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 François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. He came under the tutelage of film critic Andre Bazin as a ...

Éric Rohmer Jean Marie Maurice Schérer or Maurice Henri Joseph Schérer, known as Éric Rohmer (; 21 March 192011 January 2010), was a French film director, film critic, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and teacher. Rohmer was the last of the Post-war, p ...

and Robert Benton, while winning an Oscar for Best Cinematography for Terrence Malick's '' Days of Heaven''.

Early life

Néstor Almendros Cuyás was born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, but at the age of 18, he moved to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

to join his exiled anti-

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

father. In

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. He directed six shorts in Cuba and two in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Career

Early career

After the 1959

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

, 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 Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France

Starting in 1964, he became the favorite collaborator of

French New Wave The New Wave (, ), also called the French New Wave, is a French European art cinema, art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentat ...

director

. In the early seventies, he also started working with

, Barbet Schroeder and other directors. Almendros’ collaborations with Rohmer would prove particularly fruitful, and are considered amongst the finest works of both men. These include the four feature length works from Rohmer’s ''Six Moral Tales'' series, '' La Collectionneuse'' (1967), '' My Night at Maud’s'' (1969), '' Claire’s Knee'' (1970), and '' Love in the Afternoon'' (1972), in addition to '' La Marquise d'O...'' (1976), '' Perceval le Gallois'' (1978), and '' Pauline at the Beach'' (1983).

Hollywood

Almendros began his Hollywood career with '' Days of Heaven'' (1978), written and directed by Terrence Malick, who admired Almendros' work on Truffaut’s ''

The Wild Child ''The Wild Child'' (, released in the United Kingdom as ''The Wild Boy'') is a 1970 French film by director François Truffaut. Featuring Jean-Pierre Cargol, François Truffaut, Françoise Seigner and Jean Dasté, it tells the story of a chil ...

'' (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.Almendros 1986 In 1979, Almendros won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for ''Days of Heaven''. Almendros received three further

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

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 John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

documentary, '' Imagine: John Lennon'' (1988), directed by Andrew Solt.

Later career

In his later years, Almendros co-directed two documentaries about the human rights situation in

: '' 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 Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

. He also shot several prestigious advertisements for

Giorgio Armani Giorgio Armani (; born 11 July 1934) is an Italian fashion designer and a billionaire. He first gained renown working for Cerruti 1881. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually expanded into music, sport, and luxury hotels. By 200 ...

(directed by

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

), Calvin Klein (directed by

Richard Avedon Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for ''Harper's Bazaar'', '' Vogue'' and '' Elle'' specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and ...

) and Freixenet.

Legacy and honors

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

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 Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * César (film), ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama * César (film), ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt Places * Cesar, Portugal * Cesar Department, Colombia * Cesar R ...

for François Truffaut's '' The Last Metro''.

Death

In 1992, Néstor Almendros died of AIDS-related lymphoma in

at the age of 61.

Filmography

Cinematographer

Short film

Feature film

Television

Documentary works

Short film Television Film

Director

Short film Documentary short Documentary film

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards César Awards New York Film Critics Circle

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Almendros, Nestor 1930 births 1992 deaths Deaths from lymphoma in New York (state) AIDS-related deaths in New York (state) Spanish expatriates in France Spanish expatriates in the United States Spanish cinematographers Spanish gay men Best Cinematographer Academy Award winners Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia alumni Best Cinematography César Award winners Spanish LGBTQ film directors LGBTQ history in Spain 20th-century Spanish LGBTQ people