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Emmanuel Lubezki

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Emmanuel Lubezki
Born
Emmanuel Lubezki Morgenstern

(1964-11-30) November 30, 1964 (age 59)
Mexico City, Mexico
Other namesChivo[1]
Alma materNational Autonomous University of Mexico
OccupationCinematographer
Years active1983–present
Organization(s)Mexican Society of Cinematographers
American Society of Cinematographers
AwardsFull list

Emmanuel Lubezki Morgenstern (Spanish pronunciation: [emaˈnwel luˈβeski]; born November 30, 1964) is a Mexican cinematographer. He has worked with many acclaimed directors, including Mike Nichols, Tim Burton, Michael Mann, Joel and Ethan Coen, David O. Russell, and frequent collaborators Terrence Malick, Alfonso Cuarón, and Alejandro González Iñárritu.[2]

Lubezki is known for groundbreaking uses of natural lighting and continuous uninterrupted shots in cinematography, often utilizing a Steadicam, a 3-axis gimbal, or hand-held camera to orchestrate fluid, uninterrupted camera movements during particularly significant scenes. Lubezki is a member of both the Mexican Society of Cinematographers and the American Society of Cinematographers. His work has been praised by audiences and critics alike, which earned him multiple awards, including eight Academy Award nominations for Best Cinematography. He won in this category three times, becoming the first person to do so in three consecutive years, for Gravity (2013), Birdman (2014), and The Revenant (2015).

Early life

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Lubezki was born to a Jewish family in Mexico City, Mexico.[2][3][4] His father was actor and producer Muni Lubezki.[5] His paternal grandfather is Lithuanian Jewish while his grandmother is also Jewish, from Russia.[6] Lubezki studied film at Mexico's Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos (CUEC), where he met Alfonso Cuarón.[2]

Career

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Lubezki began his career in Mexican film and television productions in the late 1980s. His first international production was the 1993 independent film Twenty Bucks, which followed the journey of a single twenty-dollar bill.

Lubezki is a frequent collaborator with fellow Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón. The two have been friends since they were teenagers and attended the same film school[7] at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.[1] Together they have worked on six motion pictures: Sólo Con Tu Pareja, A Little Princess, Great Expectations, Y Tu Mamá También, Children of Men, and Gravity. His work with Cuarón on Children of Men (2006) has received universal acclaim.[8] The film utilized a number of new technologies and distinctive techniques. The "roadside ambush" scene was shot in one extended take utilizing a special camera rig invented by Doggicam systems, developed from the company's Power Slide system.[9] For the scene, a vehicle was modified to enable seats to tilt and lower actors out of the way of the camera. The windshield of the car was designed to tilt out of the way to allow camera movement in and out through the front windscreen. A crew of four, including Lubezki, rode on the roof. Children of Men also features a seven-and-a-half-minute battle sequence composed of roughly five seamless edits.

Lubezki won his first Academy Award for Best Cinematography for his work on Cuarón's Gravity, a thriller set in outer space.[10][11] The film was praised for the way it combined two shots through digital backgrounds of space to create the illusion of scenes done in a single shot.[12] Lubezki won his second Academy Award for Best Cinematography in the following year for his work on Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman. The film used a similar technique from Gravity, being very unusual in the way the entire movie was shot so as to appear to be photographed in one continuous take.[13] Lubezki won the award again in 2015 for Iñárritu's The Revenant, becoming a milestone for his third consecutive win and for being the first cinematographer to do so.[14] The film was shot entirely in the wilderness during a cold season, minimizing the amount of CGI and using only natural lighting. It was an extremely difficult process that required a limited amount of time to shoot each scene, which delayed the production, causing budget overruns and changes of locations for proper settings. However, The Revenant earned over $500 million at the box office and received critical acclaim, with much praise for the film's atmospheric tone and realism.

Lubezki won the Royal Photographic Society Lumière Award for major achievement in cinematography, video or animation in 2016.

