Born: 19 July 1968, Elmhurst, Queens, New York City, as Matthew J. Libatique. His parents came from the Philippines.

Education: California State University, Fullerton [Sociology & Communications]; American Film Institute [AFI] [1992-95; MFA in Cinematography].

Career: Worked on an internship at Chanticleer Films and became a post-prod coordinator. 'My first job as a cinematographer was shooting karaoke's. I had a friend at Chanticleer who wanted to be an actor, and his brother wanted to be a director. We'd shoot six karaoke's over a weekend. They would edit and put them on laser discs so that people could sing to them. At that point, I was more interested in shooting music videos than features. It was the beginning of the electronic age in post-production, and I didn't think that feature films were going to allow the opportunity to really explore that. I didn't want to miss out on the beginning of a new technology. Finally, through a friend, I got an opportunity to shoot a music video for a rapper named E40, and the rest is history.' [From KODAK website.]

Ph 100+ music videos and commercials [dir by McG, a.o.]. Appeared in the doc 'Cinematographer Style' [2005, Jon Fauer; ph: J. Fauer, Jeff Laszlo, Brian Heller & David Morgan].

Awards: Chlotrudis Award [1998] & Independent Spirit Award nom [1999] for 'Pi'; BSFC Award 3rd place [2000], Independent Spirit Award [2001] & Chlotrudis Award nom [2001] for 'Requiem for a Dream'; MVPA 'Panavision Award' [2002] for 'Mad Season'; Kodak Vision Award [2006].

Matthew Libatique: 'For me, the photography in music videos is driven by the tempo of the music and certain instruments. I still hold out hope that in today's pop climate, music videos have the potential to be an art. There are some directors and cinematographers who constantly strive for that. I don't like to sit around between pictures, so videos provide an opportunity for me to practice, not unlike a musician. It gives me the ability to constantly work on my craft and apply techniques of cinematography.' [From KODAK website.]

1990        Fortune Cookie [Darren Aronofsky] c; short/?m; prod AFI

1993        Protozoa [Darren Aronofsky] dv/c; short/?m; prod AFI

1993        Redneck [Shane Kuhn] c; 2uc: Alan Caudillo

1994        The Bedroom [David Crabtree] c; short/11m

1995        Til Death Do Us Part [Phil Leirness] c

1995        Soldier Boyz [Louis Morneau] c; 2uc; ph: Mauro Fiore

1995        Duke of Groove [Griffin Dunne] c; short/32m; 2uc (+ co-2nd c.asst); ph: John J. Campbell

1996        Grinders [Gary Ellenberg] c

1996        Pi [Darren Aronofsky] s16-35bu/b&w

1997        The Party Crashers/Until Yesterday Is Done [Phil Leirness] c

1998        Saturn/Speed of Life [Rob Schmidt] c; add time-lapse ph: Sarah Cawley

1998        Ted [Gary Ellenberg] 16mm/b&w-c; 2uc (+ 2ud); ph: Stephen S. Langensteiner

1999        Requiem for a Dream/Delusion Over Addiction [Darren Aronofsky] c; 2uc: Richard Rutkowski

2000        Tigerland [Joel Schumacher] 16mm-35bu/c

2000        Josie and the Pussycats [Harry Elfont & Deborah Kaplan] c; 2uc: Ron Williams

2000        Phone Booth [Joel Schumacher] p/c

2001        Cosmic Coffee [Charles Wall] b&w-c

2001        Abandon [Stephen Gaghan] s35/c; uwph: Cynthia Pusheck

2001        When Incubus Attacks [Philip Harder, a.o.] c/V; mus doc/?m; cph: Clark DePastino, Tom Marvel & Brett Spivey

2002        Batman: Year One [Darren Aronofsky] announced; prod cancelled

2002        The Seventh Man [Jason Liggett] c; doc/12m

2003        Never Die Alone [Ernest R. Dickerson] s16-35bu/c; 2uc: Richard Rutkowski

2003        Gothika [Mathieu Kassovitz] c; 2uc: Igor Meglic; uwph: Pete Romano

2003        The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things [Asia Argento] announced as doph, but ph by Eric Alan Edwards

