Darius Khondji

Darius Khondji

  • Birthday: 1955-10-21
  • Place of birth: Tehran, Iran
  • Also know as: 다리우스 콘지

Biography

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.

Filmography

Production

The Interpreter

2005

As Director of Photography

The Ninth Gate

1999

As Director of Photography

Se7en

1995

As Director of Photography

The City of Lost Children

1995

As Director of Photography

Delicatessen

1991

As Director of Photography

The Beach

2000

As Director of Photography

My Blueberry Nights

2007

As Director of Photography

Anything Else

2003

As Director of Photography

Panic Room

2002

As Director of Photography

The Ruins

2008

As Director of Photography

Wimbledon

2004

As Director of Photography

Funny Games

2008

As Director of Photography

Evita

1996

As Director of Photography

Treasure of the Bitch Islands

1990

As Director of Photography

Midnight in Paris

2011

As Director of Photography

Castello Cavalcanti

2013

As Director of Photography

The Immigrant

2013

As Director of Photography

Magic in the Moonlight

2014

As Director of Photography

To Rome with Love

2012

As Director of Photography

Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait

2006

As Director of Photography

Madonna: Sticky & Sweet Tour

2010

As Director of Photography

In Dreams

1999

As Director of Photography

Stealing Beauty

1996

As Director of Photography

Protect You + Me

2008

As Director of Photography

Alien Resurrection

1997

As Director of Photography

Amour

2012

As Director of Photography

Irrational Man

2015

As Director of Photography

Chéri

2009

As Director of Photography

Why Can’t We Get Along

2018

As Director of Photography

Uncut Gems

2019

As Director of Photography

The Lost City of Z

2017

As Director of Photography

Tooba

2002

As Director of Photography

Okja

2017

As Director of Photography

Anima

2019

As Director of Photography

Strasbourg 1518

2020

As Director of Photography

BARDO, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths

2022

As Director of Photography

Wacko

1994

As Director of Photography

Armageddon Time

2022

As Director of Photography

Agatha and the Limitless Readings

1981

As Second Assistant Camera

Mickey 17

2025

As Director of Photography

Marie-Louise ou la permission

1995

As Director of Photography

Prague

1993

As Director of Photography

Eddington

0000

As Director of Photography

Lady Gaga: Marry the Night

2011

As Director of Photography

Kiss Me

1989

As Cinematography

Before the Rain

1994

As Thanks

June 8, 1968

2009

As Cinematography

Models: The Film

1991

As Cinematography

Illusions & Mirrors

2013

As Cinematography

Johnny 316

1998

As Consulting Producer

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