Filmography

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Short film

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Year Title Director Notes
1983 Vengeance Is Mine Alfonso Cuarón
Carlos Marcovich
Luis Estrada
Co-cinematographer with Cuaron
1985 Sera por eso que la quiero tanto Carlos Marcovich
1988 Los buzos diamantistas Marcela Couturier
1990 La muchacha Dorotea Guerra
2002 From Mesmer, with Love or Tea for Two Alejandro Lubezki
Salvador Aguirre
2007 Anna Alejandro González Iñárritu Segment of To Each His Own Cinema
2017 Flesh and Sand
2023 The Knowing Southern Right Whales Himself Documentary short

Feature film

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Year Title Director Notes
1990 Bandidos Luis Estrada
1991 Sólo con tu pareja Alfonso Cuarón
1992 Like Water for Chocolate Alfonso Arau With Steven Bernstein
1993 Twenty Bucks Keva Rosenfeld
Miroslava Alejandro Pelayo
The Harvest David Marconi
1994 Reality Bites Ben Stiller
Ámbar Luis Estrada
1995 A Little Princess Alfonso Cuarón
A Walk in the Clouds Alfonso Arau
1996 The Birdcage Mike Nichols
1998 Great Expectations Alfonso Cuarón
Meet Joe Black Martin Brest
1999 Sleepy Hollow Tim Burton
2000 Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her Rodrigo García
2001 Ali Michael Mann
Y Tu Mamá También Alfonso Cuarón
2003 The Cat in the Hat Bo Welch
2004 The Assassination of Richard Nixon Niels Mueller Also credited as associate producer
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events Brad Silberling
2005 The New World Terrence Malick
2006 Children of Men Alfonso Cuarón
2008 Burn After Reading Coen brothers
2011 The Tree of Life Terrence Malick
2012 To the Wonder
2013 Gravity Alfonso Cuarón
2014 Birdman Alejandro González Iñárritu
2015 Last Days in the Desert Rodrigo García
Knight of Cups Terrence Malick
The Revenant Alejandro González Iñárritu
2017 Song to Song Terrence Malick
2022 Amsterdam David O. Russell

Television

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Year Title Director Notes
1989–90 La hora marcada Alfonso Cuarón
Luis Estrada
Juan Mora Catlett
8 episodes;
Also credited as producer
1990 El motel de la muerte Luis Estrada
Jorge Prior
TV movie;
With Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo Granillo and Antonio Ruiz
1993 Fallen Angels Steven Soderbergh
Alfonso Cuarón
Episodes "The Quiet Room" and "Murder Obliquely"
2024 Disclaimer Alfonso Cuarón Miniseries;
With Bruno Delbonnel, also credited as executive producer

TV shorts

Year Title Director Notes
2010 Write the Future Alejandro González Iñárritu
Dick Tracy Special Warren Beatty
Chris Merrill
With Stephanie Martin

Other credits

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Short film

Year Title Director Producer Writer Editor
1985 Ejercicio de 20 año Yes Yes Yes Yes
1986 Marlena en la pared Yes No No No
2007 Lección relámpago No Co-producer No No

Documentary short

Year Title Director Producer Editor
1990 Caifanes Yes Yes Yes
2023 The Knowing Southern Right Whales Yes No No

Film producer

  • Camino largo a Tijuana (1988)
  • El ingeniero (2012) (Documentary film)

Awards and nominations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Emmanuel Lubezki". Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
  2. ^ a b c Grabinsky, Alan (February 24, 2016). "Mexican Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki Hits His Stride". Tablet. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  3. ^ Rogers, Pauline B. (2015). Contemporary Cinematographers on Their Art. CRC Press. ISBN 978-1136045783.
  4. ^ Bloom, Nate (February 25, 2016). "The tribe at the Oscars, 2016". Jewish Standard.
  5. ^ Erazo, Vanessa (25 February 2014). "6 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Mexican Oscar Nominee Emmanuel Lubezki". Remezcla. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
  6. ^ "6 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Mexican Oscar Nominee Emmanuel Lubezki". Remezcla. 25 February 2014.
  7. ^ "Cuaron, Lubezki Talk Mistakes, Long Takes and How Peter Gabriel Made 'Gravity' Possible". Variety. February 13, 2014. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  8. ^ "Children of Men". Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
  9. ^ "Two Axis Dolly". Doggicam Systems. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-01-24.
  10. ^ Corliss, Richard (2013-08-28). "Gravity at the Venice Film Festival: Dread and Awe in Space". Time. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  11. ^ Scott, A.O. (2013-10-03). "Between Earth and Heaven". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  12. ^ "Emmanuel Lubezki, DP of 'Gravity', Expounds on Cinematography in the Virtual Age". nofilmschool.com. October 8, 2013. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  13. ^ Giardina, Carolyn (December 30, 2014). "Oscars: 'Birdman' Cinematographer Reveals Secrets Behind Movie's Ingenious "Single Shot" Look". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  14. ^ "Alejandro Innaritu Wins Best Director Oscar For The Revenant". Deadline. February 28, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
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