Manuel Alberto Claro (born 3 April 1970) is a Chilean-Danish cinematographer, filmmaker, and still photographer. He has won numerous accolades, including two Robert Awards, a Bodil Award, and a

European Film Award The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the mo ...

Life and career

Manuel Alberto Claro was born in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

in 1970. In 1974, he moved to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

and since that time lives in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. He graduated as a stills photographer from

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Istituto Europeo di Design The Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) is a private design school in Italy founded in 1966 by Francesco Morelli. The school is organized into four disciplines: Design, Fashion, Visual Communication and Management. It is spread over nine citie ...

in 1994 and then worked as an assistant photographer in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and

before enrolling at the

National Film School of Denmark The National Film School of Denmark ( da, Den Danske Filmskole) is an independent institution under the Danish Ministry of Cultural Affairs. It was established in 1966 and is based on Holmen in the harbour of Copenhagen. History The National ...

in 1997, from where he graduated in 2001. Since 2001 he has shot a number of features among them ''

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

'', which won the Camera d'Or in Cannes 2003 and the Bronze Frog at

Camerimage The International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Camerimage () is a festival dedicated to the celebration of cinematography and recognition of its creators, cinematographers. The first seven events (1993–1999) were held in Toruń, ...

2004. '' Dark Horse'' which premiered in

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

in Cannes 2005. '' Allegro'' which premiered at

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

2005 and for which he won both the

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

and the Bodil 2006 awards for best cinematography. He has been a frequent collaborator with director

Lars von Trier Lars von Trier ('' né'' Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish filmmaker, actor, and lyricist. Having garnered a reputation as a highly ambitious, polarizing filmmaker, he has been the subject of several controversies: Cannes, in addition to nomina ...

in ''

Melancholia Melancholia or melancholy (from el, µέλαινα χολή ',Burton, Bk. I, p. 147 meaning black bile) is a concept found throughout ancient, medieval and premodern medicine in Europe that describes a condition characterized by markedly d ...

'', ''

Nymphomaniac Hypersexuality is extremely frequent or suddenly increased libido. It is controversial whether it should be included as a clinical diagnosis used by mental healthcare professionals. Nymphomania and satyriasis were terms previously used for the c ...

'', and '' The House that Jack Built''. He also works on commercials for companies like IKEA,

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...

, and

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post-W ...

, and on music videos for the likes of

FKA Twigs Tahliah Debrett Barnett (born 17 January 1988), known professionally as FKA Twigs (stylized as FKA twigs), is an English singer, songwriter, and dancer. Born and raised in Cheltenham, she became a backup dancer for numerous famous musicians aft ...

Paloma Faith Paloma Faith Blomfield (born 21 July 1981) is an English singer and actress. Her debut studio album, '' Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?,'' was released in 2009 and was certified double platinum in the UK. The album spawned the sin ...

, and

Rhye Rhye is an R&B musical project of Canadian singer Mike Milosh. It originally consisted of him and Danish instrumentalist Robin Hannibal. They released the singles "Open" and "The Fall" online without much detail, which led to speculation abou ...

. He is an active member of the Danish Society of Cinematographers.

Filmography

Feature films

* ' (2003) * ''

'' (2003) * ''Scratch'' (2003) * ' (2004) * ' (2004) * '' Dark Horse'' (2005) * '' Allegro'' (2005) * ''

Weapons A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

'' (2007) * ' (2007) * ' (2008) * ' (2008) * '' The Candidate'' (2008) * '' Everything Will Be Fine'' (2010) * ''

'' (2011) * '' Nymph()maniac'' (2013) * ''

Top Five ''Top Five'' is a 2014 American comedy film written and directed by Chris Rock. Produced by Scott Rudin and Eli Bush, the film stars Rock, Rosario Dawson, and Gabrielle Union, and follows New York City comedian and film star Andre Allen (Rock), ...

'' (2014) * '' The Untamed'' (2016) * '' The House That Jack Built'' (2018)

Short films

* ''Anxiety'' (2001) * ''Visions of Europe'' (2004, segment "Europe Does Not Exist")

Awards

* 2003: Golden Plaque for ''Reconstruction'', Chicago International Filmfestival * 2004: Bronze Frog for ''Reconstruction'', Camerimage * 2006:

for ''Allegro'' * 2006:

Bodil Award for Best Cinematographer The Bodil Award for Best Cinematographer ( da, Bodilpris for bedste fotograf) is one of the special awards at the annual Danish Bodil Awards presented by the Danish Film Critics Association. First awarded in 2006, the Danish Film Critics Associati ...

for ''Allegro'' and ''Dark Horse'' * 2010: Bodil Award for Best Cinematographer for ''Antichrist'' * 2011:

* 2012: Bodil Award for Best Cinematographer for ''Melancholia''

References

External links

* *
Manuel Alberto Claro
at Danish Association of Cinematographers {{DEFAULTSORT:Claro, Manuel Alberto 1970 births 20th-century Danish photographers 21st-century Danish photographers Best Cinematographer Bodil Award winners Chilean emigrants to Denmark Danish cinematographers Danish photographers European Film Award for Best Cinematographer winners Living people