Photo by Grzegorz Piekarski [2008]

DANTE SPINOTTI AIC/ASC

Born: 22 August 1943, Tolmezzo, Udine, Friuli, Italy.
Career: 'I was born in an out of the way place in Italy, north of Venice and Trieste, very close to the Austrian border. After I was born, we moved almost immediately to an area close to Venice on the farmland plains where I lived until I was 15. I started doing still photography with a camera that my uncle gave me when I was about 11. He was a cinematographer who became my mentor. I took pictures of my sister, my aunt and others in my family. I also took a lot of pictures around the countryside, landscapes and winter scenes. I developed the negatives and made prints with an old photo enlarger that was in my bedroom. I became the official photographer for the local soccer team when I was around 12 or 13. That's how I started as a photographer. [My uncle] was a director/cinematographer who specialized in documentaries and newsreels. I worked with him in Kenya when I was 17, after I finished high school. We did quite a bit of newsreel work for United Press International. We had an old 35mm spring-loaded Eyemo camera, which was in such a bad shape that you could see the gap between the lens and the lens holder with your eye. I remember shooting with it handheld for the first time. It was a story for UPI covering Jomo Kenyatta. He was coming out of imprisonment [1961], and on the way to become the first president of independent Kenya one year later. I remember being in the middle of a number of international documentary and newsreel filmmakers. I had to elbow my way into the crowd to get some of those shots, which caused some problems with the British newsreel cameraman. UPI from London said it was a little bit too repetitious, but they paid for the coverage. [...] Once I was assigned to cover a three-day East African safari rally, which is an absolutely magnificent speed race. I loved the cars. I was driving with an Australian team manager and asked him to stop, because I saw a great shot. I jumped out, put the camera on the tripod and got these beautiful shots of other cars coming around a curve, except I forgot to take off the cover of the lens. Another time I worked on a German film called 'Our House in Africa'. I was assigned to be the assistant to the sound mixer. They had told him not to worry about bringing somebody to Kenya, because he'd find fantastic technicians who can help you there. Instead, he found a guy who knew nothing about sound recording. I was one of his boom operators. I still remember the German cameraman telling me to keep the shadow of the mike out of the picture. After about a year, I decided it was time for me to return home. I worked on commercial crews and then I met one of the directors of RAI-tv in Milan. He had been a prisoner of war in Kenya, so we had a lovely conversation. He hired me as an assistant cameraman on a freelance basis, at first, for television. Once I became a cameraman, I was working on small features. We would spend three weeks shooting each one-hour TV movie. There were many different types of projects that offered a possibility for experimenting. It was also secure. They couldn't fire me, because it was a state owned company. I experimented with shooting reversal film at 2000 ASA. It was all 16mm film for television. One crew would shoot videotape on the stages in the studio and we, the film crews, would shoot 16mm b&w or color film on location. I was working in my safe television job, but I wanted to be a cinematographer like Gianni Di Venanzo. [...] I have a marvelous, original poster of '8½' at the entrance of my house. When Vittorio Storaro visited us he almost fell to his knees like it was a sacred icon. [...] I have always tried to do films that had something interesting to say about humanity. I was lucky because the first pictures I did were with talented directors. I worked with Lina Wertmüller on several films, including 'Sotto… Sotto' in 1983. My first 35mm film was an extremely low-budget period film. We shot it in Venice with a number of French and Italian actors. I remember timing it at Technicolor [in Rome] with Ernesto Novelli, who was like a legend to me. I was lucky because I had opportunities to shoot movies, but it took some time for my work to be noticed on films that had some wider success.' [From article by Nick Dager on the Digital Cinema Report website (2009)]
Ph commercials.
In December 2002, the Cineteca del Friuli [Gemona, Italy] announced the setting up of the Fondo Dante Spinotti. This project aims to acquire and preserve all the works of the cinematographer, from his work for RAI-tv in the 60s and 70s to his latest feature films. The event also hosted the premiere of a doc about Spinotti dir by Barbara Galanti for RAI Sat.
Appeared in the doc's 'Dante Spinotti' [1993, Alberto Colombo; ph: Walter Liaci], 'A Director's Journey: The Making of "Red Dragon" [2001-02, Kevin Krakower; 40m; + co-tech adv], 'Before, During and 'After the Sunset'' [2004, Kevin Krakower], 'The Making of 'Heat'' [2004, Constantine Nasr] & 'Cinematographer Style' [2005, Jon Fauer; ph: J. Fauer, Jeff Laszlo, Brian Heller & David Morgan].
Awards: 'David di Donatello' Award [1989] for 'La leggenda del santo bevitore'; BSC Award nom [1992], BAFTA Film Award [1993] and ASC Award nom [1993] for 'The Last of the Mohicans'; 'David di Donatello' Award [1994] for 'Il segreto del bosco vecchio'; LAFCA Award [1997], BSC Award [1998], 'Oscar' AA nom [1998], BAFTA Film Award nom [1998] and ASC Award nom [1998] for 'L.A. Confidential'; LAFCA Award [1999], 'Oscar' AA nom [2000] and ASC Award nom [2000] for 'The Insider'; Los Angeles Italian Film Award for Cinematography [2000]; David di Donatello Award nom [2003] for 'Pinocchio'; Big Bear Lake IFF 'Lifetime Achievement Award' [2005]; Plus Camerimage 'Lifetime Achievement Award' [2009]; Manaki Brothers International Cinematographers' FF 'Lifetime Achievement Award' [2011]; ASC 'Lifetime Achievement Award' [2011].

