Phedon Papamichael, an award winning Cinematographer, was born in
Athens, Greece and moved with his family to Germany, where in 1982 he
completed his education in Fine Arts, in Munich. Working as a
photojournalist brought Phedon to NYC in 1983, where he started
crossing over into cinematography.
His first short film, the 35mm black & white SPUD, earned him the Award
for Best Cinematography at the Cork Film Festival in Ireland. Following
a call from John Cassavetes, his cousin and later collaborator, Phedon
moved to Los Angeles. While continuing to work on short and
experimental films, he began his feature career as a Director of
Photography for Roger Corman, for whom he photographed seven films
within two years.
Phedon now counts over 40 feature films to his credit as Director of
Photography, including the early block-busters While You Were Sleeping
starring Sandra Bullock and Cool Runnings, as well as Phenomenon, starring John Travolta, all directed by Jon Turteltaub.
His credits include many critically acclaimed films, such as Unstrung Heroes (Un Certain Regard, Cannes 1995), directed by Diane Keaton, and
Unhook the Stars, starring Gena Rowlands and directed by Nick
Cassavetes.
The Million Dollar Hotel, directed by Wim Wenders, was chosen as the
Opening Film of the 2000 Berlin Film Festival and won the Grand Jury
Prize, the Silver Bear, as well as the Golden Camera. The European
co-production, 27 Missing Kisses, directed by Oscar nominated filmmaker
Nana Djordjadze, premiered at Directors Fortnight in Cannes 2000. It
garnered the Grand Prix Award at the 2000 New York/Avignon Film
Festival, the Audience Award at the 2000 Montpellier Film Festival, as
well as the Kodak Vision Award for Best Cinematography. In 2000 both
films received a Camerimage nomination, for Best Cinematography.
In 2001 Phedon shot Moonlight Mile (Berlinale, 2003), directed by Brad
Silberling, starring Dustin Hoffman, Susan
Sarandon and Holly Hunter. It was followed by Identity, directed by
James Mangold, and the Oscar-nominated Sideways, directed by Alexander Payne.
His credits continued with The Weatherman, directed by Gore Verbinski,
starring Nicolas Cage and Michael Caine and Walk the Line, again
directed by Mangold and starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon.
Phedon shot the Academy Award nominated western 3:10 to Yuma, directed
by James Mangold, starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, and the
blockbuster Pursuit of Happyness. In 2008 he photographed Oliver Stone's W. and
then re-teamed again with James Mangold on Knight and Day, starring Tom
Cruise and Cameron Diaz, which shot all over the world.
He shot two of the most award-winning films of 2011: Alexander Payne's
The Descendants and
The Ides of March, directed by George Clooney. This is 40, directed
by Judd Apatow was released in 2012 and won Comedy of the Year from the
Hollywood Film Festival.
For his gorgeous B&W lensing on the highly acclaimed Nebraska, which
received 6 Academy Award nominations and was directed by Alexander
Payne, Phedon received an Oscar nomination, a BAFTA nomination and an
ASC nomination amongst other honors. His latest film is The Monuments Men, a period film directed by George Clooney, and starring Matt Damon,
Bill Murray, John Goodman, Cate Blanchett and Jean Dujardin which was
shot in Germany and England.
In addition to his feature work, Phedon has shot and/or directed over
100 commercials for such clients as Nespresso, BMW, Audi, and Nextel.
On the music video side, his work includes The Ground Beneath Her Feet,
Eelectrical Storm, directed by Anton Corbijn.
Papamichael's work also includes several forays into television. He
received an ASC Award Nomination for Best Cinematography for Oliver
Stone's innovative mini-series Wild Palms, as well as his second ASC
Award Nomination for Best Cinematography for the Francis Ford
Coppola-produced pilot White Dwarf.
Phedon resides in Los Angeles and Athens, Greece and speaks fluent
English, German, French and Greek. He holds German, Greek and U.S.
citizenship.
