Rodrigo Prieto

During the past decade, Rodrigo Prieto has been one of the more startlingly original voices to emerge in the American film industry. After starting out on a number of Spanish-language shorts and features, the Mexican-born cinematographer broke onto the international scene with 2000's "Amores Perros," crafting both grittily realistic and dreamlike imagery for three intertwining tales of love and animals. The film also proved a major hit and breakthrough for director Alejandro González Iñárritu and screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, and all three continued to work together afterward. Their other collaborations included "21 Grams" and "Babel," released in 2003 and 2006, respectively, to much critical acclaim. Around this time, Prieto also became acquainted with well-known directors such as Spike Lee, Curtis Hanson, and Ang Lee, although the types of projects varied. For Spike Lee and Hanson, he served as cinematographer on "25th Hour" and "8 Mile," both dramas in urban settings. Meanwhile, Ang Lee recruited him to highlight the natural splendor of "Brokeback Mountain," which helped give the two main characters' relationship a layer of joyfulness and innocence. For his work on the film, Prieto garnered his first Academy Award nomination. He also collaborated with Oliver Stone on the 2004 biopic "Alexander," his 2010 drama "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," and his documentaries of Fidel Castro and Yassir Arafat, showing himself willing to embrace politically-charged and potentially incendiary material.