FILMS

1979	La Carnia tace [Dante Spinotti, Gianni Lari & Sergio De Infanti] 16mm/c; exp short/30m
1980	Il minestrone [Sergio Citti] c
1981	La disubbidienza [Aldo Lado] c; cph: Paolo Tassara
1982	I paladini - Storia d'armi e d'amori/Le armi e gli amori/Hearts and Armour [Giacomo Battiato] tvi/c
1983	Cenerentola '80/Cinderella '80 [Roberto Malenotti] c
1983	Sogno di una notte d'estate [Gabriele Salvatores] c
1983	Sotto... sotto, strapazzato da anomale passione/Softly, Softly [Lina Wertmüller] c
1984	Così parlò Bellavista [Luciano De Crescenzo] c
1984	Fotografando Patrizia/The Dark Side of Love [Salvatore Samperi] c
1984	Voyage of the Rock Aliens [James Fargo & Bob Giraldi ('When the Rain Begins to Fall' seq)] c; ph 'When the Rain Begins to Fall' seq; ph: Gilbert Taylor
1985	Choke Canyon/On Dangerous Ground [Chuck Bail] c
1985	The Berlin Affair/Interno Berlinese [Liliana Cavani] c
1985	Manhunter/Red Dragon: The Pursuit of Hannibal Lecter [Michael Mann] s35/c; see 2002
1986	Crimes of the Heart [Bruce Beresford] c
1986	From the Hip [Bob Clark] J-D-C Scope/c
1986	Aria [seg #5 'Die tote Stadt: Glück, das mir verblieb' dir by Bruce Beresford] b&w-c; filmed August 1986-March 1987
1987	Illegally Yours [Peter Bogdanovich] c
1987	Mamba/Fair Game [Mario Orfini] c; addph: Massimo Vitali
1988	La leggenda del santo bevitore/The Legend of the Holy Drinker [Ermanno Olmi] c
1988	Beaches/Forever Friends [Garry Marshall] c; 2uc New York: Mike Stone
1988	Acque di primavera/Torrents of Spring [Jerzy Skolimowski] c; cph: Witold Sobocinski
1989	La domenica specialmente/Especially on Sunday [seg dir by ?] c; 6 seg (also version with 4 seg); other ph: Tonino Delli Colli, Fabio Cianchetti, Franco Lecca & Gianni Marras
1989	The Comfort of Strangers/Cortesie per gli ospiti [Paul Schrader] c
1990	True Colors [Herbert Ross] c
1990	Hudson Hawk [Michael Lehmann] c; ph Rome/Budapest: Giuseppe Maccari; 2uc Rome/Budapest: Paul Wilson
1991	Frankie & Johnny [Garry Marshall] c; 2uc: Steve Yaconelli
1991	The Last of the Mohicans [Michael Mann] p/c; replaced doph Douglas Milsome after 4 weeks in prod; addph: Douglas Milsome; 2uc: Jerry G. Callaway
1992	La fine è nota/The End is Known [Cristina Comencini] c
1992	Il segreto del bosco vecchio/The Secret of the Old Woods [Ermanno Olmi] c
1993	Blink [Michael Apted] s35/c; vfx cons: Rene Daalder
1993	The Quick and the Dead [Sam Raimi] c; 2uc: Kyle Rudolph
1994	L'uomo delle stelle/The Star Maker/The Star Man [Giuseppe Tornatore] p/c
1994	Nell [Michael Apted] p/c
1995	Heat [Michael Mann] p/c
1995	The Mirror Has Two Faces [Barbra Streisand] c; cph: Andrzej Bartkowiak; 2uc: Richard Quinlan
1996	L.A. Confidential [Curtis Hanson] s35/c
1996	Goodbye Lover [Roland Joffe] p/c; 2uc: Kyle Rudolph
1997	The Kissing Ghost [Philip John] announced; status unknown
1997	The Other Sister [Garry Marshall] s35/c
1998	The Insider [Michael Mann] s35/c
1999	Wonder Boys [Curtis Hanson] s35/c

