Néstor Almendros(1930-1992)
- Cinematographer
- Director
- Camera and Electrical Department
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.
