleged arrest, imprisonment and torture of former comrades of Fidel Castro. He also shot several prestigious advertisements for Giorgio Armani (directed by Martin Scorsese), Calvin Klein (directed by Richard Avedon) and Freixenet. 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. In 1992, Néstor Almendros died of AIDS-related lymphoma in New York City at the age of 61. Source: Article "Néstor Almendros" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Filmography

• 1991Billy Bathgate — Director of Photography
• 1990Made in Milan — Director of Photography
• 1989New York Stories — Director of Photography
• 1987Nadine — Director of Photography
• 1987Nobody Listened — Director
• 1986Heartburn — Director of Photography
• 1984Improper Conduct — Director, Writer
• 1984Places in the Heart — Director of Photography
• 1983Confidentially Yours — Director of Photography
• 1983Pauline at the Beach — Director of Photography
• 1982Sophie's Choice — Director of Photography
• 1982Still of the Night — Director of Photography
• 1980The Blue Lagoon — Director of Photography
• 1980The Last Metro — Director of Photography
• 1979Kramer vs. Kramer — Director of Photography
• 1979Le Beau Mec — Director of Photography
• 1979Love on the Run — Director of Photography
• 1978Days of Heaven — Director of Photography
• 1978En répétant Perceval
• 1978Goin' South — Director of Photography
• 1978Koko: A Talking Gorilla — Director of Photography
• 1978Perceval — Director of Photography
• 1978The Green Room — Director of Photography
• 1977Change of Sex — Director of Photography
• 1977Entire Days in the Trees — Director of Photography
• 1977Madame Rosa — Director of Photography
• 1977The Man Who Loved Women — Director of Photography, Camera Operator
• 1976Maîtresse — Director of Photography
• 1976The Marquise of O — Director of Photography
• 1975The Story of Adèle H. — Director of Photography
• 1974Cockfighter — Director of Photography
• 1974General Idi Amin Dada — Director of Photography
• 1974My Little Loves — Director of Photography
• 1974The Mouth Agape — Director of Photography
• 1972Love in the Afternoon — Director of Photography
• 1972The Valley — Director of Photography
• 1971Make-up — Director of Photography
• 1971Pork with Sweet Potatoes — Director of Photography
• 1971Sing Sing — Director of Photography
• 1971Two English Girls — Director of Photography
• 1970Bed and Board — Director of Photography
• 1970Claire's Knee — Director of Photography
• 1970The Wild Child — Director of Photography
• 1969More — Director of Photography, Art Direction
• 1969My Night at Maud's — Director of Photography
• 1969The Gun Runner — Director of Photography
• 1968A Farmer in Montfaucon — Director of Photography
• 1968Retour d'Henri Langlois à Paris — Camera Operator
• 1968The Wild Racers — Director of Photography
• 1967La Collectionneuse — Director of Photography
• 1966A Modern Coed — Director of Photography
• 1966Santa Claus Has Blue Eyes — Assistant Camera
• 1965Place de l'Étoile — Director of Photography
• 1965Saint-Germain-des-Prés — Director of Photography
• 1965Six in Paris — Assistant Director, Director of Photography
• 1964Nadja in Paris — Director of Photography
• 1960General Assembly — Director of Photography
• 1960People at the Beach — Director
• 1959Cooperativas Agropecuarias — Director of Photography
• 1959El Tomate — Director of Photography
• 1950A Daily Mix-up — Director, Director of Photography

Appearances as themselves (6)

• 2009Working with François Truffaut: Nestor Almendros, Director of Photography — Self
• 1992Visions of Light — Self
• 1991A Movie Capital — Self
• 1988Alekan, la lumière — Self
• Ciné regards — Self
• Le Grand Échiquier — Self