Robert Richardson: An American Cinematheque Retrospective

The American Cinematheque is proud to welcome cinematographer Robert Richardson in person at the Aero Theatre for his newest film, EMANCIPATION, the triumphant story of Peter (Will Smith), a man who escapes from slavery, relying on his wits, unwavering faith, and deep love for his family on his quest for freedom.

Prior to becoming a regular collaborator with such prominent directors such as Oliver Stone and Quentin Tarantino, cinematographer Robert Richardson served his apprenticeship shooting second unit on REPO MAN while filming television documentaries for PBS and the BBC.

His work in television led Oliver Stone to hire Richardson to shoot both SALVADOR and PLATOON, both of which required a cinema verité style filming that only a documentary cinematographer could offer. From there, he worked almost exclusively for Oliver Stone, filming WALL STREET, BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY and THE DOORS, while occasionally branching out to shoot films like John Sayles’ EIGHT MEN OUT and CITY OF HOPE.  But it was his stunning work using a multitude of stocks and cameras to create a documentary feel for JFK, which earned the cinematographer his first Academy Award.

While he sharpened the hyperkinetic style of JFK in NATURAL BORN KILLERS, NIXON and U-TURN, Richardson became in-huge demand by other top Hollywood directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese, both of whom leaped for the director of photography for films like BRINGING OUT THE DEAD, KILL BILL, VOL. 1 and KILL BILL, VOL. 2. Richardson earned his second and third Oscars for his work with Scorsese on the films THE AVIATOR and HUGO.

As he continued to make a historical impact in projects like Tarantino’s DJANGO UNCHAINED, THE HATEFUL EIGHT and ONCE UPON A TIME IN… HOLLYWOOD, all of which he received Oscar nominations for, there is no doubt that Richardson became known as one of the finest cinematographers working in Hollywood to date. The ASC recognized him for these achievements with the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.

In the past several years, Richardson has been busy filming projects such as as well as Ben Affleck’s LIVE BY NIGHT, BREATHE for director Andy Serkis starring Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy; ADRIFT for director Balthasar Kormakur starring Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin for STX; A PRIVATE WAR for director Matthew Heineman starring Rosamund Pike as Marie Colvin; VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE for Sony and director Andy Serkis and EMANCIPATION for director Antoine Fuqua. Richardson recently wrapped on Ben Affleck’s upcoming Nike film and is currently shooting THE EQUALIZER 3 for Antoine Fuqua.

Robert Richardson joins us for a live Q&A and double feature of EMANCIPATION and PLATOON at the Aero Theatre Tuesday, January 3.