[Left] with dir Brett Ratner - "The Family Man"

1999	The Family Man [Brett Ratner] p/c
2000	Bandits [Barry Levinson] s35/c; 2uc: John M. Stephens; aph: Kurt Soderling
2001	Pinocchio [Roberto Benigni] p/c; addph: Enrico Lucidi; 2uc: Adolfo Bartoli
2002	Red Dragon [Brett Ratner] p/c; uncred cph: John Mathieson; uncred 2uc: Duane Manwiller; aph: Dylan M. Gross; remake of 'Manhunter' (see 1985)
2003	Superman Returns [Brett Ratner & McG] scheduled as ph, but film was dir by Bryan Singer & ph by Newton Thomas Sigel in 2005
2003	Collateral [Michael Mann] scheduled as ph, but replaced by Paul Cameron
2003	After the Sunset [Brett Ratner] s35/c; addph: Duane Manwiller; 2uc: Kyle Rudolph; uwph: Peter Zuccarini
2005	Josiah's Canon [Brett Ratner] originally scheduled to start filming in February 2005 & September 2005; status unknown
2005	The Contract [Bruce Beresford] s35/c; addph: Francis Kenny
2005	X-Men: The Last Stand/X-Men 3 [Brett Ratner (replaced Bryan Singer)] s35/c; addph: James Muro; 2uc: Paul Hughen & Jonathan Taylor; miniature ph: Tony Cutrono; replaced doph Philippe Rousselot

[Right] with Julius Shulman - "Visual Acoustics"

2006	Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman [Eric Bricker] b&w-c; doc/83m; cph: Aiken Weiss; addph: Nick Higgins; + appearance; filmed February 2004-May 2006; released in 2008
2006	Slipstream/Slipstream Dream [Anthony Hopkins] HD (Genesis)-to-35mm scope/b&w-c
2006	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street [Tim Burton] announced as ph, but prod was ph in 2007 by Dariusz Wolski
2006	Deception/The Tourist [Marcel Langenegger] HD (Genesis)+s35-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Duane Manwiller; + small part
2007	Dante's Inferno [Armand Mastroianni] pre-production; film was dir by Sean Meredith and ph by Michael Negrin
2007	Flash of Genius [Marc Abraham] HD (Genesis)+s35-to-35mm scope/c

