Rodrigo Prieto

Rodrigo Prieto (born November 23, 1965) is a Mexican cinematographer. He has been associated as the lead cinematographer for Martin Scorsese and Alejandro González Iñárritu, among other directors.

Rodrigo Prieto was born in Mexico City, Mexico. His grandfather, Jorge Prieto Laurens, was the mayor of Mexico City and leader of the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico, but was later persecuted by the country's ruler because of political differences. Prieto's grandfather escaped with his family to Texas and then to Los Angeles. There, Prieto's father would spend most of his childhood. Prieto's father studied aeronautical engineering at New York University, where he met and married Prieto's mother, an art student. Rodrigo Prieto graduated from Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica in Mexico City. Prieto has become an established cinematographer, working with such names as Spike Lee (25th Hour), Curtis Hanson (8 Mile), Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain and Lust, Caution) and Pedro Almodóvar (Broken Embraces). Nonetheless, his political legacy still has a visible effect on his career. In 2002, Prieto shot Frida, a film about Frida Kahlo, a communist Mexican artist. In 2003, Prieto cooperated with Oliver Stone in two documentary projects: Comandante, about Fidel Castro, and Persona Non Grata, about Yasser Arafat. In 2004, Prieto shot Alexander for Stone. Prieto also worked with Alejandro González Iñárritu on the acclaimed Amores perros, 21 Grams, Babel and Biutiful.

Prieto is noted for his unconventional use of the camera often combined with strong moody lighting. In 25th Hour, Prieto utilized overexposure and other techniques to create original dream-like images to signify that the events shown on screen are memories or visions. Similarly innovative photography could be spotted in Frida, featuring strong colors and sharp imagery blended with atmospheric yellows and browns, as well as his experimental use of infrared during a battle scene in Alexander. Prieto also is interested in evoking naturalism, most evident in The Homesman and Brokeback Mountain. Prieto not only shot Brokeback Mountain, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography, but appeared in a cameo role within the film as a Mexican gigolo whom Jake Gyllenhaal's character, Jack Twist, meets.

Prieto has most recently formed an artistic collaboration with Martin Scorsese; first on The Wolf of Wall Street, Silence, for which he garnered his second Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography, and most recently The Irishman, released in November 2019. In December 2019, Prieto announced that the shooting schedule for Scorsese's upcoming film Killers of the Flower Moon would start as reported in March 2020.

Prieto resides in Los Angeles, California with his wife Monica and daughters Maria Fernanda and Ximena.

Academy Awards

BAFTA Awards

American Society of Cinematographers Awards

Other awards

Ariel Awards

Circuit Community Awards

Boston Society of Film Critics

Critics' Choice Awards

Camerimage

Chicago Film Critics Association

Chlotrudis Awards

Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain

CinEuphoria Awards

Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association

Dublin Film Critics' Circle

Independent Spirit Awards

Florida Film Critics Circle

Georgia Film Critics Association

Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards

Goya Awards

Houston Film Critics Society

International Cinematographers' Film Festival Manaki Brothers

International Cinephile Society Awards

International Online Cinema Awards (INOCA)

Latino Entertainment Journalists Association Film Awards

National Society of Film Critics

North Texas Film Critics Association

Online Film & Television Association

Online Film Critics Society Award

Phoenix Critics Circle

Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards

San Diego Film Critics Society

San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle

San Sebastián International Film Festival

Satellite Awards

St. Louis Film Critics Association

Tribeca Film Festival

Venice Film Festival

Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association