Giles Nuttgens

Giles Nuttgens is a British cinematographer born in 1960 and member of the British Society of Cinematographers (BSC). He is best known for his work on Deepa Mehta's "elemental trilogy" (Fire, Earth, Water). He received the 2006 Genie Award for Best Cinematography for his work on Water.


He has also collaborated on more than one occasion with Scott McGehee and David Siegel on The Deep End and Bee Season, and David Mackenzie on Young Adam, Asylum and Hallam Foe. He won the 2001 Sundance Film Festival's Cinematography Award for The Deep End.


Although best known for independent films, he also has worked some major commercial productions, such as the recent Star Wars prequels, Battlefield Earth and Swimfan.


After many years living in Paris, he relocated to Barcelona in late 2003. He is fluent in English, French and Spanish.


Joined BBC-tv in 1981 as c.asst working worldwide on doc's for the Natural History Unit. At the age of 25 he became one of the youngest film cameramen ever in the BBC and over the next few years shot many doc's on environmental and social issues, working in locations ranging from the Amazon rainforest to the depressed urban jungle of Glasgow. In 1989 he shot his first feature for Film Four International on location in India. 'I did a lot of freelance work for the BBC, and I became a focus-puller [for 6 years] for a DP called Andrew Dunn. Basically, I grew up in the system. I grew up assisting on documentaries, focus pulling on TV films and then I started shooting documentaries when I was 25.' [From interview in 'MovieMaker', Vol. 1, Issue #7.]


Awards: Sundance FF 'Cinematography Award' [2001] & Independent Spirit Award nom [2002] for 'The Deep End'; 'Genie' Award [2005] for 'Water'.