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IMDbPro

Néstor Almendros(1930-1992)

  • Cinematographer
  • Director
  • Camera and Electrical Department
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Néstor Almendros
Trailer for The Blue Lagoon
Play trailer1:45
The Blue Lagoon (1980)
1 Video
2 Photos
One of the highest appraised contemporary cinematographers. He was born in Spain but moved to Cuba by age 18 to join his exiled anti-Franco father. In Havana, he founded a cineclub 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 (1960) and La Tumba Francesca) had been banned, he moved to Paris. There he became the favourite cameraman of Éric Rohmer and François Truffaut. In 1978, he started his impressive Hollywood-career. In his later years, he co-directed two documentaries about the human rights situation in Cuba: Improper Conduct (1984) (about the persecution of gay people) and Nadie escuchaba (1987). He shot several prestigious commercials for Giorgio Armani and Calvin Klein. Nestor Almendros died of cancer.
BornOctober 30, 1930
DiedMarch 4, 1992(61)
BornOctober 30, 1930
DiedMarch 4, 1992(61)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Won 1 Oscar
    • 10 wins & 10 nominations total

Photos

"Academy Awards: 51st Annual," Kim Novak, James Coburn.  1979.

Known for:

Days of Heaven (1978)
Days of Heaven
7.8
  • Cinematographer(as Nestor Almendros)
  • 1978
Kevin Kline and Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice (1982)
Sophie's Choice
7.5
  • Cinematographer(as Nestor Almendros)
  • 1982
The Blue Lagoon (1980)
The Blue Lagoon
5.8
  • Cinematographer(as Nestor Almendros)
  • 1980
Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Kramer vs. Kramer
7.8
  • Cinematographer(as Nestor Almendros)
  • 1979

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Cinematographer

  • Dustin Hoffman, Nicole Kidman, Bruce Willis, and Loren Dean in Billy Bathgate (1991)
    Billy Bathgate
    • director of photography (as Nestor Almendros)
    • 1991
  • Made in Milan (1990)
    Made in Milan
    • Cinematographer
    • Short
    • 1990
  • New York Stories (1989)
    New York Stories
    • Cinematographer (segment Life Lessons)
    • 1989
  • Imagine: John Lennon (1988)
    Imagine: John Lennon
    • Cinematographer
    • 1988
  • Nadine (1987)
    Nadine
    • director of photography (as Nestor Almendros)
    • 1987
  • Heartburn (1986)
    Heartburn
    • director of photography (as Nestor Almendros)
    • 1986
  • Sally Field, Yankton Hatten, and Gennie James in Places in the Heart (1984)
    Places in the Heart
    • director of photography (as Nestor Almendros)
    • 1984
  • L'Assemblea de Catalunya
    • Cinematographer
    • Short
    • 1983
  • Confidentially Yours (1983)
    Confidentially Yours
    • Cinematographer (as Nestor Almendros)
    • 1983
  • Pauline at the Beach (1983)
    Pauline at the Beach
    • Cinematographer
    • 1983
  • Kevin Kline and Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice (1982)
    Sophie's Choice
    • director of photography (as Nestor Almendros)
    • 1982
  • Meryl Streep and Roy Scheider in Still of the Night (1982)
    Still of the Night
    • director of photography (as Nestor Almendros)
    • 1982
  • The Last Metro (1980)
    The Last Metro
    • Cinematographer (as Nestor Almendros)
    • 1980
  • The Blue Lagoon (1980)
    The Blue Lagoon
    • director of photography (as Nestor Almendros)
    • 1980
  • Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
    Kramer vs. Kramer
    • director of photography (as Nestor Almendros)
    • 1979

Director

  • Nadie escuchaba (1987)
    Nadie escuchaba
    • Director
    • 1987
  • Improper Conduct
    • Director
    • 1984
  • Retour d'Henri Langlois à Paris
    • Director
    • Short
    • 1968
  • La journée d'un journaliste
    • Director
    • Short
    • 1967
  • Ritmo de Cuba
    • Director
    • Short
    • 1960
  • Escuelas rurales
    • Director
    • 1960
  • Gente en la playa
    • Director
    • Short
    • 1960
  • Una confusión cotidiana
    • Director
    • Short
    • 1950

Camera and Electrical Department

  • La brigade des maléfices (1970)
    La brigade des maléfices
    • camera operator
    • TV Series
    • 1971
  • Pierre Clémenti in Wheel of Ashes (1968)
    Wheel of Ashes
    • camera operator
    • 1968
  • Le père Noël a les yeux bleus (1966)
    Le père Noël a les yeux bleus
    • assistant camera (as Nestor Almendros)
    • 1966

Videos1

The Blue Lagoon
Trailer 1:45
The Blue Lagoon

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative names
    • Nestor Almendros
  • Born
    • October 30, 1930
    • Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
  • Died
    • March 4, 1992
    • New York City, New York, USA(AIDS)
  • Parents
      Herminio Almendros
  • Publicity listings
    • 2 Print Biographies
    • 3 Interviews
    • 1 Article

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    As of 2016, he's the only person to ever win an Oscar in a Terrence Malick movie.
  • Quotes
    [on relying on natural light for La Collectionneuse (1967)] The film had to have a 'natural' look, whether we wanted it to or not, because we had only five photoflood lamps. [autobiography, "A Man With A Camera", 1984]
  • Trademark
    Cinematographer of many films by François Truffaut (9 features), Éric Rohmer (7 features), Robert Benton (5 features) and Barbet Schroeder (3 features & 2 docs).

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