2003        She Hate Me [Spike Lee] s16+35mm-to-35mm/c

2004        Everything Is Illuminated [Liev Schreiber] c; 2uc: Milan Chadima

2004        The Fountain [Darren Aronofsky] c; 2uc: Sylvaine Dufaux; uwph: Pete Romano

2005        Inside Man [Spike Lee] s35/c

2006        The Number 23 [Joel Schumacher] p/c; 2uc: Richard Rutkowski

2007        Iron Man [Jon Favreau] s35/c; addph: Gabriel Beristáin; 2uc: Jonathan Taylor; aph: David B. Nowell

2007        Miracle at St. Anna [Spike Lee] s35/c

2008        The Fighter [Darren Aronofsky] pre-production

2008        Inside Man 2 [Spike Lee] pre-production

2008        RoboCop [Darren Aronofsky] pre-production

2008        My Own Love Song [Olivier Dahan] s35-to-35mm/c; 2uc: Magela Crosignani

2009        Iron Man 2 [Jon Favreau] c; 2uc: Jonathan Taylor; addph: Richard Rutkowski; aph: David B. Nowell & (Monaco) Adam

                    Dale

2009        Black Swan [Darren Aronofsky] announced in January 2007; scheduled to start filming in November

1997        Women: Stories of Passion [ep #16 'Grip Till It Hurts' dir by Julie Dash] 26-part series; other ph: John Aronson,

                    Theo van de Sande, Arturo Smith, Denise Brassard, a.o.

2002        A Darkness More Than Night [?] tvm; status unknown

2008        Kobe Doin' Work/Game Day with Kobe [Spike Lee] sports doc/84m; for ESPN-tv

2008        Passing Strange [Spike Lee] filmed (on 19 July) theatre perf

1991        Without a Pass [Marco Williams; short] electric prod asst 2u; ph: Stephen McNutt; also ep of Showtime-tv series

                    '30-Minute Movie'

1991        Session Man [Seth Winston; short] post-prod co-ord; ph: Charlie Lieberman; also ep of Showtime-tv series '30-Minute

                    Movie'

1991        The Washing Machine Man [Dean Pitchford; short] post-prod co-ord; ph: Eric J. Goldstein; also ep of Showtime-tv

                    series '30-Minute Movie'

1992        [S.I.S. -] Extreme Justice [Mark L. Lester] co-2nd c.asst; ph: Mark Irwin

1992        The Witness [Chris Gerolmo; short] 2nd c.asst; ph: Peter Lang; also ep of Showtime-tv series '30-Minute Movie'

1992        Contact [Jonathan Darby; short] post-prod co-ord; ph: Eric J. Goldstein; also ep of Showtime-tv series '30-Minute Movie'

1993        Traveler's Rest [Craig Belknap; short] cam prod asst; ph: Steve McMahon; also ep of Showtime-tv series '30-Minute

                    Movie'

1993        Lush Life [Michael Elias; tvm] co-cam loader; ph: Nancy Schreiber

1993        Under the Car [Alan McElroy; short] 2nd c.asst (insert ph) & post-prod co-ord; ph: John J. Connor; also ep of

                    Showtime-tv series '30-Minute Movie'

1994        My Family/Mi familia/Cafe con leche/East L.A. [Gregory Nava] cam loader; ph: Edward Lachman

1995        Duke of Groove [Griffin Dunne; short] co-2nd c.asst (+ 2uc); ph: John J. Campbell

1996        Fox Hunt [Michael Berns] electrician; ph: John P. Tarver

1996        Give Me One Reason [a: Tracy Chapman; d: Julie Dash]

1997        Anytime [a: Brian McKnight; d: Darren Grant]

1998        What U See Is What U Get [a: Xzibit; d: Gregory Dark]

1999        Just My Imagination [a: The Cranberries; d: Phil Harder]

1999        Westside [a: TQ; d: Darren Grant]

1999        Aisha [a: Death In Vegas; d: Terry Richardson]

1999        Ooh La La [a: The Wiseguys; d: Scott Bibo]

1999        My Favorite Girl [a: Dave Hollister; d: Steven Carr]

1999        Bodyrock [a: Moby; d: Steven Carr]

2000        I'll Do Anything [a: Jay-Z; d: Chris Robinson]

2000        Boyz In the Hood [a: Dynamite Hack; d: Evan Bernard]

2000        Stellar [a: Incubus; d: Phil Harder]

2001        Fool [a: Mansun; d: Phil Harder]

2001        Mad Season [a: Matchbox 20; d: Phil Harder]

2001        The Trees [a: Pulp; d: Phil Harder]

2001        Save Me [a: Remy Zero; d: Phil Harder]

2001        Goodbye [a: Jagged Edge; d: Forest Whitaker]

2002        Pitiful [a: Blindside; d: Nathan Cox]

2002        Dem Girls [a: Oxide & Neutrino; d: Nathan Cox]

2004        Taking Off [a: The Cure; d: The Saline Project]