Nestor Almendros

Nestor Almendros (born October 30, 1930—March 4, 1992) was a Spanish cinematographer.

Related Topics:
October 30 - 1930 - March 4 - 1992 - Spanish

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One of the highest appraised contemporary cinematographers. Nestro Almendros Cuyas was born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain but moved to Cuba at age 18 to join his exiled anti-Franco father. In Havana, he founded a cinema club and wrote film reviews. Then he went on to study in Rome at the Centro Sperimentale. He directed six shorts in Cuba and two in New York. 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 Francesca) has been banned, he moved to Paris. There he became the favorite of Eric Rohmer and Francois Truffant. In 1978, he started his Hollywood career, and won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for the film Days of Heaven.

Related Topics:
Barcelona - Catalonia - Spain - Cuba - Havana - Rome - New York - Paris - Eric Rohmer - Francois Truffant - 1978 - Academy Award for Best Cinematography - Days of Heaven

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In his later years, Almendros co-directed two documentaries about the human rights situation in Cuba: Mauvarise Conduite (about the persecution of gay people) and Nobody Listened. He shot several prestigious for Giorgio Armani and Calvin Klein. In 1992, Nestor Almendros died of AIDS in New York at age 61.

Related Topics:
Giorgio Armani - Calvin Klein - 1992 - AIDS

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Human Rights Watch International has named an award after him, given every year at the HRWI film festival.

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