Ellen Kuras (born July 10, 1959) is an American cinematographer whose
body of work includes narrative and documentary films, music videos
and commercials in both the studio and independent worlds. One of few
female members of the American Society of Cinematographers, she is a
pioneer best known for her work in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless
Mind (2004). She has collaborated with directors such as Michel
Gondry, Spike Lee, Sam Mendes, Jim Jarmusch, Rebecca Miller, Martin
Scorsese and more. She is the three-time winner of the Award for
Excellence in Dramatic Cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival,
for her films Personal Velocity: Three Portraits, Angela and Swoon,
which was her first dramatic feature after getting her start in
political documentaries.In 2008, she released her directorial debut,
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon), which she co-directed, co-wrote, co-produced
and shot. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary
Feature in 2009. In 2010, she won a Primetime Emmy Award for
Exceptional Merit in Non-Fiction Filmmaking for the film.Kuras grew up
in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. After earning a double degree in
anthropology and semiotics at Brown University, she studied
photography at RISD and 8mm filmmaking in New York, with the plan to
become a documentary filmmaker. In the early 1980s, Kuras planned to
study on a Fulbright grant at a film school in Poland but was unable
to go due to the introduction of martial law. She is of Polish descent
on her father's side and the family surname was originally
Kuraś.Kuras began her film career in 1987, shooting Ellen Bruno’s
Samsara: Death and Rebirth in Cambodia, the first US movie filmed in
Cambodia after the Vietnam War. In 1990 she won the Eastman Kodak Best
Cinematography Focus Award for her work on Samsara. The film garnered
accolades from the Student Academy Awards and the Sundance Film
Festival where it received a Special Jury Recognition.
body of work includes narrative and documentary films, music videos
and commercials in both the studio and independent worlds. One of few
female members of the American Society of Cinematographers, she is a
pioneer best known for her work in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless
Mind (2004). She has collaborated with directors such as Michel
Gondry, Spike Lee, Sam Mendes, Jim Jarmusch, Rebecca Miller, Martin
Scorsese and more. She is the three-time winner of the Award for
Excellence in Dramatic Cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival,
for her films Personal Velocity: Three Portraits, Angela and Swoon,
which was her first dramatic feature after getting her start in
political documentaries.In 2008, she released her directorial debut,
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon), which she co-directed, co-wrote, co-produced
and shot. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary
Feature in 2009. In 2010, she won a Primetime Emmy Award for
Exceptional Merit in Non-Fiction Filmmaking for the film.Kuras grew up
in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. After earning a double degree in
anthropology and semiotics at Brown University, she studied
photography at RISD and 8mm filmmaking in New York, with the plan to
become a documentary filmmaker. In the early 1980s, Kuras planned to
study on a Fulbright grant at a film school in Poland but was unable
to go due to the introduction of martial law. She is of Polish descent
on her father's side and the family surname was originally
Kuraś.Kuras began her film career in 1987, shooting Ellen Bruno’s
Samsara: Death and Rebirth in Cambodia, the first US movie filmed in
Cambodia after the Vietnam War. In 1990 she won the Eastman Kodak Best
Cinematography Focus Award for her work on Samsara. The film garnered
accolades from the Student Academy Awards and the Sundance Film
Festival where it received a Special Jury Recognition.
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