"Public Enemies"

2008	Public Enemies [Michael Mann] HD (Sony F23, Sony F950 & Sony PMW-EX1)+s35-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Gary Jay; addph 2u: Niles Roth
2008	State of Play [Kevin Macdonald] HD (Genesis)+p-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c; addph (reshoots); ph: Rodrigo Prieto
2009	Party Guest [Michael Apted] c; short/7m; prod for The Responsibility Project sponsored by Liberty Mutual Insurance
2009	The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader [Michael Apted] HD (Sony F23)+s35-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema [also 3-D version])/c; 2uc + 2ud: John Mahaffie; splinter unit ph: Duane Manwiller
2010	Season of the Witch [Dominic Sena] c; reshoots ph (September 2010 dir by Brett Ratner); ph: Amir Mokri (November 2008)
2010	Tower Heist [Brett Ratner] HD (ARRI ALEXA/Hawk Scope)+p-to-35mm scope (+ D-Cinema)/c; 2uc: Lukasz Jogalla; filmed 2010-11

TELEVISION

1968	Rio delle Amazzoni [Alberto Pandolfi] doc/?m
1968	La freccia nera [Anton Giulio Majano] 7-part miniseries, 1968-69
1970	Giovane Africa [Alberto Pandolfi] doc/?m (1971)
1971	La donna di picche [Leonardo Cortese] 5-part miniseries/b&w, 1972; 2uc; ph: Giampiero Puliti
1971	I Nicotera [Salvatore Nocita] 5-part miniseries, 1972
1973	Parlare, leggere, scrivere - Vicende della lingua italiana [Piero Nelli] 5-part doc series on the Italian language
1974	Tracce sulla neve [Alessandro Cane] tvm
1975	Camilla [Sandro Bolchi] 4-part miniseries, 1976
1976	Un delitto per bene [Giacomo Battiato] 3-part miniseries, 1977
1977	Il povero soldato [Mario Morini] 2-part tvm (1978)
1978	Paura sul mondo [Domenico Campana] 3-part miniseries, 1979
1978	Quattro delitti [ep #1 'Per due testoni' dir by Alberto Sironi (AS), #2 'Professione farabutto' dir by AS & #3 'Winchester M2' dir by Gian Pietro Calasso] 4-part miniseries, 1979
1978	La commediante veneziana [Salvatore Nocita] 5-part miniseries, 1979
1979	Un giudice senza uscita [Salvatore Nocita] ?
1979	La signorina Else [Enzo Muzii] tvm (1980)
1979	Un matrimonio in provincia [Gianni Bongioanni] 2-part tvm (1980)
1980	Fosca [Enzo Muzii] tvm (1981)
1981	L'usura [Maurizio Rotundi] tvm; ep RAI-TV3 Lazio series 'Storie'
1981	Colomba [Giacomo Battiato] 3-part miniseries, 1982
1981	Quartetto Basileus [Fabio Carpi] 3-part miniseries, 1983
1983	Le ambizioni sbagliate [Fabio Carpi] 2-part tvm
1989	Una vita scellerata/[Cellini:] A Violent Life/An Infamous Life [Giacomo Battiato] 3-part miniseries; also shown theatrically (110m)
2004	Prison Break [pilot dir by Brett Ratner] 81-part series, 2005-09; 1st season, 2005-06; other ph: Robbie Greenberg, Robert LaBonge & Chris Manley
2007	Women's Murder Club [pilot (unaired?) dir by Scott Winant (replaced Brett Ratner)] 13-part series, 2007-08; other ph: John Fleckenstein
2007	Blue Blood [Brett Ratner] unaired pilot
2010	Chaos [pilot dir by Brett Ratner] 13-part series/HD (Sony F35 & Canon EOS 7D), 2011; other ph: Attila Szalay