Darius Khondji (born 21 October 1955) is an Iranian-French cinematographer. Khondji has worked with a number of high-profile directors, including David Fincher, Woody Allen, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Roman Polanski, Wong Kar-wai, Michael Haneke, Danny Boyle, Philippe Parreno, Bong Joon-ho, Nicolas Winding Refn, Paul Thomas Anderson, the Safdie brothers, Alejandro G. Iñárritu and James Gray. He was nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Evita, and has been nominated for three César Awards. Khondji was born in Tehran, Iran, to an Iranian father and a French mother. At an early age, his family relocated in France. He became interested in film early on and made Super-8 films in his teens. Later in life, he moved to the United States to study at UCLA and then majored in film from New York University and the International Center of Photography. During this period, two teachers influenced his decision to become a cinematographer: Jonas Mekas and Haig Manoogian (Martin Scorsese's film teacher). He realized that "all I wanted to do was shoot the other students' films. I was concerned with the power of the image and much less with story." After his time in the United States, Khondji returned to France in 1981 and worked as an assistant for cinematographers like Bruno Nuytten, Martin Schafer and Pascal Marti. He also worked as a lighting director on music videos and commercials. His second feature film was Le tresor des Iles Chiennes (1991), a low budget, black and white, post-atomic adventure film. His work on this movie was significant enough to warrant the Cahiers du cinéma to publish one of its rare interviews with a cinematographer. It was on this film that he demonstrated an affinity for Cinemascope. He remarked in an interview, "I think it's the most beautiful format to frame. One can become absorbed in the faces when they're framed in 'Scope." His subsequent work on Delicatessen established his international reputation and earned him a Cesar nomination for Best Cinematography. One of his highest profile films was Seven which he got based on a Nike ad he shot with David Fincher and his work on Delicatessen. His work on Evita was nominated for an Oscar for the Best Cinematography. Darius worked on three European-shot films by Woody Allen: Midnight in Paris (2011), To Rome with Love (2012) and Magic in the Moonlight (2014). In 2012, Khondji shot the Palme D'or-winning film Amour, which also won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for Best Picture. Khondji cites Gregg Toland as his favorite cinematographer. "I particularly admire his work on John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath." He also greatly admires James Wong Howe's work, in particular Hud. Khondji has said that his dream project would be "a 16mm black and white film of On the Road!" Khondji is married to Marianne Chemetov, a daughter of the French architect Paul Chemetov and has three children: Marie-Louise, Josephine, and Alexandre. Source: Article "Darius Khondji" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
The Interpreter
(Director of Photography)
The Ninth Gate
(Director of Photography)
Se7en
(Director of Photography)
Anything Else
(Director of Photography)
The Beach
(Director of Photography)
Delicatessen
(Director of Photography)
The City of Lost Children
(Director of Photography)
My Blueberry Nights
(Director of Photography)
The Ruins
(Director of Photography)
Panic Room
(Director of Photography)
Funny Games
(Director of Photography)
Wimbledon
(Director of Photography)
Evita
(Director of Photography)
Treasure of the Bitch Islands
(Director of Photography)
Midnight in Paris
(Director of Photography)
Wacko
(Director of Photography)
Kiss Me
(Cinematography)
Castello Cavalcanti
(Director of Photography)
The Immigrant
(Director of Photography)
Marie-Louise ou la permission
(Director of Photography)
Armageddon Time
(Director of Photography)
Madonna: Sticky & Sweet Tour
(Director of Photography)
Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait
(Director of Photography)
Magic in the Moonlight
(Director of Photography)
To Rome with Love
(Director of Photography)
Prague
(Director of Photography)
Illusions & Mirrors
(Cinematography)
In Dreams
(Director of Photography)
Stealing Beauty
(Director of Photography)
Protect You + Me
(Director of Photography)
Agatha and the Limitless Readings
(Second Assistant Camera)
Before the Rain
(Thanks)
Alien Resurrection
(Director of Photography)
Mickey 17
(Director of Photography)
Amour
(Director of Photography)
Eddington
(Director of Photography)
Irrational Man
(Director of Photography)
Chéri
(Director of Photography)
Sur les talus
(Cinematography)
Une femme pour l'hiver
(Cinematography)
June 8, 1968
(Cinematography)
Johnny 316
(Consulting Producer)
Uncut Gems
(Director of Photography)
The Lost City of Z
(Director of Photography)
Models: The Film
(Cinematography)
Why Can't We Get Along
(Cinematography)
Marty Supreme
(Director of Photography)
Tooba
(Director of Photography)
Okja
(Director of Photography)
Anima
(Director of Photography)
Strasbourg 1518
(Director of Photography)
BARDO, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
(Director of Photography)
Too Old to Die Young
(Director of Photography)
Too Old to Die Young
(Cinematography)
Lisey's Story
(Director of Photography)